Meet Me At The Fair

Together with the Olympics, world's fairs are one of the few regular international events of sufficient scale to showcase a spectrum of sights, wonders, learning opportunities, technological advances, and new (or renewed) urban districts, and to present them all to a mass audience. Meet Me at the Fair: A World's Fair Reader breaks new ground in scholarship on world's fairs by incorporating a number of short new texts that investigate world's fairs in their multiple aspects: political, urban/architectural, anthropological/ sociological, technological, commercial, popular, and representational. Contributors come from eight different countries and represent affiliations in academia, museums and libraries, professional and architectural firms, non-profit organizations, and government regulatory agencies. In taking the measure of both the material artifacts and the larger cultural production of world's fairs, the volume presents its own phantasmagoria of disciplinary perspectives, historical periods, geographical locales, media, and messages, mirroring the microcosmic form of the world's fair itself.

Hootchy-kootchy Meets Rich and Snooty in the Delightfully Sweet Americana Romance, Bicycle Built for Two, from Rachel Wilson —1893 Chicago World’s Fair— Hard-working, snobbish, and overbearing, Alex English is proud of his position in the World's Fair Agricultural Forum. When one of the women working as a fortune-teller and stand-in for the dancer, Little Egypt, threatens to upset the wholesome, educational atmosphere, Alex takes umbrage. Kate Finney is working two jobs at the fair to make ends meet and to keep herself and her mother safe from her alcoholic father. But her father pursues her to the fair and then tries to kill her. Mr. Finney is just the sort of nasty element Alex wants kept away from the fair, and if that means Kate must lose her jobs, so be it. But Kate's not going without a fight! Completely vexed by Kate's response, Alex sees the smart, strong, beautiful Kate in a new light. But it takes an unsolicited act of kindness to bridge the gap between their separate worlds and ignite a fire not easily quenched. Publisher's Note: Set in a real time and place, this story is a light and humorous romance about a couple that couldn't be more mismatched. Light on sensuality, this story will be enjoyed by readers who appreciate sweet romance. "A BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO is a rollicking ride into the gay nineties and a look at life on the wrong side of the tracks. Alex is part of the rich aristocracy and quite the snob when it comes to associating with the unfortunate people of the lower classes. He has the absurd idea that the poor are simply down on their luck because they choose to be. He is exasperating and sometimes so naive that he frustrates me. Kate is an acid-tongued young woman who is rude and pushy to the extent you want to shake her out of it. When Alex's rose-colored vision of life meets Kate's everyday reality there is an explosion of fireworks. Alex is brought down to humility and Kate is brought up to the realization that there is kindness in the world. Ms. Duncan has penned a fine adventure. A BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO is a delightful story and not to be missed!" ~Diana Risso, Romance Reviews Today The Meet Me at the Fair Series Coming Up Roses Just North of Bliss A Bicycle Built for Two

Worlds collide when a brash Yankee meets a steely southern belle in Just North of Bliss, an Americana romance from Rachel Wilson. —1893 Chicago World’s Fair— Belle Monroe has scandalized her family down to its proud Georgia roots by forsaking genteel poverty to work as a nanny in New York City. When her employer travels to Chicago to see the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Belle accompanies them with her two charges where she meets Mr. Winslow Asher, the official photographer for the World’s Fair—a man possessing all the Yankee traits Belle abhors. Brash, ambitious, and in search of the perfect model of American beauty, Win is immediately and understandably captivated with the beautiful Belle and what he believes are her two children. Personalities clash, but Win soon realizes how wrong he was about Belle and how right she is for him. His tender advances soon make the steely-spined Belle wonder if this brash northerner and a proper southern girl like herself could actually be meant for each other. Publisher's Note: Set in a real time and place, this light and humorous romance is light on sensuality and replete with heated banter. "Set against the backdrop of the Chicago World's Fair, this genteel romance sets prissy Rowena Belle Monroe on a collision course with Yankee photographer Win Asher. Forced by financial circumstances to earn her living as a nanny, Belle is compelled to leave Georgia and come to New York. On a trip to the fair with her employers and two charges, Belle is spotted by Win, the fair's photographer. Stunned and inspired by Belle's beauty, Win tries to persuade her to model for a series of photographs, but she's none too eager to fall in line with his plans. To Belle, Win embodies all the traits she abhors in Yankees, but after many encounters set against the carefully painted portrait of the fair, she surrenders to him both emotionally and physically. Duncan (Coming Up Roses) plays on the cultural differences between the North and South, contrasting Belle's impeccable manners and genteel ideals with Win's assertiveness and ambition. Although Belle will annoy readers at first with her old-fashioned ideals she finds photography "morally repugnant" and thinks only loose women wear makeup she slowly and believably evolves into an empathetic heroine. Unlike many of the highly sensual romances that are available today, this comic confection is light on physical fireworks but heavy on heated banter." ~Publisher's Weekly, Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. The Meet Me at the Fair Series Coming Up Roses Just North of Bliss A Bicycle Built for Two

A devil-may-care big-city newspaperman meets his match in the delightfully heart-warming Americana Romance, Coming Up Roses, by Rachel Wilson —1893 Chicago World’s Fair— Rose Ellen Gilhooley would do just about anything for Buffalo Bill Cody, the showman who plucked her out of poverty in Deadwood, KS, then turned her into one of the stars of his Wild West Show. So, Rose agrees when journalist H.L. May proposes writing a series of articles about her at the Chicago World's Fair. However, the brash and wildly-enthusiastic newspaperman, who wants more than a business relationship, quickly discovers that his smooth words will never win the feisty trick-rider’s affections. So, he turns to Annie Oakley and a few of Rose’s Souix friends for help, but it’s an unseen enemy’s sudden and dangerous kidnapping that creates the common ground for this unlikely love. Publisher's Note: Set in a real time and place, this light and humorous romance captures the nostalgia of the American Gay 90s in Chicago and is sure to be enjoyed by readers of historical American romance. The Meet Me at the Fair Series Coming Up Roses Just North of Bliss A Bicycle Built for Two

Presents a history of fairs, from early livestock shows to county and state fairs and international expositions and world's fairs.