Quote 4

The fair was so perfect, its grace and beauty like an assurance that for as long as it lasted nothing truly bad could happen to anyone, anywhere.

This quotation occurs at the end of chapter thirty-six, just before Independence Day. At the end of the previous section, Larson describes financial panic in the rest of the country, and how the Fair enabled Chicago to hold a light to that darkness. Everything about the Fair was so enchanting that nobody could imagine it ending. Nobody had seen anything like it. For some people, it was the first time they could walk safely at night, or the first time they saw electricity, or anything from another part of the world. The entire experience seemed like entering a glorious safe haven, where one could revert back to childhood without the cares of the world.