REPRINTS – Page 6 – Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

150. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Mining Building
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150. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Mining Building

REPRINTS

150. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Mining Building

INTERIOR OF THE MINING BUILDING.—There was much in the Mines and Mining Building the value of which was not apparent save to the expert, bit there was a great deal there also which was glitteringly attractive, and a great deal that was curious even to the casual visitor. The display of gold and silver made from some of the states was striking, as were the exhibits of precious stones from different countries, and the great monuments of coal were [...]

By Randy|2023-04-02T03:28:28-05:00April 2nd, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: California State Building, Germany, Mines and Mining Building, Montana State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

149. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Statue of Plenty
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149. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Statue of Plenty

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149. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Statue of Plenty

THE STATUE OF " PLENTY."—The pieces of statuary which stood beside the portals of the great buildings or bridge approaches, or on pedestals overlooking the Grand Basin and canals and lagoons, had all definite names fitted to the idea of their conception. What Kemeys and Proctor did with wild animals Potter and French did with domestic ones, introducing them in statuary with fine effect. The Statue of " Plenty " was well conceived in the female figure leaning carelessly [...]

By Randy|2023-03-09T17:41:36-06:00March 10th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Alexander Phimister Proctor, Daniel Chester French, Edward Kemeys, Edward Potter, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

The Making of the White City (Part 2)
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The Making of the White City (Part 2)

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The Making of the White City (Part 2)

[Continued from Part 1] A great stage decked with ambitious scenery Perhaps the first thing that would strike a stranger entering the World’s Fair grounds in the summer of 1892 would be the silence of the place, the next the almost theatrical unreality of the impression by the sight of an assemblage of buildings so startlingly out of the common in size and form. When I speak of the silence, I mean the effect of silence. There are seven [...]

By Scott|2025-07-23T10:15:53-05:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Daniel Burnham, Electricity Building, Fisheries Building, Francis Millet, Frederick Law Olmsted, Golden Door, Henry Codman, Henry Ives Cobb, Horticultural Building, Illinois State Building, illumination, Jenny, Karl Bitter, lagoon, Machinery Hall, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Mines and Mining Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Peabody & Stearns, Philip Martiny, Richard Hunt, Solon S. Beman, staff, Statue of the Republic, telephone, U.S. Government Building, Van Brunt & Howe, William Le Baron Jenney, Woman's Building|0 Comments

The Making of the White City (Part 1)
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The Making of the White City (Part 1)

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The Making of the White City (Part 1)

Few essays about the fairgrounds for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition better capture the creative energy of its construction than H. C. Bunner’s “The Making of the White City.” The American novelist, journalist, and poet Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855–1896) visited Jackson Park in Chicago during the summer of 1892. There he witnessed laborers assembling the great exhibit halls, hundreds of smaller structures, and magnificent landscaping in advance of the October 1892 Dedication Day ceremony. While Bunner employs an ornate [...]

By Scott|2024-09-13T13:11:20-05:00February 12th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Auditorium, Frederick Law Olmsted, Lincoln Park, New York|1 Comment

148. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Spanish Government Building
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148. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Spanish Government Building

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148. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Spanish Government Building

THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—It was to be expected that Spain, the country in one respect most honored by the World's Columbian Exposition, should be well represented in the displays, and that its government should enter into the broad spirit of the occasion. The Spanish government showed earnestness in its course from the beginning, not merely in assisting Spanish exhibitors but in such special direction as the building of the duplicate "Santa Maria," the flagship of Columbus, the loan of [...]

By Randy|2023-02-12T00:27:36-06:00February 12th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Canada Building, Caravels, Convent of La Rabida, Germany Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Santa Maria, Spain Building|0 Comments

147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building
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147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building

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147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building

THE FRENCH COLONIES BUILDING.—Situated well over toward the southeast corner of the grounds and out of the great tide of movement, the French Colonies Building at the Exposition did not attract the attention it merited, though it attained a degree of popularity toward the close, as the interesting nature of its contents became known. Its locality was sometimes referred to as "the back yard of the Fair," though it contained many curious and beautiful displays, not the least among [...]

By admin|2023-02-12T00:09:53-06:00January 15th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Blooker's cocoa mill, French Colonies Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Progress (whaling bark), South Pond, windmills|0 Comments

“Very sterling qualities about the Hoosiers”: Lunch in the Indiana State Building
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“Very sterling qualities about the Hoosiers”: Lunch in the Indiana State Building

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“Very sterling qualities about the Hoosiers”: Lunch in the Indiana State Building

Hoosiers visiting the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago were mighty proud of the Indiana State Building. Designed by one of distinguished Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb, the French Gothic structure stood in the southwest section of the state buildings on a lovely spot along the North Pond and nestled between the state buildings of Illinois, California, and Wisconsin. One of the twelve state buildings to receive an award for beauty of design and merit in its display, the [...]

