What else could get this kind of attention?
Well, I'm finally getting a couple questions posted as well...
I remember reading in the book somewhere - forgive me, it was a passage I didn't mark but kept coming back to me - that shortly after the fair opened people were going to the fair, but not in the numbers that were expected. It was a disappointment to the organizers, but they took heart that things would pick up once all of the exhibits were open because they had heard good buzz among the people who were going. People started to think that once the fair was completely open, that it would be worth it - nay, necessary - to spend the time and money to make the trip to the fair. This was in a time when vacation travel was even more a luxury than it is now.
Is there any event that you can think of that would garner this kind of attention today? Or has leisure travel become something that is so commonplace that even very well-attended events are no longer viewed this way?
I remember reading in the book somewhere - forgive me, it was a passage I didn't mark but kept coming back to me - that shortly after the fair opened people were going to the fair, but not in the numbers that were expected. It was a disappointment to the organizers, but they took heart that things would pick up once all of the exhibits were open because they had heard good buzz among the people who were going. People started to think that once the fair was completely open, that it would be worth it - nay, necessary - to spend the time and money to make the trip to the fair. This was in a time when vacation travel was even more a luxury than it is now.
Is there any event that you can think of that would garner this kind of attention today? Or has leisure travel become something that is so commonplace that even very well-attended events are no longer viewed this way?
posted by MamaChristy at
8:06 PM
2 Comments:
This is a very interesting question. What springs to mind for me are things like the Olympics, or maybe unique sports things like the running of the bulls. I think it would be very much based on the individual's decision though, for several reasons.
First, it seems like in 1893 the World's Fair was far more publicized in terms of "New, Exciting, Stuff You've Never Seen, and oh by the way, We Get To Prove We're Better Than France in Architecture!" Maybe the France part hasn't changed for Americans much, but I think overall people now are less amazed and excited by new things because there's so much technology being thrown at us so often.
The other reason is just money vs. availability. There are cool things going on all over the world that I'd like to see, but I can't afford to go, and with the wealth of resources available on the internet and libraries and things, it's less imperative that you GO SEE something, because you can get the gist of it much easier now than you would have been able to do previously.
By
mamashine, at 9:55 PM
KEP, I completely agree about how modern society has changed our need to *go* see things. I tend to see television as a curse (except when Lost is on, of course), but I forget about how it does provide a window into other parts of the world, and even our own societal mores.
So it's a good thing that the internet and libraries and TV are around to offer experiences to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to go and see and do, but it's also a shame that it makes people choose not to go see things in actuality. And those sources also compete with actual events that are local and accesible, which is (again) a blessing and a curse. Always something to do, but ... wouldn't it be good for us all to go do something different?
Anyway, I think I went off on my soapbox instead of doing what I intended -- which is to say I agree with you. (:
By
JenniNapa, at 4:58 PM
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