When you’ve been around for almost 200 years, you make an impact on history!
In the foyer of our Corporate Office we have a “World’s Fair Book” that was used as the guest register at the New Orleans World’s Fair, commonly known as The World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884-1885. It is over 4 feet wide when opened and weighs over 300 pounds!
Please note that our World's Fair Book is viewable on large devices only.
You can interact with the World's Fair Book while on a desktop or laptop device. Tablets and mobile devices will not work.
First displayed at the Texas State Fair in 1881
This book was made by our company and first displayed at the Texas State Fair in 1881. The book contains the signatures of multiple presidents, a Plains Indian Chief named Sitting Bull and members of his company, a couple of professional boxers from the East, Buffalo Bill Cody and other Wild West Show performers, as well as a Texas Ranger in search of fugitives. The Ranger actually used the book to post a reward for the convicts he was looking for at the time.
There was also an unlikely addition to the book - the North, Central, and South American Exposition of 1885-1886. It was an attempt to recoup the losses of the previous World’s Fair also held in New Orleans. The losses came about when a Louisiana State Treasurer by the name of Edward A. Burke decided to take the government issued funds for the Fair, totaling almost $2 million. Today’s value would be over $40 million. He then skipped town and headed to Honduras where he couldn’t be extradited.