COLLECTING Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

“The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress” Raises Story of a Forgotten Ship from the 1893 World’s Fair
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“The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress” Raises Story of a Forgotten Ship from the 1893 World’s Fair

NEWS, PRODUCTS, RESEARCH

“The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress” Raises Story of a Forgotten Ship from the 1893 World’s Fair

The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress: New Bedford, Chicago and the Twilight of an Industry by Daniel Gifford. McFarland Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781476682150. Softcover, 204 pages. $45.00. Along the eastern edge of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition were four different exhibits of sea craft, each with a unique story to share. The reproductions of the Spanish Caravels—the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria—served as a fitting commemoration of the theme of World’s Fair, Columbus’ 1492 voyage. The Viking [...]

By Scott|2020-07-18T10:18:45-05:00June 15th, 2020|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: Progress (whaling bark)|0 Comments

Quarantine Has Us Going to Pieces
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Quarantine Has Us Going to Pieces

NEWS, PRODUCTS

Quarantine Has Us Going to Pieces

Assembling this birds-eye-view of the 1893 World’s Fair lifted our spirits and offered a detailed visit to the fairgrounds of the Columbian Exposition, while cooperating with our stay-at-home ordinance.

By Scott|2020-05-13T08:07:57-05:00May 13th, 2020|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|3 Comments

1893 World’s Fair Director’s Medal Sells for $3,240
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1893 World’s Fair Director’s Medal Sells for $3,240

ANTIQUES

1893 World’s Fair Director’s Medal Sells for $3,240

A rare Director’s medal from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sold for $3,240 in Heritage Auctions’ April 26, 2020, coin auction.

By Scott|2022-03-05T11:11:23-06:00May 12th, 2020|Categories: ANTIQUES|Tags: auction, Elihu Vedder|0 Comments

Autographed Letter about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the 1893 World’s Fair Sells at Auction
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Autographed Letter about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the 1893 World’s Fair Sells at Auction

ANTIQUES

Autographed Letter about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the 1893 World’s Fair Sells at Auction

A letter inviting the International Folk-Lorre Congress of the 1893 World's Fair to attend Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show has sold at auction for $937.50. Heritage Auctions' February 20, 2020, "Americana & Political Signature Auction" included the hand-written letter from Nate Salsbury, manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Company. An 1893 letter from Nate Salsbury, manager of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, inviting the International Folk-Lorre Congress at the World's Columbian Exposition to see a performance. [Image from [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T10:59:40-06:00March 4th, 2020|Categories: ANTIQUES|Tags: auction, Buffalo Bill, International Folk-Lorre Congress|0 Comments

Raising the Ante for Midway Playing Cards
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Raising the Ante for Midway Playing Cards

COLLECTING, PRODUCTS

Raising the Ante for Midway Playing Cards

A Kickstarter campaign is raising funds for a new edition of Midway playing cards.

By Scott|2020-02-29T14:02:14-06:00March 2nd, 2020|Categories: COLLECTING, PRODUCTS|Tags: Midway Plaisance|1 Comment

POSTPONED March 29, 2020: 26th Annual World’s Fair Memorabilia Show (Elk Grove Village, IL)
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POSTPONED March 29, 2020: 26th Annual World’s Fair Memorabilia Show (Elk Grove Village, IL)

ANTIQUES, EVENTS (past)

POSTPONED March 29, 2020: 26th Annual World’s Fair Memorabilia Show (Elk Grove Village, IL)

This event has been postponed. The 26th Annual World's Fair Memorabilia Show will be held on Sunday, March 29, 2020, from 10 am to 4 pm at the Holiday Inn at 1000 Busse Road (Rt. 83 and Landmeier Rd.) in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Collectors and dealers will meet to buy, sell, and trade items related to World's Fairs from 1876 to the present. Although the main focus will be on the 1933/34 Chicago World's Fair, there will also be items [...]

By Scott|2022-03-10T18:43:38-06:00March 1st, 2020|Categories: ANTIQUES, EVENTS (past)|Tags: collecting|2 Comments

Mar. 3, 2020: World’s Fair Auction #36 closes
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Mar. 3, 2020: World’s Fair Auction #36 closes

ANTIQUES, EVENTS (past)

Mar. 3, 2020: World’s Fair Auction #36 closes

Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #36, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 22 through 59 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: a handsome powder jar made of milk glass and featuring a color image of an unusual vista of the Administration Building. a rare Parker Brothers [...]

By Scott|2020-03-14T11:44:22-05:00February 22nd, 2020|Categories: ANTIQUES, EVENTS (past)|Tags: auction|0 Comments

World’s Fair Merch from the Driehaus Museum
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World’s Fair Merch from the Driehaus Museum

PRODUCTS

World’s Fair Merch from the Driehaus Museum

While visiting “Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany” at the Driehaus Museum, we spotted some 1893 World’s Fair products in the third-floor gift shop. A few came home with us. The iconic Ferris Wheel is featured on a T-shirt ($24) that comes in two colors, an enamel pin ($10) and a pair of earrings. Some Oolong Tea ($9.99) from the Oliver Pluff & Co. comes in a special tin featuring Charles Graham’s lovely artwork of [...]

By Scott|2020-02-09T19:28:28-06:00February 10th, 2020|Categories: PRODUCTS|Tags: Ferris Wheel|2 Comments

“Haunts of the White City” Offers a Few World’s Fair Ghost Stories
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“Haunts of the White City” Offers a Few World’s Fair Ghost Stories

PRODUCTS, RESEARCH

“Haunts of the White City” Offers a Few World’s Fair Ghost Stories

Haunts of the White City: Ghost Stories From the World's Fair, the Great Fire, and Victorian Chicago by Ursula Bielski. History Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781467139656. Softcover, 272 pages. $21.99. Even those of us who don’t believe in ghosts can enjoy a good ghost story. And Chicago is full of them. Ursula Bielski collects many of the more famous spectral tales, and few lesser-known phantoms, in Haunts of the White City. Spawning these claims of the supernatural are the expected [...]

By Scott|2024-02-17T10:01:37-06:00February 1st, 2020|Categories: PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: Daniel Burnham, H. H. Holmes|0 Comments

World’s Columbian Exposition Rat Traps
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World’s Columbian Exposition Rat Traps

ANTIQUES, REPRINTS

World’s Columbian Exposition Rat Traps

Although little has been written about them, rats must have been present on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Rats also contributed to a unique Columbian Exposition product. The excerpt below, from “Traps Suited to the Rat’s Taste” published in the November 4, 1894, issue of the Philadelphia Times, describes commercial rat traps having themes related to the Midway Plaisance: It seems like rats are like persons. Some like one kind of trap and some another; just [...]

By Scott|2024-10-22T05:57:40-05:00January 25th, 2020|Categories: ANTIQUES, REPRINTS|0 Comments