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Why did Seattle display babies in incubators at the World's Fair?

Baby incubator exhibit on the Pay Streak at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.
Photo by Frank H. Nowell and courtesy of UW Special Collections.
Baby incubator exhibit on the Pay Streak at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

The Northwest has long been known for its technological innovations – from airplanes to software. More than a hundred years ago, Seattle was showing off a brand-new invention involving babies.

At the city’s first World’s Fair in 1909, called the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, there was a Wild West exhibit, rollercoasters, concessions  and right next door, were premature babies … in incubators … on display.

Read more on I Wonder Why ... ?