By Scott|2022-12-11T06:16:22-06:00December 11th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Indiana State Building|0 Comments

146. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of State Buildings – Looking Northeast
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146. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of State Buildings – Looking Northeast

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146. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of State Buildings – Looking Northeast

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF STATE BUILDINGS—LOOKING NORTHEAST.—Very popular was the Fifty-seventh street entrance, at the northwest corner of the Exposition Grounds, situated as it was close to a railroad station and at the end of a street car cable system, and hundreds of thousands of people became, in consequence, familiar with the view given in the illustration. The scene is that presented looking to the northeast from a point near the entrance to the grounds, and is that of the [...]

By admin|2022-12-03T13:53:46-06:00December 3rd, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Arkansas State Building, Kansas State Building, Lake Michigan, Minnesota State Building, Nebraska State Building, North Dakota State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Texas State Building|0 Comments

“A blazing, colorful panorama.” Edith Ogden Harrison remembers the 1893 World’s Fair
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“A blazing, colorful panorama.” Edith Ogden Harrison remembers the 1893 World’s Fair

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“A blazing, colorful panorama.” Edith Ogden Harrison remembers the 1893 World’s Fair

As the daughter-in-law of Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr., Edith Ogden Harrison had a front-seat view of the 1893 World’s Fair. Born in New Orleans on November 16, 1862, Edith married Carter Harrison, Jr. in 1887. While he walked in his father’s footsteps, serving as mayor of Chicago from 1897–1905 and 1911–1915, Mrs. Harrison was prolific author of children’s fairy tales. Fifty-six years after the close of the Fair (and the tragic assignation of her father-in-law in his home), [...]

By Scott|2022-11-24T08:17:43-06:00November 16th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Edith Ogden Harrison|0 Comments

145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building
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145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building

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145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building

WEST MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE MANUFACTURES BUILDING.—Columbia Avenue, the great thoroughfare which extended north and south through the Manufactures Building, was crossed at the center by a similar broad way, and. this interior street where it terminated at the west afforded exit upon a particularly beautiful scene. Across the North Canal and at the entrance to the East Lagoon a bridge extended, over which passed and repassed the throng between the Manufactures and the group of large structures west [...]

By Randy|2022-11-13T09:03:45-06:00November 13th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: colonnade, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Wooded Island|0 Comments

Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair
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Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair

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Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair

In the era before dating apps, how were singles to meet? One Chicagoan in 1893 proposed a special day on the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition for not-so-young-and-still-unattached visitors. The October 21, 1893, issue of the Chicago Inter Ocean carried the following Letter to the Editor, signed “A. LS.” (presumably one of the “autumn lassies” mentioned in the letter?). Although the Fair held many “special days”—for groups ranging from North Dakotans to Nicaraguans, French Engineers to Fishermen—the author’s [...]

By Scott|2022-10-12T12:11:30-05:00October 30th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Palace of Fine Arts, W.W. Denslow|0 Comments

When hunger overtakes visitors on the 1893 fairgrounds, they are in danger
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When hunger overtakes visitors on the 1893 fairgrounds, they are in danger

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When hunger overtakes visitors on the 1893 fairgrounds, they are in danger

We’re all feeling the pain of soaring food prices today. They did back in 1893, too. Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition were shocked by the cost food on the fairgrounds and frustrated by not being able to find a bill of fare before ordering in the restaurant concessions. The complaints pilled up thick in the first few weeks of the Exposition in May, especially at the White Horse Inn on the south end of the fairgrounds. At [...]

By Scott|2022-10-24T09:25:29-05:00October 25th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: food, Wellington Catering Company, White Horse Inn|0 Comments

144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building
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144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building

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144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building

INTERIOR OF THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING.—How the world advances was perhaps better illustrated in the Electricity Building than in any other of the great structures on the grounds. At no previous exposition had there ever been a structure set apart for electrical exhibits and at none could there have been anything like the display here made. The marvelous advance in the use of electricity has been accomplished since Philadelphia and Paris did their best. Science and invention have but lately [...]

By Randy|2023-12-05T09:38:46-06:00October 14th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Electricity Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Thomas Edison|0 Comments

Feeding the masses on Chicago Day
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Feeding the masses on Chicago Day

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Feeding the masses on Chicago Day

A photograph by Charles Dudley Arnold of the lovely Café de la Marine (Marine Café) designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb. [Image from Arnold, C. D.; Higinbotham, H. D. Official Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Press Chicago Photo-gravure Co., 1893.] A sea of humanity poured into the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition on Chicago Day (October 9, 1893). The “greatest gathering in history” shattered all previous attendance records with 713,646 paid admissions to the Fair and over three-quarters [...]

