126. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Penobscot Indian Camp

THE PENOBSCOT INDIAN CAMP.—To those familiar with the history of the Indians who lived near the Atlantic coast and so came into early contact with the whites, the Penobscot Indian Camp, or Village, was an object of interested study. There were four families of Penobscots, or, as they were once called, "Panawanskeks," and there was also a lodge of Iroquois, peopled by a few of the living representatives of that famous tribe, and forming a part of the New [...]

125. Picturesque World’s Fair – Arab and Bedouin Horsemen

ARAB AND BEDOUIN HORSEMEN.—Just what the distinction was between Arabs and Bedouins, visitors to the Wild East Show were puzzled to determine. Those of them who had ever paid attention to the terms counted "Arab " as a general description, including all the desert dwellers, and " Bedouin " as something more definite, applying to a single tribe or nation. They left the Wild East Show with just as much and no more information on the subject than they [...]

“The dearest spot on earth” at the 1893 World’s Fair

What some visitors thought of as exorbitant prices for food and lodging in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition became the stuff of legend. The fanciful tale told below, originally published in the July 2, 1895, Chicago Tribune and reprinted in newspapers across the country, captures one not-so-fond memory of the 1893 World’s Fair. We can only guess to the identity of the restaurant he had patronized. A photograph by Charles Dudley Arnold of the lovely Café [...]

By |2021-08-24T20:30:51-05:00August 29th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|0 Comments

124. Picturesque World’s Fair – State Buildings Looking South

STATE BUILDINGS—LOOKING SOUTH.—The city of State Buildings at the north end of the Fair Grounds afforded many interesting bird's-eye views, of which one of the prettiest is given in the accompanying illustration. The view taken is from an elevated point at the northern extremity of the inclosed area, and very nearly at the center east and west. In the foreground, at the right, appears the log-built chalet of Idaho, beyond which is the Maryland Building, the gable of that [...]

An Endless Ride on the Intramural Railway at the 1893 World’s Fair

One challenge for the designers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was finding ways to transport visitors around the enormous fairgrounds. Walking the main grounds—almost a mile and a half from north to south and three-quarters of a mile wide across the south end, and a mile-long Midway Plaisance—exhausted many fairgoers. Rolling chairs offered a personal mode of transportation around the grounds, while watercraft such as electric launches and Venetian gondolas provided scenic routes through the waterways. The fastest [...]

By |2023-10-02T19:44:40-05:00July 31st, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments

123. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Boiler-Room of Machinery Hall

THE BOILER-ROOM OF MACHINERY HALL.—Never before was such a boiler-room as that which delighted engineers in Machinery Hall. It must needs be enormous, for it supplied the force for all the lights and machinery of the great buildings, but those who had never seen it were none the less astonished when they entered the great room. It extended north and south in the annex, and to look down it was like looking down a street the end of which [...]

By |2021-07-27T06:51:41-05:00July 27th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

122. Picturesque World’s Fair – South Front of the Manufactures Building

SOUTH FRONT OF THE MANUFACTURES BUILDING.—While not its greatest frontage, the south end of the Manufactures Building was most familiar to Exposition visitors, facing as it did to the Court of Honor and affording between it and the Grand Basin a vantage point for seeing the fountains at play and the illumination of the buildings at night. The illustration above shows this frontage as well as that on the west, adjacent to the canal and the East Lagoon. The [...]

121. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Grand Basin at Night – Showing Search-Lights

THE GRAND BASIN AT NIGHT—SHOWING SEARCH-LIGHTS.—One of the charms of the night view over the Grand Basin was that it was always new, atmospheric or other causes producing varied effects, and the scene on one occasion being entirely different from that presented on another. And not only were atmospheric conditions fluctuating, but the artificial ones produced were made still more so, a new experience to the sight-seer after dark being thus assured beyond all peradventure. Here the great element [...]

“One feels inclined to make his peace with God and man”: A Ride on the Ferris Wheel

The great Ferris Wheel on the Midway Plaisance of the World’s Columbian Exposition opened to the public on June 21, 1893. A North Carolina visitor to the 1893 World’s Fair sent this correspondence to the Charlotte Observer about his experience riding the famous Ferris Wheel: Yesterday we spent the day in the Midway Plaisance. Among the first of our experiences was a ride on the great Ferris Wheel. This immense structure, consuming in its various parts over 4,000 tons [...]

By |2021-04-30T08:43:48-05:00June 21st, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |4 Comments

120. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Load of Michigan Pine Logs

A LOAD OF MICHIGAN PINE LOGS.—The lumber industry in Michigan is conducted on a grand scale, and something of the methods pursued was illustrated by a firm which contributed a single load of logs to the Exposition. Twenty-five saw logs were shown in a single load at the Centennial Exposition. Michigan simply doubled this. Never before was seen such a load of logs. It consisted of fifty magnificent lengths of white pine, borne on a single sled, containing forty-six [...]

By |2021-06-14T08:09:17-05:00June 14th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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