Midway-themed charity bazaars and fairs were a trend sweeping across America throughout 1894 and beyond. Echoes of the White City could be heard from coast to coast.

When the Midway reopened in 1894, the Ferris Wheel had only four passenger cars, the girls in the Congress of Beauty had to shave their faces, and the famous “belly dance” was performed by a male window decorator from Marshall Field’s.As carriages pulled up along Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s society folk were greeted by a fat, little man wearing “trousers that might have been intended for twin balloons,” a fez, and shoes with turned-up toes. Standing on a red platform, he [...]