“We will hardly make fools of ourselves.” Carter Harrison’s Bid to Be the World’s Fair Mayor

After serving four terms as mayor of Chicago from 1879 to 1887, Carter Harrison, Sr. ran again in 1893 to become the “World’s Fair Mayor.” He oversaw the city’s hosting of the World’s Columbian Exposition until the fateful evening that he was assassinated, just days before the scheduled closing of the Fair. Shortly after the mayor’s death, The Review of Reviews (December 1893, p. 663) published this article, which included a letter written to the journal by the mayor [...]

By |2019-01-03T21:06:08-06:00January 16th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The East India Building (p. 73)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 73 – THE EAST INDIA BUILDING THE EAST INDIA BUILDING.—Through the result of private enterprise instead of being strictly a governmental affair, the East India Building was representative, both as to exterior and contents, and was counted one of the most graceful of its group. It was eighty feet long, sixty feet wide and sixty feet in height, and had one large room surrounded by a gallery, the whole [...]

By |2019-01-09T05:14:05-06:00January 9th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |1 Comment
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“A city of ivory palaces, embodying architectural dreams.” George R. Davis introduces the 1893 World’s Fair

Today marks the anniversary of the birth on January 3, 1840, of George R. Davis, Director-General of the World’s Columbian Exposition. The article below by comes from The World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 by Trumbull White and William Igleheart. J. W. Ziegler, 1893. _________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION By Col. George R. Davis, Director-General of the Exposition. When the gates of the World's Columbian Exposition have been finally closed it will be time enough to impress its lessons upon the world. To [...]

By |2019-01-03T20:34:55-06:00January 3rd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |1 Comment
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Algerian Theatre (p. 72)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 72 – THE ALGERIAN THEATER THE ALGERIAN THEATRE.—The Algerian and Tunisian Village, in which the theatre was the chief attraction, was situated near the center of the Midway Plaisance and adjoining the Street in Cairo. The frontage, as may be seen in the illustration, was not remarkably pretentious, but the main building inside had a Moorish dome with towers and minarets, and its exterior was covered with the rich-hued [...]

By |2018-12-31T05:50:05-06:00December 31st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Alaskan Indian Village (p. 71)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 71 – THE ALASKAN INDIAN VILLAGE THE ALASKAN INDIAN VILLAGE.—Our vast territory of Alaska was not represented at the Fair to the extent its fast-developing resources might have justified. There were no territorial commissioners from that northwestern region, and such regular exhibits as were made appeared in the Government Building under the auspices of the Interior Department. Its fur display, loaned by a private Alaskan firm, was the richest [...]

By |2020-06-12T14:51:36-05:00December 14th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Looking Northeast from the Government Building (p. 70)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 70 – LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—From the roof of the Government Building, looking northeast, a view was afforded of a portion of the North Inlet, the elevated railway a group of prominent structures and of Lake Michigan beyond. Conspicuous in the foreground on the right is a portion of the Life Saving Station, the inlet upon which it was located connecting [...]

By |2018-12-02T13:41:16-06:00December 2nd, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The New York Building (p. 69)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 69 – THE NEW YORK BUILDING THE NEW YORK BUILDING.—Ranking nearly with that of Illinois, the New York Building was probably first in point of originality of light design and unique attractiveness of interior. It occupied a space two hundred and fourteen feet in length by one hundred and forty-two in depth, and was not quite one hundred feet in height to the apex of its towers. Its cost [...]

By |2019-03-16T10:28:16-05:00November 19th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment
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Chicago Mayor DeWitt Cregier Agitates for a World’s Fair

DeWitt Clinton Cregier (June 1, 1829 - November 9, 1898) was Chicago’s 31st mayor--serving from 1889 to 1891--and the first of several “World’s Fair” mayors. “The New York Orphan Who Built Chicago,” Cregier got the ball rolling only a few months into his term by organizing the civic meeting to build the proposal for Chicago to host the Columbian Exposition. The article reprinted below, from The Illustrated World’s Fair, December 1891, p. 15, describes Mayor Cregier’s role in the [...]

By |2018-11-25T10:48:27-06:00November 9th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Machinery Hall (p. 68)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 68 – MACHINERY HALL MACHINERY HALL.—One of the most elaborate structures of the Columbian Exposition, Machinery Hall, or the Palace of Mechanic Art as it was termed officially, fully justified by its general effect the attention paid to ornamental details. The genius who achieved the lesser thing so well did not fail in the greater. Located at the south of the Grand Plaza and fronting to the east on [...]

By |2018-11-03T06:11:19-05:00November 3rd, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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End of an Epoch: October 30, 1893

October 30, 1893 was Closing Day of the World's Columbian Exposition. "The end came at sunset. The great Columbian Exposition faded as quietly and sadly as an autumn day, and when the belching cannon had sent a score of shots to heaven and pelted the domes and pinnacles with a million echoes the giant had died." --from “End of an Epoch” The Chicago Herald, October 31, 1893, p.1

By |2018-10-28T09:34:17-05:00October 30th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments
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