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California’s “Tower of Oranges” at the 1893 World’s Fair

By |2023-12-12T14:51:11-06:00December 13th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , |

California had a knack for building unusual towers for the 1893 World’s Fair. An amber-hued obelisk known as the “Olive Oil Tower” greeted visitors entering the south portal of the California Building. This display from Santa Barbara County was constructed from 2,000 quart-sized bottles of virgin liquid. In the northwest corner of the building, Butte County built twin towers made from several hundred boxes of choice dried fruits. In an upper floor of the Horticultural Building stood a “Walnut [...]

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The Humboldt County display in the California State Building at the 1893 World’s Fair

By |2023-09-23T13:41:11-05:00September 23rd, 2023|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |

Glen Nash, “The Humboldt Historian,” shares a fascinating look at the Humboldt County display inside the California State Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. His article “The County’s Exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair Sounds Spectacular, but Putting it Together and Getting it Back Was Kind of a Pain in the Ass” appears on the Lost Coast Outpost.

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152. Picturesque World’s Fair – California Sea Lions in the Government Building

By |2023-05-30T05:51:57-05:00May 30th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |

CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING. —The California Sea Lions, which afforded such a fine illustration of the taxidermist's skill and attracted so much comment in the Government Building, were like old friends, not merely to Californians who had seen them or their relations, enjoying themselves in the waters of the coast, but to thousands of people familiar with scenes in the parks of the great cities. The Sea Lions exhibited in the Government Building were fine specimens, [...]

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An original painting of the 1893 California State Building sells at auction

By |2021-08-14T16:48:10-05:00August 15th, 2021|Categories: ANTIQUES, NEWS|Tags: |

An original painting of the California State Building from the 1893 World’s Fair sold at auction for $2,800 on June 25, 2021. The 9.75-by-13.5-inch, unframed oil on canvas features the second largest state building (after that of Illinois) on the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. Artist William Woodward (1859–1939), who served on the planning commission for his home state of Louisiana, depicted with impressionist flair a crowd passing in front the Mission Revival style building designed by architect A. Page Brown. [...]

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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Statue of California (p. 60)

By |2018-07-22T06:34:41-05:00July 31st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 60 – STATUE OF CALIFORNIA STATUE OF CALIFORNIA.—Typical of the great state upon the Pacific Coast was the Statue of California, a striking figure in the huge structure erected in imitation of one of the old Spanish missions. The artist had caught the spirit of the commonwealth, and joyous luxuriance was as apparent in the statue as indicated by the exhibits all about. The figure stood upon the apex [...]

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Seeing the Solar Eclipse of 1893 at the World’s Fair

By |2024-04-08T08:34:28-05:00April 8th, 2024|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , |

Did you see it? Viewers on April 8, 2024, snapped countless millions of photographs of the solar eclipse. For the total solar eclipse of April 16, 1893—visible in South America and Africa—only a handful of photographs were taken. At least one made it into a display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. A photograph of the April 1893 solar eclipse, exhibited in the California State Building at the 1893 World's Fair. [Image from Bancroft, Hubert Howe [...]

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Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Second Prize

By |2024-03-29T10:07:36-05:00March 30th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|

Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Second Prize “Greatest of All” by Mary F. Arnold Continued from: Introduction First Prize: “Chicago’s World’s Fair, A.D. 2000” by Percival Owen They were smartly clad in knickerbockers and silk jackets, the latter slashed and trimmed with soft brown leather, buttoned to their throats. Each wore a belt, leggings and shoes of the brown leather and a brown sailor hat. The girl wore, also, a short silk skirt reaching to her [...]

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Apr. 14, 2024: “The Enthronement of Merchandise with the Aura of Amusement” (Online)

By |2024-04-14T21:39:20-05:00March 21st, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|

The Farm House Museum at Iowa State University in Ames is hosting an online talk on the grandiose displays of manufacturers at late 19th- and early 20th-century world’s fairs, including the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. World's fairs scholar Ethan Robey of the University of California, Irvine, will present "The Enthronement of Merchandise with the Aura of Amusement" on Sunday, April 14, 2024, from 2- 3 PM (US Central) via Zoom. Using the link above to register for this free [...]

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162. Picturesque World’s Fair – On the Short of the North Lagoon

By |2024-03-09T11:48:14-06:00March 9th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , |

ON THE SHORE OF THE NORTH LAGOON.—There were many charming bits of scenery in the great Exposition grounds, and many novel views which could be enjoyed only from a boat or from points not generally sought by the mass of visitors. One of these views is represented in the accompanying picture, the observer being close to the south shore of the North Lagoon and just east of the strait leading to the bodies of water further south. On the [...]

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Feb.-Oct., 2024: “World’s Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” (Ames, IA)

By |2024-02-21T15:53:27-06:00February 22nd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS, EXHIBITS (current)|

The Farm House Museum at Iowa State University in Ames is hosting an exhibition on “World's Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” from February through October, 2024. This exhibition illustrates through objects and narrative the earliest World’s Fair in 1851 London, through several in Paris, and the Centennial and World’s Columbian Exhibitions in the United States. The University Museums’ permanent collection includes several objects that were souvenirs of some of the fifteen major World’s Fairs or Expositions [...]

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