FAIR Archives - Page 7 of 48 - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

Did you see the 1893 Fair? Prove it with a “Certificate of Visitation to the World’s Columbian Exposition”
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Did you see the 1893 Fair? Prove it with a “Certificate of Visitation to the World’s Columbian Exposition”

HISTORY

Did you see the 1893 Fair? Prove it with a “Certificate of Visitation to the World’s Columbian Exposition”

You bought your train ticket and booked your lodging in Chicago, traveled to Jackson Park and paid your fifty-cent admission. You’ve finally made it into the City of Wonders, the Dream City, the White City … the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. How will anyone believe you are here if you don’t purchase an official “Certificate of Visitation” to show friends back home? T. Dart Walker’s drawing “In the Rotunda of the Administration Building” depicts a busy ground [...]

By Scott|2023-12-28T11:47:33-06:00December 20th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Administration Building, Harlow Higinbotham, Howard O. Edmonds, Model Post Office, postcards, souvenirs|0 Comments

Tea from the Boston Tea Party at the 1893 World’s Fair
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Tea from the Boston Tea Party at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Tea from the Boston Tea Party at the 1893 World’s Fair

Two hundred and fifty years ago, on December 16, 1773, American colonists angry at the British crown for imposing taxation without representation, staged what became known as “The Boston Tea Party.” This act of colonial defiance to British rule has become a legendary part of American history, although aspects of the story are steeped in myth. Some of the tea from Boston Harbor appears to have made its way to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In the [...]

By Scott|2023-12-16T12:18:20-06:00December 16th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Board of Lady Managers, Children's Building, U.S. Government Building, W.W. Denslow|0 Comments

“A credit to Chicago’s wonderful pluck”: An Easterner’s take on the White City
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“A credit to Chicago’s wonderful pluck”: An Easterner’s take on the White City

REPRINTS

“A credit to Chicago’s wonderful pluck”: An Easterner’s take on the White City

This gracious comment about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition comes a Connecticut man visiting the Fair in early May. [reprinted from “Noted by a Meriden Man: Jottings at the Big World’s Fair” Meriden (CT) Daily Republican May 6, 1893] The number, area and styles of the buildings on Jackson Park are astonishing and a credit to Chicago's wonderful pluck and executive ability. New York would never have poured out the millions to erect the mammoth white structures that her [...]

By Scott|2023-12-15T09:15:08-06:00December 16th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: New York|0 Comments

The Columbian Exposition, a Scintillating Diadem
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The Columbian Exposition, a Scintillating Diadem

REPRINTS

The Columbian Exposition, a Scintillating Diadem

Mr. Gerald James of London, puzzled by the discouraging impressions of the Fair reaching him through the New York press, came to Chicago to see for himself what the Exposition had to offer an open mind. “The Fair is supreme,” he wrote. “It is a scintillating diadem crowning the civilized world with the honor and glory of peace. It tells a story that centuries of books and newspapers could not tell, and is worth more to a man or [...]

By Scott|2023-12-12T15:28:53-06:00December 15th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Dyche Panorama, Haiti Building, Kansas State Building, Tower of Oranges, Vermont State Building|0 Comments

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

HISTORY

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

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 [...]

By Scott|2023-12-12T14:51:11-06:00December 13th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: California State Building, Horticultural Building, oranges, Tower of Oranges|0 Comments

158. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Vista of State Buildings
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158. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Vista of State Buildings

REPRINTS

158. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Vista of State Buildings

A VISTA OF STATE BUILDINGS.—Looking southwest from an elevated point about the middle of the north line of the Exposition Grounds, a view was had of a number of the most attractive State Buildings, and an idea obtained of the general appearance of this charming city by itself, which might be called the White City's great suburb, though, of course, quite as much a part of the Exposition as anything on the grounds. The White City proper was the [...]

By Randy|2023-12-09T09:44:01-06:00December 12th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Arizona, California State Building, Delaware State Building, Idaho State Building, Illinois State Building, Maryland State Building, Montana State Building, New York State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Utah State Building|0 Comments

Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair
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Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair

REPRINTS

Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair

Reprinted below are ten “Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair” from the October 1893 issue of The Dial, a literary magazine published in Chicago. The notable contributors are: Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847—1902), Midwest author of popular historical romances, short stories, and poetry; Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900), essayist and novelist best remembered as the co-author with Mark Twain of The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873); George W. Cable (1844–1925), novelist who portrayed Creole life in his native New [...]

By Scott|2023-12-09T08:37:26-06:00December 9th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Dudley Warner, George W. Cable, Harriet Monroe, Henry B. Fuller, Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, Paul Bourget, Richard Watson Gilder, Walter Besant, William P. Trent|0 Comments

“After the Ball” entertains and enrages at the 1893 World’s Fair
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“After the Ball” entertains and enrages at the 1893 World’s Fair

AUDIO, HISTORY

“After the Ball” entertains and enrages at the 1893 World’s Fair

One song served as the (unofficial) anthem of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. More popular than “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay,” more often sung than “America,” and more frequently parodied than “Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow Wow,” this tune could be heard—for better or for worse—throughout the fairgrounds all summer. Groups ranging from John Philip Sousa’s band to the marimba quartet at the Guatemala Building to the donkey boys on the Street in Cairo performed the hit of Fair, “After the [...]

By Scott|2024-01-23T08:50:26-06:00November 29th, 2023|Categories: AUDIO, HISTORY|Tags: After the Ball, Captive Balloon, International Ball, sheet music, Teresa Dean|0 Comments

Andrew Carnegie’s Eulogy for the 1893 World’s Fair
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Andrew Carnegie’s Eulogy for the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

Andrew Carnegie’s Eulogy for the 1893 World’s Fair

Rags-to-riches immigrant, Gilded Age capitalist, and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) built bridges and skyscrapers that still stand today. His amassed wealth and radical philanthropy built institutions that should stand even longer—museums and a college for Pittsburgh, a music hall for New York, and thousands of libraries around the world. Carnegie was well on his way in 1892 to becoming the richest man in the world when union-busting efforts and a violent strike at the Carnegie Steel plant in [...]

By Scott|2023-11-25T07:15:11-06:00November 25th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Andrew Carnegie|0 Comments

The White City Wish Book: Toys and Holiday Gifts from the 1893 World’s Fair
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The White City Wish Book: Toys and Holiday Gifts from the 1893 World’s Fair

ANTIQUES, REPRINTS

The White City Wish Book: Toys and Holiday Gifts from the 1893 World’s Fair

What holiday gift would you have wished for? In the years following the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, children could have received any number of fair-themed toys and games. Shown below are some examples advertised in the Montgomery Ward Catalogue & Buyer's Guide for 1895, the Carl P. Stirn Catalog of 1893, and various newspapers of the era. Which items would you have circled in the White City Wishbook? Views of the Fair Toys Administration Building Banks Ferris Wheel [...]

By Scott|2023-11-24T08:28:03-06:00November 24th, 2023|Categories: ANTIQUES, REPRINTS|Tags: collecting|2 Comments