Our seasonal newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize.

The Winter 2019 Trivia Question

What was at the top of the staff held in the left hand the Statue of the Republic?

A. an eagle
B. a wreath of laurel and placard proclaiming liberty
C. a Phrygian cap
D. a globe
E. a torch

We had several correct submissions of answer C. The first came from J.H. of Indiana, to whom we’ll be sending a holiday card showing “Big Mary” (“Big Merry”?) holding an ornament and candy cane. This and some other original 1893 World’s Fair greeting cards can be purchased at our online store. All sales help to defray the cost of running our website and keep it ad-free.

A holiday greeting card available at our online shop. (Watermark URL not on the printed card.)

Daniel Chester French’s Statue of the Republic statue, a 65-foot and 35-ton golden colossus, stood on a pedestal in the Grand Basin of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. In her right hand, she held a globe surmounted by an eagle. In her left hand was a staff topped by a Phrygian cap. When a smaller reproduction was cast and installed in a different location in Jackson Park in 1918, the Phrygian cap was replaced by a wreath of laurel and placard proclaiming liberty. Her much taller sister in New York, the Statue of Liberty, holds a torch.

The original Statue of the Republic from the 1893 World’s Fair held a Phrygian cap on top of her staff. [Image adapted from Picturesque World’s Fair. W.B. Conkey, 1894.]

The 24-foot reproduction of The Republic from 1918 was altered to have a plaque and laurel wreath surmount the staff in place of the Phrygian cap. [Photograph by worldsfairchicago1893.com]