In 1933 Chicago staged a World’s Fair in Burnham Park. July 15 marked one of the Fair’s highlights. Shortly after 6 p.m., the Balbo Air Squadron arrived in the waters of Lake Michigan.
Aviation was still exciting and dangerous in 1933 — only six years had passed since Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight. Now General Italo Balbo, head of the Italian Air Force, had brought his fleet of 24 seaplanes on a goodwill trip from Rome to Chicago. Because of bad weather and an accident along the way, the journey had taken two weeks.
But now they were here, safely moored off Navy Pier. A few minutes after the landing, Balbo himself strolled onto the deck of his seaplane, coolly surveying the cheering thousands who had gathered on shore—he looked as if he were “going to afternoon tea,” one reporter wrote. The General lit a cigarette and smiled.
For the next three days, the city went Balbo-crazy. The General and his fliers were feted with a rally in Soldier Field, speeches, parades, banquets, and proclamations. Seventh Street was renamed Balbo Drive. The hoopla was so outrageous the Marx Brothers spoofed it in their movie A Night at the Opera. Then, at the end of the three days, the intrepid crew flew back to Rome.
That’s the way it looked in 1933.
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1. Biggest news of the week? The Goodman is doing The Iceman Cometh with Nathan Lane. The Iceman Cometh is not about a man who brings ice to homes, in case you were wondering. It is about a traveling salesman who gets sober and tries to make everyone around him do the same. Lane told Chris Jones, "I am not thinking of this as some pre-Broadway tryout. I just want it to be good in Chicago." You're going to have to wait awhile -- tickets aren't available until March. 
