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 |2018-07-07T09:02:38-05:00July 20th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

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 |2022-09-02T08:20:31-05:00July 8th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

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 |2023-12-08T09:12:00-06:00July 4th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

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

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – United States Military Encampment, Government Plaza (p. 55)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 55 – UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA.—North and east of the Manufactures Building was an extensive plaza devoted altogether to the uses of the United States Government. Here were the military encampment, the life-saving station, the signal service bureau, the naval station, the light-house exhibit and similar governmental features. The view shown is taken from the Government Building looking southeast, the northeast [...]

By |2023-02-19T09:39:32-06:00June 25th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Iowa State Band Performs on Inaugural Spin of the Ferris Wheel

The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on June 21, 1893. Though more than a month late (the fair opened on May 1), the wheel became one of the most popular attraction of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Some 2,000 spectators gathered on the Midway Plaisance for the opening ceremony. The festivities began at 3 pm with speeches by Robert W. Hunt, President of the Ferris Wheel Company; George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., engineer and designer of the metal [...]

By |2018-09-02T09:33:06-05:00June 21st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Facade of the French Section (p. 54)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 54 – THE FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION.—Among the various magnificent national displays made in the Manufactures Building that of France ranked with the greatest, either exteriorly considered or with regard to the works and products on exhibition. The section was on the east side of the north and south thoroughfare, known as Columbia Avenue, and at its junction with the main division east [...]

By |2018-07-04T14:16:27-05:00June 18th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

A Flag for the Fair

In 1893, the U.S. flag sported forty-four stars for the forty-four states of the union. Flag Day marks the anniversary of adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777. An official holiday (though not a federal holiday) since 1946, Flag Day commemorations emerged in the 1880s. Apparently there were no Flag Day observances at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition on June 14, though. In honor of "Old Glory," we offer this article from the November [...]

By |2018-07-03T07:54:52-05:00June 14th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

Columbian Exposition Stamp Collecting … and Complaints

Of the many “firsts” associated with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the issuing of the first commemorative postage stamps by the United States Post Office became philatelic history. The set of sixteen stamps are among the most sought-after by collectors of stamps and Columbiana. In the winter of 1892, Postmaster-General John Wanamaker reported on the Columbian series: The introduction of the Columbian series of postage stamps will contribute in a marked way to the great recognition given by the [...]

By |2018-06-10T10:39:42-05:00June 10th, 2018|Categories: ANTIQUES, REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |2 Comments
Read More

Yachting to the World’s Fair

Visitors traveled to the 1893 World’s Fair by train, boat, carriage, horse, bicycle, and even by foot (sometimes very long distances). Below is an annotated excerpt from “Going to the Fair” in the June 1893 issue of Current Literature, in which the author describes the route to travel by yacht from New York to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. “The Water Route” Certainly for the man who owns a boat capable of making the journey, no more delightful trip [...]

By |2018-06-03T09:25:54-05:00June 3rd, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
Read More
Copyright 2024 WorldsFairChicago1893 | All Rights Reserved |
Go to Top