Page "Century of Progress" Paragraph 12

Originally, the fair was scheduled only to run until November 12, 1933, but it was so successful that it was opened again to run from May 26 to October 31, 1934.

The fair was financed through the sale of memberships, which allowed purchases of a certain number of admissions once the park was open.

More than $ 800, 000 was raised in this manner as the country came out of the Great Depression.

A $ 10 million bond was issued on October 28, 1929, the day before the stock market crashed.

By the time the fair closed in 1933, half of these notes had been retired, with the entire debt paid by the time the fair closed in 1934.

For the first time in American history, an international fair had paid for itself.

In its two years, it had attracted 48, 769, 227 visitors.

According to James Truslow Adams's Dictionary of American History, during the 170 days beginning May 27, 1933, there were 22, 565, 859 paid admissions ; during the 163 days beginning May 26, 1934, there were 16, 486, 377 ; a total of 39, 052, 236.