By Scott|2022-10-07T08:39:28-05:00October 9th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Chicago Day, Wellington Catering Company|0 Comments

“A Medley of the Midway Plaisance” by A. B. Ward
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“A Medley of the Midway Plaisance” by A. B. Ward

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“A Medley of the Midway Plaisance” by A. B. Ward

The short story reprinted below is a romance set on the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 World’s Fair. Writing as “A. B. Ward,” Mrs. Alice Ward Bailey (1857–1922) was a prolific author of fiction around the turn of the twentieth century. The mawkish prose and bumpy pacing in this story may explain why the author is essentially forgotten today. Still, her dramatic sketch offers an intimate peek into the lives of fictional inhabitants of the Midway and invites us [...]

By Scott|2022-10-07T08:01:02-05:00October 7th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Captive Balloon, Street in Cairo, Temple of Luxor|0 Comments

A Wild Conglomeration of Absurd Fantasies
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A Wild Conglomeration of Absurd Fantasies

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A Wild Conglomeration of Absurd Fantasies

On May 25, 1893, Mr. E. A. Hodge departed Marion, Kansas, heading to the World’s Columbian Exposition. A few days after arriving in Chicago, he wrote home advising other visitors: “Don’t plan to stay here less than ten days—thirty are better, and if you want to study the exhibits you can put in three months.” (Marion Record, June 9, 1893) His letter of July 7, printed in the July 27 issue of the Marion Record (when he finally had [...]

By Scott|2022-10-04T06:06:59-05:00October 4th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: visitors|0 Comments

“Crazy Enthusiasm” for Ignacy Paderewski at the 1893 World’s Fair
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“Crazy Enthusiasm” for Ignacy Paderewski at the 1893 World’s Fair

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“Crazy Enthusiasm” for Ignacy Paderewski at the 1893 World’s Fair

Among the constellation of famous (or soon-to-be-famous) visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair, few stars shined as bright as pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941). Wherever he performed, concert halls filled with passionate and adoring fans. The musical celebrity with wild and alluring red hair cast a spell over the women in the audience. One pundit, in the days before Paderewski’s concert at the opening of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, diagnosed their craze as “Paddymania.” The Musical Courier [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T09:57:36-06:00September 25th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS, Uncategorized|Tags: Ignacy Paderewski, May 2 1893, May 4 1893, Music Hall|0 Comments

“It filled me with a great wonder and excitement” Ignacy Paderewski Remembers the 1893 World’s Fair
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“It filled me with a great wonder and excitement” Ignacy Paderewski Remembers the 1893 World’s Fair

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“It filled me with a great wonder and excitement” Ignacy Paderewski Remembers the 1893 World’s Fair

Who possessed enough star power to follow President Grover Cleveland after he triumphantly opened the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago on May 1, 1893? That honor went to the most famous musician of the time—twenty-two-year-old Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, who commanded the stage in Music Hall the next night. His finesse with the ivory keys, his unwieldy mass of luxuriant red hair, and his stage magnetism earned him great celebrity, a devoted and swooning audience, and more than [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T09:57:31-06:00September 24th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Ignacy Paderewski, Music Hall|0 Comments

143. Picturesque World’s Fair – Under the Government Building Dome
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143. Picturesque World’s Fair – Under the Government Building Dome

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143. Picturesque World’s Fair – Under the Government Building Dome

Whatever might have been thought of the beauties of the United States Government Building as a whole, there was but one opinion as to the attraction of one scene its interior presented, that being directly underneath the dome of the great structure, and having for its single unique exhibit a house made within the trunk of one of California's monster trees. The section of trunk shown was thirty feet long and twenty-three feet across, and was divided laterally into [...]

By Randy|2025-06-27T16:27:04-05:00September 19th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Big Tree, California State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, U.S. Government Building|0 Comments

This Way to the Egress of the Midway Plaisance
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This Way to the Egress of the Midway Plaisance

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This Way to the Egress of the Midway Plaisance

Had he lived to see it, many aspects of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition would have delighted P. T. Barnum. Visitors to the World’s Fair in Chicago could encounter various displays of “the biggest”—a golden colossus, a mammoth squash, a gigantic cactus, a huge walk-in flour barrel, massive chocolate statues, and an immense rotating wheel … to name but a few. A rather pedestrian object on the Midway Plaisance led to a funny scene that likely would have amused [...]

By Scott|2023-11-28T09:01:39-06:00August 28th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Midway Plaisance, P. T. Barnum, Teresa Dean|0 Comments

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