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| Sometime ago, I had the pleasure of attending an auction
on behalf of a
ninety-one year old lady who had preserved many items acquired in her youth. She
had worked in the Central West End area of St. Louis, Missouri during the later part of
the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. She had acquired, and retained,
much memorabilia from her stay, and from the 1904 World's Fair.
She sat in an enclosed porch and watched as her life's treasures were auctioned off to the highest bidder on the hottest day of the year. She seemed so sad and commented that "we never consider that the time will come when we must part with all the mementoes of our past." Before leaving, I thanked her for having shared her many treasures with us. A smile came over her face. Perhaps in sharing her keepsakes with us, her past and memories would live on. In allowing us to see and touch the Flapper era clothing, furnishings, magazines and other memorabilia, she had allowed us the distinct pleasure of being transported back to another era. . . just for a moment. The only memorabilia which I have from a by-gone era which I can share are the above prints which I acquired at my grandfather's auction some thirty-plus years ago. I have since learned that they are a part of a series of lithographs which were supplements to the Chicago Tribune during the 1893 World's Fair, the "Columbian Exposition," held in Chicago, Illinois. (My grandfather would have been fifteen years of age in 1893.) Never in modern times had men of such widely different characteristics been brought together in a work that would stand unrivalled in the history of the century as the most complete architectural work produced. It brought together all the greater and lesser countries to produce this truly international exposition. Just as the ninety-one year old lady had shared her mementoes, I wish to share these pictures with you. May you derive as much pleasure as I had that day. ~Kathryn C. Kuenzel~ |
