The Great Aussie Apple Race to the 1893 World’s Fair

In the spring of 1893, two apple barrels in New South Wales, Australia, embarked on separate paths in a race around the globe. Heading in opposite directions, they reunited inside the Horticultural Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Which apples won, red or gold? How many days did it take? How did they stay fresh for so long? Find out about their journey in the story below, from the June 7, 1893, issue of the Chicago [...]

By |2023-09-23T18:10:16-05:00October 21st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

157. Picturesque World’s Fair – Camel and Driver in Cairo Street

CAMEL AND DRIVER IN CAIRO STREET.—The Cairo Street camels had varied duties to perform, at one time being hurried along with much mauling and gesticulation to convey a rider, or perhaps a couple, from one end of the street to the other and unload them hurriedly to make room for other experimenting people, and again, bedecked with cumbrous trappings, led along the same boisterous thoroughfare to take part in some procession alleged to be a duplicate of what may [...]

By |2023-10-17T05:30:04-05:00October 17th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
Read More

An Awful Memory from Chicago Day, 1893

Described as “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times,” Chicago Day smashed all attendance figures at the 1893 World's Fair. On October 9, over three-quarters of a million of people gathered on the fairgrounds to commemorate the twenty-second anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and to celebrate the great city that emerged from the flames to host the Columbian Exposition. One float in the evening parade offered a most poignant reflection of [...]

By |2023-10-09T07:57:17-05:00October 9th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
Read More

This Side Up: The OTHER Man Who Mailed Himself to the Midway in a Box

[Continued from Part 1 of this article.] Millions of visitors poured into Chicago during the 1893 World’s Fair. They arrived by train, boat, carriage, wagon, horseback, bicycle, and several even walked. A few others chose, well … less conventional modes of transport. For example, Herman Zeitung—the Austrian tailor, small in stature but big in bravery—mailed himself C.O.D. to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. When he popped out of his cargo box on July 28, officials must have thought “Oh, [...]

By |2023-10-05T07:27:43-05:00October 4th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: |1 Comment
Read More

This Side Up: The Man Who Mailed Himself to the Midway in a Box

Despite having nearly 120,000 people enter the fairgrounds on Friday, July 28, this was the slowest day of the week at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The day before had been a busy one, with Commercial Travelers and German Turners pouring into the Chicago fair for their "special days." Among the few events on Friday was the opening of an interesting package in the Woman’s Building. The box contained a gift from Empress Elisabeth of Austria to the Board [...]

By |2023-10-05T07:24:01-05:00October 3rd, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , |1 Comment
Read More

156. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior View in Old Vienna

INTERIOR VIEW IN OLD VIENNA.—The memory of hours passed in the Austrian Village, or reproduction of a portion of the Vienna of a hundred and fifty years ago, is, perhaps, what will linger longest in the minds of those who "did" the Plaisance thoroughly during the past Exposition. The quaint, bustling scene presented on every side, the suppers in the open air and the delicious music afforded, combined to make the resort one worthy of many visits. The greatest [...]

By |2023-10-10T17:10:17-05:00September 20th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
Read More

“One Unmitigated Nightmare of Horror”—Crowds in Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair

State Street, that great street in the todd’ling town of Chicago, is in need of revitalization. Urban planners aim to bring more people back to “Chicago’s front porch.” Back in 1893, this was one of the busiest throughfares in the world, and many walking through the frenetic business district were visitors to the World’s Fair. Not all the locals were happy about the thick crowds, as recorded in the article reprinted below, from the August 17, 1893, issue of [...]

By |2023-09-16T10:08:31-05:00September 16th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|0 Comments
Read More

The Flying Dutchman Enlightens the World’s Fair of 1893

Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago who found their way into the southwest corner of the Agricultural Building Annex encountered a most curious figure. Rising above a display of farm plows stood a twelve-foot-tall, pot-bellied man flamboyantly dressed and having a pair of huge wings. He stood on a tree stump holding a luminous ear of corn, striking a pose that lampooned the famous Liberty Enlightening the World (aka the Statue of Liberty) by Frédéric Auguste [...]

By |2023-09-15T08:38:26-05:00September 12th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

155. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the German Castle

ENTRANCE TO THE GERMAN CASTLE.--The entrance to the German Castle in the German Village, in the Midway Plainance, was the part of that structure which most recalled to mind a castle of the medieval barons, who had such particularly good times when the Emperor would let them alone and when raids upon their neighbors were always exciting and sometimes profitable. The moat was not very wide nor very deep; the drawbridge would not have accommodated a grand pageant of [...]

By |2023-10-10T17:11:08-05:00August 22nd, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

154. Picturesque World’s Fair – East front of Machinery Hall and the Obelisk

EAST FRONT OF MACHINERY HALL, AND THE OBELISK.—The area of water extending to the south from the Grand Basin and known as the South Canal was so entirely surrounded by the beautiful in art or architecture that a view across it from any point was sure to be something captivating. The view above is from the northeast corner of the canal, just where the " Farmer's Bridge " terminated on the area in front of the Agriculture Building, with [...]

By |2023-10-10T17:09:30-05:00July 27th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More
Copyright 2024 WorldsFairChicago1893 | All Rights Reserved |
Go to Top