Happy National Coffee Day
Happy National Coffee Day from WorldsFairChicago1893.com! An advertisement for Chase & Sanborn's "Seal Brand" coffee, official coffee of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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; [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]