October 9, 1893. Could it be possible that 754,000 were assembled together to celebrate a peaceful event?

October 9, 1893, was “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times.” Chicago Day at the 1893 World’s Fair shattered all previous attendance records with 713,646 paid admissions to the Fair and over three-quarters of a million of people inside the gates of the White City. The event commemorated the night of October 9, 1871, when the Great Fire ripped through downtown Chicago. Having risen from the ashes and rebuilt, Chicago served as host to [...]

By Scott|2018-10-09T06:17:08-05:00October 9th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Santa Maria (p. 66)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 66 – THE SANTA MARIA THE SANTA MARIA.—The duplicate of the flagship of Columbus, the famous  "Santa Maria,” had many thousands of visitors as she lay in Lake Michigan, just in front of the grounds, one of the most interesting of all the Exposition's attractions. The hosts who boarded her and examined her every part, accustomed as they were to the big ships of today, were surprised at her [...]

By Randy|2018-10-06T05:30:35-05:00October 6th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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Hopes of the Coming Humanity: Remembering Frances E. Willard

“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” – Frances E. Willard Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Frances E. Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898), a member of the Lady Board of Managers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The profile of this notable women’s rights activist comes from the October 1891 issue of [...]

By Scott|2018-09-28T08:10:05-05:00September 28th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Entrance to Woman’s Building (p. 65)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 65 – ENTRANCE TO WOMAN'S BUILDING ENTRANCE TO WOMAN'S BUILDING.—The view given in the accompanying illustration is of the east portal to the transept of the Woman's Building, and it may be said of it, as might be said of other portion of the edifice, that it appeared best upon a close inspection. The building, accidentally, no doubt, but none the less certainly, had a feminine character, lacking boldness [...]

By Randy|2024-11-12T12:52:00-06:00September 28th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Swami Vivekananda’s Speech at the Opening of the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, September 11, 1893

Swami Vivekananda (center) and other East India Delegates to Congress of Religions at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Pictorial Album and History of the World’s Fair and Midway (Harry T. Smith & Co., 1893).] Sisters and Brothers of America, It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; [...]

By Scott|2018-09-11T06:49:46-05:00September 11th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |1 Comment
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Fountain (p. 63)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 63 – THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN.—The Columbian Fountain was generally recognized as a triumph of artistic work on a splendid scale and beyond simplicity in its significance. The prominent object in the Court of Honor, directly in front of the Administration Building was a great circular basin, one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, in which Columbia sat in a Barge of State, drawn by sea-horses and [...]

By Randy|2018-09-10T04:53:10-05:00September 10th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , |1 Comment
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Rolling-Chair Romances

Recruit eight-hundred young college men to the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and assign them to work as escorts for young, attractive women. The situation is fraught with danger, advised the Chicago Record in an article appearing in May of 1893. The annotated news story reprinted below aimed to expose the “rolling romances” formed at the World’s Fair between the wheel-chair pushers—young men with a “very attentive attitude”—and their pert payload. Victorian-era readers (even those in gritty [...]

By Scott|2018-09-02T10:31:09-05:00September 4th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Pushing for a Labor Strike at the Fair

The American labor movement and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition share an intertwined history. Labor Day became an official U.S. federal holiday in 1894. The official histories of the World’s Fair rarely recognize the back-breaking labor of the working class and largely immigrant labor force that carved the lagoon, constructed the White City, operated the concessions. The following article from the August 16, 1893 issue of the Chicago Inter Ocean, describes one instance of labor unrest at the Fair [...]

By Scott|2018-09-02T11:21:38-05:00September 3rd, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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When the Brownies Visited the Columbian Exposition Fairgrounds

In the summer of 1892, the job of readying the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition for its official dedication in October and then finishing work in time for the May 1, 1893, opening must have seemed an impossible task. Luckily, the magical Brownies were there to “lend a helping hand.” The Brownies are a band of adventurous and mischievous little characters created by writer and illustrator Palmer Cox (1840–1924) and based on Scottish folklore figures. Cox wrote that [...]

