The Official Program was one of the guides available to help people plan their visits at the Exposition. Regular features of the weekly publication included a "Current Notes" section with news of recent happenings and upcoming events; "Through the Two Midways" , a descriptive tour of the Midway attractions; and lists of the week's Special Days and conventions. The Programs were illustrated with pictures of Exposition buildings, and full-page advertisements appeared throughout.

The part of the Program of greatest value to visitors was the listing daily events, giving times and locations for concerts, dedication ceremonies, convention meetings, preachings and parades. The musical listings named the bands and other scheduled performers, along with the title and composer of the music selections.¹ Music was so important that the Program for the week of August 14^th was not published reportedly due to the "inability to obtain in time to print, programs for the band concerts. The Mexican band experienced difficulty with the revenue officer at the boundary line. We understand that the case of music has arrived at last, and we are assured that there will be no further difficulty in obtaining the required programs in advance."²

The Program had difficulty keeping the same publisher. The first publisher, Samuel J. Howe & Co., was replaced by the Rees Printing Co. after the above mentioned issue failed to get printed. Rees promised "to make the Official Program the very best medium of advertising in connection with the Exposition", ² but in September the business was destroyed by fire. The Douglas Printing Co. took over printing the programs until the end of the Exposition.

The Official Program is an important source of day-to-day information, but it's difficult for researchers to find all the volumes. ³ The Omaha Public Library has only 9 issues (out of 22?). If you know where researchers can access the Programs for the dates we're missing, or if you would like to donate a volume, or discuss other arrangements, please contact the Omaha Public Library, History Dept. , 215 S. 15 Street, Omaha, NE, 68102, or email webdesk@omahapubliclibrary.org.