Andrew Carnegie’s Eulogy for the 1893 World’s Fair

Rags-to-riches immigrant, Gilded Age capitalist, and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) built bridges and skyscrapers that still stand today. His amassed wealth and radical philanthropy built institutions that should stand even longer—museums and a college for Pittsburgh, a music hall for New York, and thousands of libraries around the world. Carnegie was well on his way in 1892 to becoming the richest man in the world when union-busting efforts and a violent strike at the Carnegie Steel plant in [...]

By |2023-11-25T07:15:11-06:00November 25th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments

The White City Wish Book: Toys and Holiday Gifts from the 1893 World’s Fair

What holiday gift would you have wished for? In the years following the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, children could have received any number of fair-themed toys and games. Shown below are some examples advertised in the Montgomery Ward Catalogue & Buyer's Guide for 1895, the Carl P. Stirn Catalog of 1893, and various newspapers of the era. Which items would you have circled in the White City Wishbook? Views of the Fair Toys   Administration Building Banks Ferris Wheel [...]

By |2023-11-24T08:28:03-06:00November 24th, 2023|Categories: ANTIQUES, REPRINTS|Tags: |2 Comments

The Great Aussie Apple Race to the 1893 World’s Fair

In the spring of 1893, two apple barrels in New South Wales, Australia, embarked on separate paths in a race around the globe. Heading in opposite directions, they reunited inside the Horticultural Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Which apples won, red or gold? How many days did it take? How did they stay fresh for so long? Find out about their journey in the story below, from the June 7, 1893, issue of the Chicago [...]

By |2023-09-23T18:10:16-05:00October 21st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments

157. Picturesque World’s Fair – Camel and Driver in Cairo Street

CAMEL AND DRIVER IN CAIRO STREET.—The Cairo Street camels had varied duties to perform, at one time being hurried along with much mauling and gesticulation to convey a rider, or perhaps a couple, from one end of the street to the other and unload them hurriedly to make room for other experimenting people, and again, bedecked with cumbrous trappings, led along the same boisterous thoroughfare to take part in some procession alleged to be a duplicate of what may [...]

By |2023-10-17T05:30:04-05:00October 17th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

An Awful Memory from Chicago Day, 1893

Described as “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times,” Chicago Day smashed all attendance figures at the 1893 World's Fair. On October 9, over three-quarters of a million of people gathered on the fairgrounds to commemorate the twenty-second anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and to celebrate the great city that emerged from the flames to host the Columbian Exposition. One float in the evening parade offered a most poignant reflection of [...]

By |2023-10-09T07:57:17-05:00October 9th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: |0 Comments

156. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior View in Old Vienna

INTERIOR VIEW IN OLD VIENNA.—The memory of hours passed in the Austrian Village, or reproduction of a portion of the Vienna of a hundred and fifty years ago, is, perhaps, what will linger longest in the minds of those who "did" the Plaisance thoroughly during the past Exposition. The quaint, bustling scene presented on every side, the suppers in the open air and the delicious music afforded, combined to make the resort one worthy of many visits. The greatest [...]

By |2023-10-10T17:10:17-05:00September 20th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

“One Unmitigated Nightmare of Horror”—Crowds in Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair

State Street, that great street in the todd’ling town of Chicago, is in need of revitalization. Urban planners aim to bring more people back to “Chicago’s front porch.” Back in 1893, this was one of the busiest throughfares in the world, and many walking through the frenetic business district were visitors to the World’s Fair. Not all the locals were happy about the thick crowds, as recorded in the article reprinted below, from the August 17, 1893, issue of [...]

By |2023-09-16T10:08:31-05:00September 16th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|0 Comments

155. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the German Castle

ENTRANCE TO THE GERMAN CASTLE.--The entrance to the German Castle in the German Village, in the Midway Plainance, was the part of that structure which most recalled to mind a castle of the medieval barons, who had such particularly good times when the Emperor would let them alone and when raids upon their neighbors were always exciting and sometimes profitable. The moat was not very wide nor very deep; the drawbridge would not have accommodated a grand pageant of [...]

By |2023-10-10T17:11:08-05:00August 22nd, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

154. Picturesque World’s Fair – East front of Machinery Hall and the Obelisk

EAST FRONT OF MACHINERY HALL, AND THE OBELISK.—The area of water extending to the south from the Grand Basin and known as the South Canal was so entirely surrounded by the beautiful in art or architecture that a view across it from any point was sure to be something captivating. The view above is from the northeast corner of the canal, just where the " Farmer's Bridge " terminated on the area in front of the Agriculture Building, with [...]

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 4: A Transformation Scene

Continued from Part 3 THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 4: A Transformation Scene In such a mental condition, the best thing one could do was to take the Intramural Electric Railroad, itself a scientific exhibit, to the southern end of the grounds, and there to visit La Rabida. This was not part of a dream city, but of the living world—the [...]

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