Built Almost Like Home

Foreign peoples lived at the Fair in homes constructed much like those at home. 

Many of the building materials for these houses were imported from the native country. Native craftsmen constructed the buildings using their own techniques. For instance, many of the Japanese buildings were constructed with special saws and no nails.

Visitors did not have to walk far to see Eskimo seal tents, Kickapoo domed winter houses, Bedouin tents, Patagonian dwellings made of guanaco skins and delicately painted Japanese homes. The Philippine Reservation included over 100 buildings ranging from thatch-roofed huts balanced in trees to formal homes reflecting Spanish influence like those found in Manila.

St. Louisans marveled at the different types of houses, probably much the same way that the foreign peoples marveled at the Fair’s exhibit buildings and pavilions.