Ford Falcon Automobile and Christmas Tree Inside the Ford Rotunda Building, Dearborn, Michigan, 1959
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Artifact Overview
After the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition ended in 1934, Ford Motor Company brought back its central Rotunda building from that fair to Dearborn, to serve as a visitor center and starting point for Rouge Plant tours. However, its biggest draw between 1953 and 1961 was the annual "Christmas Fantasy," shown here. Unfortunately, the Rotunda burned down in November 1962.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Lantern slide
Subject Date
1959
Creators
Place of Creation
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
74.300.1182.3.81
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Material
Glass (Material)
Paper tape
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 3.25 in
Width: 4 in
Inscriptions
Text at top of lantern slide:
FORD PUBLIC RELATIONS PHOTOGRAPHIC
Handwritten in ink on small oval paper sticker: B3-81
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Related Content
SetFord at the Fair Exhibition
- 86 Artifacts
Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition used the theme of progress to encourage optimism during the Depression. The 11-acre Ford Motor Company exhibit became the most talked-about exhibit of 1934, featuring a central Rotunda designed to simulate graduated clusters of gears. After the fair, this building became an attraction at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, until it burned down in 1962.
articleChristmas Fantasy at the Ford Rotunda
Henry Ford turned the Rotunda, built for the 1934 Century of Progress Exposition, into a visitor center and starting point for the company’s popular Rouge Plant tours. But it is fondly remembered for the Ford Rotunda Christmas Fantasy.