Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition had many options for transportation to (and within), the fairgrounds. The poem below, about various transportation modes, may have been a sly advertisement for the company mentioned in the final line.

“The Crowd Entering the Grounds from the Elevated Railway,” drawn by T. de Thulstrup after a sketch by T. Dart Walker. [Image from Harper’s Weekly June 10, 1893.]

Some reached The Fair by steamboat,
…..Some ride upon the “L;”
Some bump their bones on the cable car
…..And wish the road in—well.

Some make the jaunt in a cattle car
…..And wish they hadn’t gone;
Some air their “togs” from an English coach
…..(Those of the strict haut ton.)

All go as suits their purse or pride,
…..But when they reach The Fair
Their feet grow sore and they bargain for
…..A Columbian roller chair.

“A comfortable way of seeing the sights” at the 1893 World’s Fair was by using a rolling chair, provided by the Columbian Rolling Chair Company. [Image from Scientific American June 17, 1893.]

SOURCE

“Some reached The Fair …” Chicago Inter Ocean July 16, 1893, p. 7.