1933 Chicago World's Fair Prosperity Cane

1933 Chicago World's Fair Prosperity Cane

We were bidding on some auction items for our etsy store and I spotted this cane for my collection. I had some questions about its authenticity, but after picking it up I believe it is legit.

Here were my concerns and discoveries:
I was worried about the rubber cover at the bottom. But after pulling that off, there was some fiber tape to help hold it on. Under that was a metal piece that appears original. You can see the decorative lines. A reproduction piece wouldn't bother to replicate those.

I normally would not clean up patina on a piece like this, but because of the corrosion and gunk from the fiber tape I lightly polished the metal.

I was wondering about the tag and materials. The tag says, "prosperity cane 1933 World's Fair Chicago, U.S.A.". A repop probably wouldn't waste time making all the periods and apostrophes. The material is curios.. most of the pieces I saw were brass or silver plated.

Lastly "Prosperity Cane" is interesting. Remember 1929 to 1939 was The Great Depression years. I assume this was a souvenir vender selling these to patrons of the fair. Additionally the 1933 Chicago World's Fair theme was "The Century of Progres" and most pieces show that slogan on them.

More research needed, but the cane is a proper height and all the above leads me to believe that this piece is legit. Material is two toned oak.

HOLD MY BEER..NO! HOLD YOUR STOMACH!

"From June to November 1933, there was an outbreak of amoebic dysentery associated with the fair. There were more than a thousand cases, resulting in 98 deaths."