Described as “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times,” Chicago Day smashed all attendance figures at the 1893 World’s Fair. On October 9, over three-quarters of a million of people gathered on the fairgrounds to commemorate the twenty-second anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and to celebrate the great city that emerged from the flames to host the Columbian Exposition.

One float in the evening parade offered a most poignant reflection of the horrific event that many in the crowd that day still remembered from experience. This description of the “awful memory” memorialized on the parade float comes from the October 10, 1893, issue of the Chicago Tribune (“As Victor Over Fire” p. 3):

“A horrid specter, clad in wreathing flame, stretches a flaming torch above a prostrate city. At its feet crouches a mother, covering two trembling babes with her protecting arms. Behind huge pillars upholding a proud temple totter to their fall. Ruined masses of masonry lie on either side. At the rear, seen dimly through drifting clouds of smoke, are great buildings as yet untouched by fire. From them a strong man bears a child to safety. He wears the uniform and rubber coat which mark the hero of those days. Seen dimly, and almost with the eye of faith, one makes out a splendid figure rising through the mist, prophetic of the victory over devastation. Red and black and yellow are the strong colors which paint this picture of Chicago prostrate. Men from the Chicago Fire Department of today man the float, and six great horses, which have left their engines for the night, pull it along the wide avenue.”

The Chicago Day float at the 1893 World’s Fair representing the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. [Image from the Chicago Tribune Sept. 24, 1893.]