116. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Sedan Chair Carriers

THE SEDAN CHAIR CARRIERS.—There was a partial return to the ways of our forefathers at the Fair, though the fad was not introduced as the result of any spasmodic whim of society, but by fez-wearing men from the Orient. The concession for the Sedan chairs belonged to the Turkish Village people and near this, at one side of the Plaisance, the Sedan bearers, sturdy Turks as one could wish to see, stood soliciting custom and getting a great deal [...]

By |2021-04-15T18:20:58-05:00April 15th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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115. Picturesque World’s Fair – Under the Horticulture Building Dome

UNDER THE HORTICULTURE BUILDING DOME.—The largest hothouse in the world had sights worth seeing. The great dome of the Horticulture Building, one hundred and eighty feet in height and one hundred and fourteen feet in diameter, overhung a charming scene where gigantic palms, ferns, bamboos and other products of tropical growth were flourishing, and where one coming in from the grounds outside seemed transported suddenly to some equatorial country. Directly underneath the dome in the center of the building [...]

By |2021-03-28T10:31:27-05:00March 28th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |1 Comment
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“Farthest North”: An Arctic Tableau at the 1893 World’s Fair

Crowds gather at the 1893 World's Fair to see a panorama depicting the Greely Expedition to the North Pole. [Image from the Illustrated American World's Fair Special Issue, 1893.] Seventy five years ago today, arctic explorer David L. Brainard (1856–1946) died at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. He was the last survivor of the famous Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–84 under the command of Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely (1844–1935), whose final resting place is close [...]

By |2021-05-08T14:38:44-05:00March 22nd, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: |0 Comments
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From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor

A visit to the 1893 World’s Fair inspired Penelope Gleason Knapp to pen a romantic and effusive love letter to the wonders of the White City. With Victorian flourish, she describes her rapturous experience in the Court of Honor, “where enchantment reigns supreme.” Her memoir offers a reminder that electric illumination on such a grand scale was an overwhelming experience for many visitors from small towns in America. Penelope Gleason Knapp In 1893, twenty-two-year-old Penelope Gleason Knapp was living [...]

By |2021-04-02T11:11:32-05:00March 22nd, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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114. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Norwegian Building

THE NORWEGIAN BUILDING.—Despite their political connection, Norway and Sweden had separate buildings at the World's Fair, each a credit to its country. The Norwegian Building was situated near the lake front and east of the North Pond, amid a group of trees familiar to those who have visited Jackson Park before an Exposition was thought of. In size the building was sixty by twenty-five feet, and was con-structed almost entirely of Norway pine. All the workmen employed and all [...]

By |2021-03-07T11:18:00-06:00March 7th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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113. Picturesque World’s Fair – North Front of the French Building

NORTH FRONT OF THE FRENCH BUILDING.—The French Building at the Exposition consisted, practically, of two parts connected by a semi-circular colonnade. Of these the one to the north, a facade of which appears in the illustration, was the larger and more important. Built in the Renaissance style and richly decorated, it was a beautiful object in its conspicuous position at the junction of the main east and west thoroughfare across the grounds and the lake front Promenade. A large [...]

By |2021-02-21T11:55:41-06:00February 21st, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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112. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Group of Singhalese

A GROUP OF SINGHALESE.—The Singhalese seemed to have a good time of it at the World's Fair. Their country was well represented by a charming building and fine exhibit of the products of the land, and the people themselves, in family groups, had both occupation and amusement. The old hymn to the effect that "Ceylon's lovely Isle" is a place where nature has done pretty well and "only man is vile" seemed hardly justified by the appearance or the [...]

By |2021-02-21T07:49:29-06:00February 18th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Love on the Lagoon at the 1893 World’s Fair

A romantic ride in an authentic Venetian gondola was a dreamy treat for many visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair. Guiding these craft through the Grand Basin and Lagoon were fifty-seven Venetian gondoliers brought from Italy by the World's Fair Venetian Gondola Company of Chicago. A Venetian swan gondola gliding across the South Canal, along the western side of the Agricultural Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from The Dream City. A Portfolio of Photographic Views of [...]

By |2021-04-02T11:15:33-05:00February 14th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Claude Monet’s paintings at the 1893 World’s Fair

Irises, water lilies, and poppies can be spotted around Chicago this winter, colorful images promoting the exhibition Monet and Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 14, 2021. The show explores Chicago’s early connection to Claude Monet, whose canvases began arriving in this city around the time of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition because of a few visionary collectors. Monet paintings adorned the walls of Bertha and Potter Palmer’s “castle” in Lincoln Park, Martin A. Ryerson’s mansion [...]

By |2021-12-09T04:58:43-06:00January 31st, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , |0 Comments
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111. Picturesque World’s Fair – A group of Arabs, Turks and Bedouins

A GROUP OF ARABS, TURKS AND BEDOUINS.—If there be a region in the world where caste and race distinctions are forgotten where the religion is the same, it would appear to be in northern Africa, for the people at the Fair from that continent seemed utterly devoid of prejudice as regarded each other. The group here represented should have the addition of some swarthy Nubian chief, to convey a full idea of the good fellowship which prevailed, but, as [...]

By |2021-01-27T06:59:36-06:00January 27th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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