A trip back in time to the World’s Columbian Exposition with the Chicago Reader

In his article “A Trip Back in Time to the World’s Columbian Exposition," published in the November 20, 2019, issue of the Reader, Jeff Nichols has curated an interesting set of travel tips for visitors coming to Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair. The suggestions, drawn from travel guidebooks and newspapers from around the world, include such sage advice as this, from the Washington Star: “There is nothing more disagreeable than the dude at the fair. He is entirely [...]

By |2019-11-23T15:25:02-06:00November 23rd, 2019|Categories: NEWS|0 Comments

A 360-Degree View of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Sneak Peek)

The Chicago 00 Project has released a sneak peek of their upcoming an augmented and virtual reality experience, The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, to be published in early 2020. A partnership between the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, the Chicago 00 Project has been producing a series of interactive multimedia experiences using historical images of important sites and events in Chicago. Their augmented reality app allows participant to overlay historic photos with real-time views at the site [...]

By |2019-11-11T08:11:50-06:00November 11th, 2019|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: |2 Comments

“The Current War” offers only a dimly lit view of the 1893 World’s Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago shines on the big screen, if only for a few minutes. The Current War (2017, released 2019) tells the story of the rancorous rivalry between inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who adamantly championed direct current (DC) technologies to electrify and illuminate American cities, and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who banked on alternating current (AC). The legendary “war of the currents” has these titans of the electrical industry setting their sights on powering the Columbian [...]

Sean Masterson’s Magic from the Midway

A story about the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition weaves its was through a Chicago magic show. Sean Masterson’s Timeless Magic  blends expert sleight-of-hand trickery, quirky humor, and a personal detective story centering around a World’s Fair commemorative coin. Masterson shares with his audience his quest to discover the origin of his coin, taking us on a tour of several magicians who worked on the Midway and in Chicago at the time of the Fair. (You’ll [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:53:22-06:00August 30th, 2019|Categories: NEWS, THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments

World’s Columbian Exposition Secretary Howard O. Edmonds’ Presentation Set Sells for $21,600

The Howard O. Edmonds presentation set sold by Heritage Auctions in August 2019. [Image from Heritage Auctions.] Heritage Auctions offered a rare Columbian Exposition presentation set at their August 2019 “ANA World's Fair of Money US Coins Signature Auction.” The group consisting of a medal, pin and two ribbons that had once belonged to Howard O. Edmonds, secretary of the Exposition, sold for $21,600. The Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) had certified the medal set in the spring of [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:54:47-06:00August 23rd, 2019|Categories: ANTIQUES, NEWS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Tiffany Clock from the 1893 World’s Fair Sells for $150,000

(Left) The “Louis XV Clock” on display in the Tiffany Pavilion within the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. [Image from Bancroft, Hubert Howe The Book of the Fair. The Bancroft Company, 1893.] (Right) The Tiffany clock today. Note the plain lower panel, compared to the image of the clock from 1893. [Image from Sotheby’s.] A magnificent clock manufactured by Tiffany & Company and exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair sold by Sotheby's at their June 4, 2019, auction [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:53:23-06:00August 22nd, 2019|Categories: ANTIQUES, NEWS|Tags: , |0 Comments

All the World is Beer

A HAPPY PROSPECT. Sing a song of wondrous things A city full of sights: Common folks and queens and kings Enjoying the delights. When the fair is opened, And all the world is here, We'll have a jolly time throughout the Exposition year. (from The Illustrated World’s Fair, May 1892) For a jolly time throughout the current year, consider a taste of “All the World is Here,” a new beer inspired by the 1893 World's Fair from Temperance Beer [...]

By |2019-08-18T10:21:42-05:00August 21st, 2019|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Night and Day Differences at the 1893 World’s Fair

The October 2019 release of the film The Current War will offer many people their first view of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. A recent trailer offered a tantalizing peak at how the special effects team has recreated the White City. In an attempt to provide some historical background, BBC History recently published an article on the “real history” of the World’s Fair in Chicago that included this description of the Opening Ceremony: “Grover Cleveland had one of the more straightforward [...]

By |2019-07-30T13:02:14-05:00August 2nd, 2019|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

White City Beautiful

Where can we find remains of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? All around us! While few buildings of the White City remain, the urban planning movement it ushered in endures. In “A Case for Civic Splendor: Notes on the City Beautiful Movement," Kayla Bartsch, writing for the National Review, opens with a look back at the “gleaming citadel” on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1893. She reminds us of one of the most important enduring legacies of the [...]

By |2019-07-30T10:27:14-05:00July 30th, 2019|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Chicago’s Alligator Problems

“One day spent among the curious works of nature found in the Fish and Fisheries building was worth a whole year’s reading about them.”  -- “Exposition as an Educator” in Campbell's Illustrated History of the World's Columbian Exposition. A new resident to a Chicago city park has been (occasionally) making waves and making international news. An alligator spotted earlier this week swimming the lagoon of Humboldt Park is now drawing large crowds hoping to catch a glimpse of the [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:33:55-06:00July 12th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY, NEWS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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