CONSIDERING THE MILLION+ TICKETS PRINTED IN ADVANCE THIS MUST HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO SOMEONE IMPORTANT

Before orders were processed and sent to those purchasing their tickets in advance--and there were a lot!--the first ones were given out to dignitaries, commissioners and a variety of others. Some of these "celebrities" wanted one of each of the tickets and with matching serial numbers.

After the first several dozens with the most complicated requests were given their tickets, one or more were handed out to a large group. I've never seen that figure anywhere but when you consider how long that list was, it would include the fair's president; national, state and foreign commissioners; exhibitors and concessionnaires and a whole host of others, many of whom might not actually get to the fair. And some would no doubt put their tickets away to keep them with other special documents and papers from the WCE.

All this information is here just to confirm what you may not have known--that a ticket serial numbered 471 was NOT one sent out to a farmer in Iowa or a steel worker i Pennsylvania, each of whom anxiously awaited the arrival of their family's tickets.

Many people collect "special" or unusual or even error tickets--and also very low or very high numbered tickets. The low numbers were almost certain to have been given to someone other than "just" a future fairgoer. The collectors who liked the highest numbered ticket possible or special numbers such as 11111 or 12345 and so on.

But it was just the low numbers that had significance for the ticketholder who received them. The many other ways to collect unusual numbers was a totally different thing--fun and unusual for the collector.

And I am well aware that perhaps the majority of collectors reading this description have no interest at all in a ticket numbered 471...or 100 or 500 and so on. But for those of you (and I have always been in that rather OCD collector club) interested...here's a bit of a special ticket.