1892 Bearer Bond- The Side Show (1893 Chicago World's Fair) in Mattoon, Illinois For Sale

Authentic xxxx red-serial numbered $xxxx Bearer Bond issued by the Columbian Celebration Company, which was the spectacular side show slated for the xxxx World's Fair Columbian Exposition in Chicago. By side show, I mean a special exhibit with its own admission charge, same as Buffalo Bill?s Wild, Wild West Show.
The document contains a formal dollar-bill green border containing phrase "United States of America" across top center. The bond issuers name (Columbian Celebration Company) appears beneath that phrase in handsome font laying upon a background of clouds. A graphic portrait of Christopher Columbus appears in upper-left corner. The center of the document contains a large light-green under print stating the $xxxx denomination of the bond. Bottom left corner contains a colorless embossed seal proclaiming the name of the company.
Far left edge of document contains two unredeemed interest coupons still attached to document. The E.G. Christoph Lith. Co. of Chicago printed the document, which is hand-signed at bottom by both the corporate secretary and the corporate president, Benjamin Butterworth, who was a prominent Ohio politician with an exemplary record of prior achievement and whom Chicago solicited to manage the World's Fair project. Many revere Butterworth as the primary reason for the grand success of the enterprise during its critical period of infrastructure development up until April xxxx..
Butterworth declined his own re-election as Secretary of the World?s Fair in April xxxx, but remained on the Board of Directors. Butterworth agreed to head the Columbian Celebration Company (incorporated April xxxx), tasked with the specific endeavor of constructing the Spectatorium, which was a massive palace of a size never before attempted. The structure would feature an epic play depicting the discovery of America, complete with a 100 piece orchestra and 400 chorus members.
A starving poet and playwright named Steele Mackaye conceived both the idea of the Spectatorium and the play, which depicted the entire story of the journey to America by Christopher Columbus, beginning with the initial opposition by the Spanish throne. The play tells of Columbus finally swaying Queen Isabella to support the project, the departure of his fleet from the Spanish port of Palos, incidents during the voyage (which include the calm of tropical seas, sailors reflecting on superstitions, a violent storm and a near mutiny by the terror-stricken sailors) and at last the discovery of the New World.
Mackaye designed the Spectatorium as sort of an Eighth Wonder of the World. Besides its massive orchestra pit and space for a colossal chorus, the stage featured a background cyclorama, a large wind machine and a concrete tank capable of storing five and one half million gallons of water which could be agitated to simulate turbulent seas. Cutting edge electrical lighting could set the mood as dawn, sunset or violent storms. Mackaye was to procure ten patents for his novel stage ideas.
Mackaye had no money to stage such a phenomenal production. However, he made a group presentation to a group of Chicago elite businessmen (including luminaries such as Pullman, Palmer, Peck, Burnham, Fullerton and Marshall Field) and impressed them sufficiently to support the project separately from the World?s Fair, whose money had all been allocated by that time.
Mackeye would cede his patents rights for a fifteen year period to the newly-formed Columbian Celebration Company in April xxxx in exchange for most of CCC?s stock. Then CCC would use the patents as bait to issue bonds, As CCC president, Butterworth raised $450,000 by swiftly issuing 450 of $xxxx par value bonds and could have sold the rest easily to raise an additional $350,000, but held back on the advice of a financial advisor, which later would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Spectatorium construction began in earnest at street coordinates xxxx to xxxx South and xxxx East, about two blocks away from the perimeter of the Columbian Exposition main site. Chicago?s World?s Fair would open to the public on May 1, xxxx (about one year later) and last for six months. At construction?s peak, xxxx workers labored on the Spectatorium project, which was 140 feet tall (not counting dome) and consumed about 350,000 square feet with 8,000 seating in the main theater with flexibility to add up to 2,000 additional seats on each side.
As bad luck would have it, the Chicago winter starting in late xxxx was brutal in terms of both cold and snow. Construction lagged. Cost overruns mounted. Columbian Celebration Company fell behind paying laborers. In early spring, Butterworth attempted to go to market to sell the remaining $350,000 of bonds, but he got jolted by a harsh newspaper story stating that the project would never be completed on time even if it received funding. Another punch in the gut was that the economic prosperity leading up to xxxx evolved into localized economic depression beginning in the first half of xxxx, largely caused by corrupt Chicago bankers making sweetheart loans to cronies whom they knew would never pay them back, thus causing a panic whereby a handful of banks failed in the era before government account holder protection.
Construction came to a screeching halt before the Spectatorium was totally completed. It became a white elephant, and a dangerous one at that. It had to be protected 24 hours per day because if someone tried to set it afire, a northerly wind could blow the flames to the main Columbian Exposition site. After much rancor, the City voted to have a contractor knock down the building for the paltry sum of $xxxx in exchange for letting wreckers keep the scrap iron and wood remnants.
The Columbian Celebration Company was about $350,000 in debt at the time when operations suspended. A chain of lawsuits ensued. The case became the longest running litigation in Cook County courts at that time, lasting over one decade. Steele Mackeye died in early xxxx. Ultimately the Court ruled that bondholders, foremost of which was rail car magnate George Pullman, would be held responsible for the debts.
Meanwhile two blocks away from the Spectatorium site, the Columbian Exposition proved to be a grand success showcasing the innovative wonders of the late 19th century, which was only bittersweet news to supporters of the Spectatorium, which could have proved to be one of the greatest wonders of them all.
This document measures 10 7/8 X 15 7/8 inches (including interest coupons attached) and is in near-mint condition.
"The difference between civilization and barbarism is in a large degree measured by the means employed in communicating thought from one to another and by the materialization of ideas into forms and useful agencies for the convenience and comfort of mankind." Benjamin Butterworth