AmericaJR’s Jason Rzucidlo recently visited the San Diego History Center within the Balboa Park complex. “San Diego Invites the World” is the definitive exhibition of the Panama-California Exposition. It is celebratory and engaging, demonstrating the legacy of the Expo that put San Diego on the map and created the nation’s largest urban cultural park. Four million visitors streamed through the Expo gates during its two-year run from 1915 through 1916 and showcased San Diego to the world. View rare Expo silent film footage, historic photos, the official Guest Book and unique memorabilia.
“San Diego Invites The World” exhibit
Tea kettles from 1915
Caryatid (female figure) made of plaster and coconut husk, 1913
Guest register from the 1915 Panama California Exposition
Everyone who attended the “World’s Fair” could sign the book
Salt and Pepper shakers from 1915
Committee member
These Kodak Brownie cameras debuted at the Exposition
San Diego Exposition advertisements
“The California Sandwich” was a promotion for the Expo
Daily Program cover
Umbrellas like these were used by attendees
“San Diego Invites the World”
A closer look at the Japanese Tea House
Tobi-lshi (Jumping Stone) and Ikebana bowl
Bird pins
Wood sculpture depicting Santa Fe, New Mexico
Population of San Diego County
A closer view
Historical photo of downtown San Diego, 1911
Visitors checking out the museum exhibit
Surveyors marking the U.S.-Mexico border
U.S.-Mexico border ceremony on June 23, 1917
1921 Ford Model T made in Detroit
Concord Stagecoach No. 158 made in Concord, NH
Metal tools
“Missions and Catholicism”
Visitors looking at an exhibit on San Diego’s first people
The zoo was a beloved part of Theodor Geisel’s childhood
San Diego native Geisel is better known as Dr. Seuss
San Diego had a cataclysmic flood in 1916
AmericaJR’s Jason Rzucidlo stands next to a gorilla
