{"product_id":"sesqui-greed-graft-and-the-forgotten-worlds-fair-of-1926-9781439903292","title":"Sesqui!: Greed, Graft, and the Forgotten World's Fair of 1926","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1916, Philadelphia department-store magnate John Wanamaker launched plans for a Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition in 1926. It would be a magnificent world's fair to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The \"Sesqui\" would also transform sooty, industrial Philadelphia into a beautiful Beaux Arts city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, when the Sesqui opened on May 31, 1926, in the remote, muddy swamps of South Philadelphia, the fair was unfinished, with a few shabbily built and mostly empty structures. Crowds stayed away in droves: fewer than five million paying customers attended, costing the city millions of dollars. Philadelphia became a national scandal--a city so corrupt that one political boss could kidnap an entire world's fair. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his fascinating history \u003ci\u003eSesqui!, \u003c\/i\u003enoted historian Thomas Keels situates this ill-fated celebration--a personal boondoggle by the all-powerful Congressman William S. Vare--against the transformations taking place in America during the 1920s. Keels provides a comprehensive account of the Sesqui as a meeting ground for cultural changes sweeping the country: women's and African-American rights, anti-Semitism, eugenics, Prohibition, and technological advances.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Temple University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/20\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781439903292\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 376\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.75lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.50w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Thomas H. Keels","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52360398962869,"sku":"9781439903292","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_a1c5d7b9-b008-4897-945f-2e581e68fc45.jpg?v=1773720753","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/sesqui-greed-graft-and-the-forgotten-worlds-fair-of-1926-9781439903292","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}