On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Gorge, A Trip to the Moon, Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York
Photography Studio Bliss Brothers Studio American
Not on view
A year before the release of Georges Méliès’s film A Trip to the Moon, a fairground attraction of the same name opened at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Visitors boarded a thirty-seat winged spaceship called the Luna, which simulated a journey to the moon using painted backdrops and other special effects. On arrival, passengers were greeted by sixty little people costumed as Selenites, who guided them through a maze of stalactites to Moon City, where they could sample green cheese and purchase souvenirs. Over six months, the spectacle welcome four hundred thousand visitors, including Thomas Edison and President William McKinley. It was reconstructed in 1903 at the Coney Island fairgrounds in New York, where it became the centerpiece of Luna Park.
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