One hundred and twenty years after winning its first gold medal in the New World at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, De Cecco will commemorate that singular honor with a special event at the Chicago Field Museum’s new exhibition: “Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World Fair,” which opens October 25. Also known as the World’s Columbian Exposition, the retrospective exhibition takes a look at the fair that was a glittering showcase of architecture, culture, technology, and food, and attracted people from around the world.
The fair brought visitors closer than ever before to unique wonders like exotic animals, international cultures, as well as strange new products and technological innovations from around the world. It was the birthplace of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, the Ferris Wheel and the Field Museum as well. “De Cecco pasta was introduced to the world at this fair as well, and was awarded the Gold Medal for superior manufacture, color and firmness after cooking,” says Marco de Ceglie, CEO of De Cecco USA.
The Chicago World’s Fair was held in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World in 1492. The exposition covered more than 600 acres featuring nearly 200 buildings, canals, lagoons and representation from 46 countries. More than 27 million people attended the exposition during its six month run. Its scale and grandeur became a symbol of American exceptionalism, and served to show the world that Chicago had risen from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire. It had a profound effect on architecture, sanitation, the arts and American industrial optimism.
Many innovations, companies, structures and products first introduced at the 1893 fair still exist today. They include the Field Museum, Cracker Jack, Cream of Wheat, Quaker Oats, spray paint, automatic dishwashers, the locomotive, Westinghouse, and General Electric, among many, many others.
To commemorate the gold medal and the innovations of the Victorian Era, De Cecco will sponsor a special luncheon featuring a menu of its award winning pasta, served up at the Museum’s prestigious Founder’s Room, followed by a docent tour of the exhibition on October 25 (also known as World Pasta Day).
De Cecco is a premium pasta from Italy. Carefully crafted in the mountains of central Italy, De Cecco uses a proprietary process to make its 160 pasta varieties. Production starts with full control of the milling process and using only the heart of durum wheat to produce premium semolina, then mixing it with cool natural waters from De Cecco’s own mountain spring, drawing the semolina dough through bronze dies and drying the pasta very slowly at low temperature.
Over the years De Cecco has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, and was recently inducted to the Italian Trade Commission’s Hall of Fame. Founded in 1886 by the De Cecco brothers in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, today De Cecco exports to more than 87 countries and is the world’s third largest manufacturer of pasta. Their product line includes premium pasta, sauces, and its own brand of olive oil, among other related fine foods.
“Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair” will be on view at the Field Museum October 25, 2013 – September 7, 2014.