While it may feel like a new problem, fake news has been with us for a long time. Perhaps no day brings more “alternative facts” than does April Fool’s Day. Long before Russian troll farms, the New York press was at it, attempting to undermine the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition that was set to open in Chicago on May 1, 1893. The January 11, 1892, issue of World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated aimed to set the record straight in their column [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 43 – THE GREAT DISPLAY OF WINDMILLS THE GREAT DISPLAY OF WINDMILLS.—One of the most picturesque effects produced on the Exposition grounds was that resulting from the grouping of windmills of all sorts and kinds in competition. From the old Dutch windmill made famous in poetry and story to the latest patented American invention, they were there in the path of the lake breezes, blazing in all colors and [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 42 – THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.—The heart of the great entity known as the Columbian Exposition was in the Administration Building. Here were the offices of the Presidents and here, also, those of the Director-General and some of his immediate lieutenants. From here the vast machinery was directed and controlled, and about here as a nucleus thronged the multitude preliminary to any great festal occasion. It was [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 41 – JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.—From the very inception of the idea of the Columbian Exposition, the Japanese Government showed a hearty good will toward the United States in the movement, and was one of the earliest nations on the ground engaged in the erection of its buildings. A site on the Wooded Island was given the old empire, it being the only country occupying space in [...]
We conclude a trio of stories this week about President Grover Cleveland’s visit to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago with a newspaper report about a handsome Columbian Exposition keepsake. The following tidbit about Opening Day of the Columbian Exposition on May 1, 1893, comes from “The Great Fair Opens” in the June 1893 issue of Current Literature [public domain]. Bibliophiles may wonder where this handsome volume is today! ___________________________________________________________ President Cleveland, says the Chicago Record, carried away with [...]
Continuing our celebration this week of both St. Patrick’s Day and the anniversary of President Grover Cleveland’s birth, we present this annotated report from the May 2, 1893, edition of the San Sabo (TX) News. The article describes how a group of Irish women from the Midway serenaded President Cleveland as he departed Chicago after the Opening Ceremony of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. _________________________________________________________________________ OFF TO WASHINGTON Photograph of Grover Cleveland. [Image from Dedicatory and Opening Ceremonies [...]
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey. The second inauguration of Grover Cleveland as the 24th President of the United States was held on March 4, 1893, less than two months before the opening of the World’s Fair in Chicago on May 1. Having previously served as the 22nd president, Cleveland is the only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Egyptian Temple Reproduction showing the [...]
"Types of the Fair" [Adapted from a drawing in Current Literature June 1893.] Ishbel Maria Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, became viceregal consort of Canada in 1893 when her husband John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon (Lord Aberdeen) was appointed governor general. She was the former viceroy of Ireland and founder of the Irish Industries Association. In her essay about Ireland, published in the July 1893 issue of the North American Review, Lady Aberdeen sets out to describe the contributions of [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 40 - THE CEYLON BUILDING THE CEYLON BUILDING.—Distant Ceylon made an admirable snowing at the Columbian Exposition, its building forming a notable exhibit in itself. The "Court," as it was called, stood just to the north of the German Building, fronting on the lake. The material was of the beautiful native woods of Ceylon, and the pillars, ends of beams and doors were wonderfully carved in imitation of the [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 39 – MUSIC HALL, THE PERISTYLE AND THE MOVABLE SIDEWALK MUSIC HALL, THE PERISTYLE AND THE MOVABLE SIDEWALK.—First to disappear totally from among the grander features of the Columbian Exposition were the Casino and Music Hall, the famous Peristyle and a portion of the Movable Sidewalk, destroyed by fire on the evening and night of January 8, 1894. The view given above shows all save the Casino, with which [...]
