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 [...]

1893 World’s Fair Coming to the Big Screen in THE CURRENT WAR

The lights are back on for a film partially set on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Scheduled to open in October 2019 is The Current War, a historical drama about the legendary “war of the currents” between titans of the electrical industry who are setting their sights on powering the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The Current War tells the story of the vicious rivalry between inventors Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), [...]

“Devil in the White City” to be a Hulu Mini Series

One man built a dream city on the shores of Lake Michigan, attracting tens of millions of visitors from around the world. Another built a nightmare hotel in a neighborhood near the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Erik Larson entwined the true stories of architect Daniel H. Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes into a fascinating narrative in his 2003 bestseller The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. [...]

Oct. 5, 2018: “Art and Design Chicago” episode “If You Build It….” on WTTW (Chicago)

Public Television station WTTW-11 in Chicago will be broadcasting a new four-part documentary series called Art and Design Chicago beginning on October 5 with an episode about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “If You Build It....”, hosted by Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beck, will explore the 1893 World’s Fair and sculptor Lorado Taft through stories told by artist Dessa Kirk and Mark Pohlad, Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture at DePaul University. This first episode [...]

By |2018-10-28T08:29:35-05:00September 21st, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past), VIDEO|Tags: |0 Comments

Video of “The 125th Anniversary of The World’s Columbian Exposition: A Celebration” at Chicago History Museum (May 29, 2018)

A video recording “The 125th Anniversary of The World's Columbian Exposition: A Celebration” held at the Chicago History Museum on May 29, 2018, is available from CAN TV. The program featured Donald C. Meyer, Professor of Music at Lake Forest College, discussing his project to preserve sheet music associated with the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Pianist Chris White, violinist Kate Carter, and baritone Brad Jungwirth performed pieces featured on their 2018 album Souvenir Music from the World’s Columbian [...]

By |2018-09-07T07:53:10-05:00September 8th, 2018|Categories: VIDEO|Tags: , |0 Comments

Virility on the Midway: “The Longest Beard in the World” (Death Valley Days, 1956)

We’ll be exploring other films and videos that use the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition as a setting in our “Filming the Fair” series. Check out other WCE videos in the Zoopraxiscope Hall section of our website. Have you heard of “The Longest Beard in the World” concession on the Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? This fictional attraction plays a part in an episode of the long-running television series Death Valley Days. “The Longest Beard in the [...]

By |2018-07-06T07:33:16-05:00July 28th, 2018|Categories: VIDEO|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Chicago: City of the Century (2003)

News of the passing of David Ogden Stiers on March 3 has garnered tributes to the actor’s unforgettable role on M*A*S*H and his voice performances for several animated film from Disney Studios. Mr. Stiers also played a small but valuable role in the history of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, serving as the narrator of one of the first documentaries about the great fair. Chicago: City of the Century, based on the 1996 book of the same title by [...]

“I’ll take the 1893 World’s Fair for $200, Alex”

Columbian Exposition fan Dorothy McFarland kindly shared with us some screenshots of the episode of Jeopardy that aired on January 17, 2018, which included the Round 1 category "The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair" ("You remember that," adds host Alex Trebek). The contestants did remember the fair, making a clean sweep of the category. Amanda Griggs provided the correct question to the $200 answer: "Illuminated by thousands of light bulbs, the building seen here was devoted to this new innovation [...]

See the Midway, German Building, and Palace of Fine Arts on Film

The Chicago Tribune has posted a video mash-up of Chicago aerial scenes, pairing vintage film footage—shot in 1914 from a dirigible flying over the city—with modern video of the same locations. The German Building (looking south) Of particular interest to fans of the 1893 World’s Fair are scenes of the Midway Plaisance (shown at 3:45 minutes in the video) followed by a fly-over of the 58th Street Beach (at 4:15), where during the fair were the Great [...]

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