PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Michigan Building (p. 81)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 81 – THE MICHIGAN BUILDING THE MICHIGAN BUILDING.—Of all the State buildings on the Fair grounds none was more popular than the Michigan Building. Standing near the Fifty-seventh street entrance, its handsome front catching the eye of visitors, its doors always hospitably open, not to Michigan people alone but to the multitude, and its spacious rooms and luxurious appointments inviting all to their enjoyment, it was generally the resting [...]

By |2019-07-06T09:44:26-05:00July 6th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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“Moving With Perfect Freedom” on the Fourth of July, 1893

The Fourth of July was one of the great “Special Days” of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The passage below comes from “The World's College of Democracy” by John Brisben Walker, published in the September 1893 issue of The Cosmopolitan, of which he was the owner and editor. Of all the wonders of the Fair around him, Walker boasts most about the conduct of the visitors on Independence Day. It was my good fortune to be present [...]

By |2022-12-10T10:09:46-06:00July 4th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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“The couple gasped in horrified surprise.” Nude Art at the 1893 World’s Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago exposed visitors to a new world. Many experienced what has been described as the "shock of the new” when facing awesome technological advances and the rich variety of human cultures on exhibition. Others felt a shock just from seeing the human form openly displayed. “No one can help noticing the frankness and more than pagan un-reserve with which contemporary artists are treating the nude, both in painting and in sculpture.” wrote Julian Hawthorne in his [...]

By |2024-09-24T09:06:18-05:00May 28th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Columbian Fountain from the Rear (p. 80)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 80 – COLUMBIAN  FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR.— Father Time became a familiar figure during the Fair to the hosts who gathered about the music stands on the eastern part of the Grand Plaza, for the barge of the Columbian Fountain rode stern on to the plaza and Time was at the barge's helm. The illustration is an excellent one of the fountain from the [...]

By |2019-05-12T10:11:33-05:00May 21st, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Victoria House (p. 79)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 78 – VICTORIA HOUSE VICTORIA HOUSE.—Great Britain's Building, known as Victoria House, was hardly what might have been expected from the Mother Country. It cost $80,000, was not a particularly imposing structure, though by no means ungraceful, and was closed to the public most of the time. It occupied a charming position on the lake front, being the only structure east of the Lake Promenade. It was a Gothic, [...]

By |2019-05-12T09:49:33-05:00May 18th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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“She has waxed bigger and uglier than ever.” An Englishman’s View of 1893 Chicago

Mr. Harry Hems of Exeter, England, submitted the following report on his return visit to Chicago for the opening of the 1893 World’s Fair. At the Exposition, he worked in the British section of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. His unflattering missive from May 15, 1893, about “the most dangerous town in the world” was reprinted in the June 1 issue of the Irish Builder. Let’s hope the rest of Mr. Hems’ time at the Chicago fair left [...]

By |2019-05-10T18:33:42-05:00May 15th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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Happy Mother’s Day. Enjoy some Sunshine and Flowers.

Sunshine and Flowers by Irving R. Wiles was exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Art of the World Illustrated in the paintings, statuary, and architecture of the World's Columbian Exposition Volume II, edited by Ripley Hitchcock (Appleton, 1893).] Mother and child are featured Sunshine and Flowers, a painting by American artist Irving Ramsey Wiles exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair. The oil painting hung on the north wall of Gallery 6 (United States section) in the [...]

By |2019-05-12T14:56:01-05:00May 12th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Illinois Building (p. 78)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 77 – THE ILLINOIS BUILDING THE ILLINOIS BUILDING.—It is but just to say that the Illinois Building was not considered one of the beauties of the World's Fair. The great sum of $800,000 was appropriated by Illinois for World's Fair purposes, and of this sum a quarter of a million dollars was expended on the ambitious structure shown in the illustration, but it was not artistically speaking, worth the [...]

By |2019-04-23T05:23:07-05:00April 23rd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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“Behold the spirit of Chicago’s heart.” Diana of the Tower departs Gotham for the 1893 World’s Fair

Adorning the top of the dome of the Agricultural Building at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago was Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ marvelous statue of Diana. The golden huntress previously had stood high above New York City, atop Madison Square Garden. That was the problem: she stood when she should have rotated. Installed on the building's tower in the fall of 1891 as a graceful weather vane, Diana resisted smooth rotation in the wind. Both Saint-Gaudens and Madison Square Garden architect [...]

By |2023-10-11T20:39:40-05:00April 20th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |2 Comments
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Gotham’s Golden Goddess: A Tale of Diana of the Tower

“The beautiful statue of Diana which swings as a weather vane above the central dome is one of the great attractions of the Exposition.” --John J. Flinn in Guide to the World’s Fair Grounds, Buildings and Attractions (Standard Guide Co., 1893) The short story reprinted here comes from the November 1892 issue of Comfort, a monthly periodical from Augusta, Maine. Just weeks before, Gotham’s golden goddess--who is the subject of this tale--had been removed from her lofty perch above [...]

By |2022-03-05T08:34:09-06:00April 19th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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