118. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Great Steam Hammer

THE GREAT STEAM HAMMER.—One exhibit in the Transportation Building always attracted curious inspection. To many unfamiliar with the heavy machinery used in the vast manufactories of today, its use was not apparent, but to those informed in such fields it was an object of decided interest. This was the model of the monster steam hammer in use by the Bethlehem Iron Company, of Pennsylvania, the largest steam hammer in the world. Though painted to represent iron, the model was [...]

117. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Wisconsin Building

THE WISCONSIN BUILDING.—It was intended that the Wisconsin Building should be indicative of the resources of the state, and such it was in fact. All the visible material came from Wisconsin, the brown stone, the pressed brick, the shingles and even the plate glass being home products. A handsome building was the result, too. The rich brown stone has long been famous for such use, and the design of the structure was such as to enable its employment to [...]

By |2021-04-26T06:04:24-05:00May 1st, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

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

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

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

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

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 [...]

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