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Season’s Readings: 2024 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition

Relatively few new books were added to the Columbian Exposition bookshelf this past year, but the small selection does cover several interesting topics. Three new academic works explore the Woman’s Building, model Haida Village, and Haiti Building and Frederick Douglass. A new children’s novel time-travels back to 1893. Note: We provide this announcement of new titles without any compensation from authors or publishers. We encourage shopping through independent local book dealers and online platforms that support them, such as [...]

By |2024-11-28T13:44:45-06:00December 1st, 2024|Categories: FICTION, NEWS, PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

World’s Fair architects on “Jeopardy!”

The November 29, 2024, episode of Jeopardy! offered contestants this $400 clue in the Double Jeopardy! round under the category of “Do You Want to Build a Building?”: In 1873 Daniel Burnham & John Root started a firm to build together in this city; 2 decades later, Burnham built a fair there. Debbie Mercer, a retired special education teacher from (nearby) Oak Park, Illinois, gave the correct answer of Chicago. Daniel Burnham and John Root in their office [...]

By |2024-11-30T10:23:45-06:00November 30th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Giving Thanks Before the 1893 World’s Fair Opens

On Thanksgiving 1892, Chicago was gearing up for the World’s Columbian Exposition, having just held the grand Dedication Day ceremonies on October 21 and the Inaugural Reception ball two days before that. Both events had showed that Chicago was ready to host the World’s Fair the following spring. What were these ten prominent Chicagoans thankful for? In this cartoon for the Chicago Inter Ocean Illustrated Supplement, artist Art Young attempts to take a guess their inner thoughts. George R. [...]

The Architectural Influence of the 1893 World’s Fair on “Wicked”

Every way That you look in this city There’s something exquisite You’ll want to visit Before the day’s through! —“One Short Day” by Stephen Schwartz The 2024 blockbuster film Wicked takes audiences into the thrilling dreamworld of Oz. While visiting the Emerald City, attentive viewers may catch glimpses of the 1893 World’s Fair. Ever since L. Frank Baum “discovered” the Land of Oz and published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900—seven years after visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition [...]

By |2024-11-24T12:29:48-06:00November 22nd, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , |2 Comments

Ignacy Paderewski Battles the Midway Camel

Twenty-two-year-old Ignacy Jan Paderewski (November 18, 1860 – June 29, 1941) was already a rock star when he performed a concert for the opening of the 1893 World’s Fair. The Polish pianist’s adoring fans—enchanted as much by his luxuriant red locks as by his charismatic keyboard performance—succumbed to “Paddymania.” His distinguishing coiffure made Paderewski a common subject of caricatures and cartoons. One example places him back at the World’s Columbian Exposition, where one denizen of the Midway Plaisance was [...]

By |2024-11-05T10:07:15-06:00November 18th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments

“It’s Ugly.” But worth $150,000! Tiffany Love Cup from 1893 World’s Fair Featured on “Antiques Roadshow”

It may be ugly, but it’s a treasure from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. A silver loving cup made by Tiffany & Company for the World’s Fair was brought in for appraisal on Antiques Roadshow Season 28 Episode 20 “Vintage Madison 2024, Hour 1” on PBS. The sterling silver cup is decorated with enameling embedded with turquoise and other stones. The owner inherited the vase from a family member who lived near the Midway Plaisance in Chicago, though admitted [...]

By |2024-11-09T16:31:09-06:00November 10th, 2024|Categories: ANTIQUES, NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Tale of a Canceled Pass at the 1893 World’s Fair

From the September 30, 1893, issue of Boot and Shoe Recorder comes this verse about whiskers, an entrance pass, and love on the World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. An 1893 patent fot a farm lifting gate. TALE OF A CANCELED PASS I. Cervantes Burton was patentee Of a lifting gate called the “A. B. C.” “It is built in such a simple way That a child can work it,” he would say. Mr. Burton had shown this wondrous [...]

By |2024-11-05T18:15:11-06:00November 8th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|0 Comments

Dec. 6-28, 2024: Joffrey Ballet’s “Columbian Nutcracker” (Chicago)

A festive Ferris Wheel, a Dream City, a flurry of snow, dancing dragons, dancing nuts, and dancing rats! It's that time of the year for Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet to stage their spectacular annual production of The Nutcracker, with story set on the fairgrounds of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Performances run from December 6-28, 2023, at the Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Dr. in Chicago) This ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which premiered in 2016, invites the audience to [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:46:20-06:00November 6th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments

Nov. 9, 2024: “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” (Hazel Crest, IL, and online)

The South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society (SSGHS) will host a presentation on “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” at their meeting on Saturday, November 9, 2024. Guest speaker Ray Johnson, known as “The History Cop,” will discuss his research into new links between killer H. H. Holmes and Thomas B. Bryan and Daniel H. Burnham, and a possible link to a swindle in England. The society meeting will take place from 10–11 [...]

By |2025-01-20T09:40:51-06:00November 3rd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

The Amusement Zone of the 1893 Columbian Exposition featured on WTTW’s “Chicago Stories”

“The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition proved that Chicagoans had a healthy appetite for amusement—and that fun could be monetized.” —WTTW’s Chicago Stories An episode of WTTW’s Chicago Stories airing on October 4, 2024, takes viewers on a ride through the history of regional amusement parks such as The White City, Riverview, and Kiddieland. “Amusement Parks” opens with a visit to the 1893 World’s Fair and some dazzling digital animation of vintage photographs. “The 1893 Columbian Exposition was a BIG [...]

By |2024-10-24T10:16:25-05:00October 24th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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