By Scott|2018-09-01T07:50:50-05:00September 1st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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The Yerkes Telescope, Great Revealer of the Solar System

Among the many enormous and record-breaking displays at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, none were astronomical as the Yerkes Telescope. The historic telescope has been on view to the public, and in service to scientists, for the past 120 years while housed in the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, a beautiful building designed by World’s Fair architect Henry Ives Cobb. The observatory and treasured telescope face an uncertain future as the University of Chicago ceases operations of the [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T10:31:14-06:00August 19th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
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Company Vacation to the 1893 World’s Fair

The Wellington Machine Company of Wellington, Ohio, was a foundry for the manufacturing of brick-making machines. An image of the works can be seen in an 1890 engraving here. The article below from the August 16, 1893, issue of Clay Record (an industry semi-monthly) reports on the company’s generous gift to its employees: an all-expense-paid vacation to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. NICE TRIP TO THE WORLD’S FAIR. Last week the Wellington Machine company, Wellington, O., gave its [...]

By Scott|2023-10-20T21:25:06-05:00August 16th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Grand Basin from the Administration Gallery (p. 62)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 62 – THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY.—Very striking was the effect produced by the body of water known as the Grand Basin, forming a symmetrical marble-framed lake in the center of the Court of Honor. Here, during the day, were reflected the hosts of white fronts uprearing on every side; here, at night, were flashed back the blaze of light [...]

By Randy|2018-08-07T20:33:18-05:00August 9th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Convent of La Rabida (p. 61)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 61 – THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA.—In marked contrast with the great modern structures near it was the reproduction at the Exposition of the Convent of La Rabida, or, to express its title more correctly, the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, which means The Convent of St. Mary of the Frontier. It was to this convent that Columbus went when most wearied [...]

By Randy|2018-08-05T19:30:45-05:00August 5th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Statue of California (p. 60)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 60 – STATUE OF CALIFORNIA STATUE OF CALIFORNIA.—Typical of the great state upon the Pacific Coast was the Statue of California, a striking figure in the huge structure erected in imitation of one of the old Spanish missions. The artist had caught the spirit of the commonwealth, and joyous luxuriance was as apparent in the statue as indicated by the exhibits all about. The figure stood upon the apex [...]

By Randy|2018-07-22T06:34:41-05:00July 31st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Haiti and New South Wales Buildings (p. 58)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 58 – HAITI AND NEW SOUTH WALES BUILDINGS HAITI AND NEW SOUTH WALES BUILDINGS.—On the thoroughfare running west from the British Government Building on the lake shore, were the buildings of Haiti and New South Wales, located so together but by chance in the distribution of space. It was to be expected that the island republic, the region of Columbus' first landing place in America, would take an interested [...]

By Randy|2019-03-16T11:24:42-05:00July 25th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Men Who Will Guard the Fair: Col. Edmund Rice and his Columbian Guard

Colonel Edmund Rice served as commander of the Columbian Guard, the security and safety force that performed policing and fire-patrol duty inside the grounds of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Erik Larson notes in The Devil in the White City (p. 138) that “unlike conventional police departments, the Guard’s mandate explicitly emphasized the novel idea of preventing crime rather than merely arresting wrongdoers after the fact.” Just prior to taking command of the Columbian Guard in May of [...]

By Scott|2018-07-07T09:02:38-05:00July 20th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Statue of Columbus Taking Possession (p. 57)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 57 – STATUE OF COLUMBUS TAKING POSSESSION Only in a lesser degree than that accorded the Statue of the Republic was attention secured by its commanding situation to the statue representing Columbus taking possession of America. It stood in front of the eastern portal of the Administration Building, where were always throngs assembled whether the attendance of the Fair was light or heavy. In this part of the plaza [...]

By Randy|2022-09-02T08:20:31-05:00July 8th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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A Night at the Exposition on the Fourth of July, 1893

“Combine all the adjectives in the English language that express beauty, loveliness, grace and perfection, even then you will fail to describe a gala night at the Exposition.” -- World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated January 1894. July 4, 1893, was a special day at the World’s Columbian Exposition, designated as "United States Day." Attendance swelled to enormous 283,273 paid visitors, making this the largest attendance of any day so far—even greater than on Opening Day—and perhaps the largest festival attendance [...]

By Scott|2026-06-14T18:01:21-05:00July 4th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Liberty Bell (p. 56)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 56 – THE COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL THE COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL.—Not least among the ideas natural to the Columbian year, and which finally embodied themselves, was that of casting a new Liberty Bell, one the very metal of which should have associations connected with the thought of liberty and a universal brotherhood. The plan of such a bell was conceived by Mr. William McDowell, of New Jersey, and it was [...]

By Randy|2018-07-04T14:15:05-05:00July 3rd, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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