Editing Louisiana Purchase Exposition (section)

===Exhibits===
After the fair was completed, many of the international exhibits were not returned to their country of origin, but were dispersed to museums in the United States. For example, the Philippine exhibits were acquired by the [[Iowa Museum of Natural History|Museum of Natural History]] at the [[University of Iowa]]. The [[Vulcan statue]] is today a prominent feature of the Vulcan Park and Museum in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], where it was originally cast.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vulcan Statue and Vulcan Park |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1557 |access-date=November 5, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Natural History exhibit with a blue whale skeleton and model Wellcome V0038342.jpg|alt=Natural History exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis, featuring a blue whale model and a dinosaur skeleton|thumb|Natural History exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis.]]

The [[Smithsonian Institution]] coordinated the US government exhibits. It featured a blue whale, the first full-cast of a [[blue whale]] ever created.<ref>[http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/profiles/Whales_SI.html "History of Smithsonian Whale Exhibits"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924092743/http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/profiles/Whales_SI.html|date=September 24, 2011}}, National Museum of Natural History</ref>

The Fair also featured the original "Floatopia". Visitors floated on rafts of all sorts in the tiny Forest Park Lake. Many Floatopias have occurred since, including the infamous San Diego Floatopia of '83 and the Santa Barbara Floatopia that has been happening for years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-10 |title=Deltopia in full-throttle with record-level citations, massive crowds {{!}} The Daily Nexus |url=https://dailynexus.com/2024-04-10/deltopia-in-full-throttle-with-record-level-citations-and-massive-crowds/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=The Daily Nexus {{!}} The University of California, Santa Barbara's independent, student-run newspaper. |language=en}}</ref>

One exhibit of note was [[Beautiful Jim Key]], the "educated" Arabian-Hambletonian cross horse in his Silver Horseshoe Pavilion. He was owned by Dr. William Key, an African-American/Native American former slave, who became a respected self-taught veterinarian, and promoted by Albert R. Rogers, who had Jim and Dr. Key on tour for years around the US, helping to establish a humane movement that encouraged people to think of animals as having feelings and thoughts, and not just "brutes". Jim and Dr. Key became national celebrities along the way. Rogers invented highly successful marketing strategies still in use today. Jim Key could add, subtract, use a cash register, spell with blocks, tell time and give opinions on the politics of the day by shaking his head yes or no. Jim thoroughly enjoyed his "act"—he performed more than just tricks and appeared to clearly understand what was going on. Dr. Key's motto was that Jim "was taught by kindness" instead of the whip, which he was indeed.<ref>Rivas, Mim Eichler, "Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed the World," 1st ed, HarperCollins, 2006</ref>

[[Daisy E. Nirdlinger]]'s book, ''Althea, or, the children of Rosemont plantation'' (illustrated by Egbert Cadmus (1868–1939)) was adopted by the Commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as the official souvenir for young people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Anne |title=Notable women of St. Louis, 1914 |date=1914 |publisher=St. Louis, Woodward |page=[https://archive.org/details/notablewomenofst00john/page/169 169] |url=https://archive.org/details/notablewomenofst00john}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>