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 January 2024 Trivia Question

The Ceremonies for Closing Day of the 1893 World’s Fair, scheduled for October 30, were abruptly cancelled following the murder of Mayor Carter Harrison two days earlier. The celebration was to have ended with the entire audience being led by choral director William L. Tomlins in the singing of what song?

A. “After the Ball”
B. “Columbian Hymn”
C. “Hail, Columbia”
D. “Auld Lang Syne”
E. “Columbian March and Hymn”

While all of these songs were popular during the Fair (and “After the Ball” notoriously so), the plan was to close the Exposition with a stirring rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” (answer D). Each person who submited a correct answer received a high-resolution pdf copy of a facsimile “Certificate of Visitation to the World’s Columbian Exposition.” To learn more about these rare mementos of the World’s Columbian Exposition, read this post.