RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
Dec. 10-11, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Normal, IL)
In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, but she was sent to a sanitarium. Diagnosed with melancholia due to overexertion. Silenced. After the fair, her building was [...]
Season’s Readings: 2022 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition
2022 brought several additions to the World’s Columbian Exposition bookshelf.
Tiffany sterling silver monumental flagon made for the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $40,950
A silver monumental flagon made by Tiffany & Company for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and exhibited in their pavilion there has sold at auction for $40,950. Included in Doyle’s “American Furniture, Silver & Decorative Arts” auction on November 2, 2022, the silver flagon came from the family of Katherine Medill McCormick (1853–1932), daughter of Joseph Medill and wife of Robert S. McCormick. The item exceeded its estimate of $25,000 - $35,000. This silver flagon made by Tiffany & Company for the 1893 World’s Fair sold at auction in 2022 for $40,950. [Image from Doyle.] Several other pieces [...]
Dec. 3-27, 2022: Joffrey Ballet’s “Columbian Nutcracker” (Chicago)
Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet once again will stage their spectacular production of The Nutcracker, with story set on the fairgrounds of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Performances run from December 3-7, 2022, at the Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Dr. in Chicago) This ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which premiered in 2016, invites the audience to … “journey inside Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair ... when young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, host a holiday party, a surprise visit from the charming Great Impresario sets off a Christmas Eve dream [...]
“World’s Fair Souvenir Cook Book” advice for Thanksgiving
Utah Public Radio’s “Eating the Past: Old-time Advice on Table Manners” explores a culinary contribution from the 1893 World’s Fair Board of Lady Managers. Dr. Tammy Proctor recently dug out a copy of The 'Home Queen' World's Fair Souvenir Cook Book (George F. Cram, 1893) from Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library. “The emphasis on Progress with a capital ‘P’ at the fair,” Proctor observes, “itself translates well to this imposing volume.” The cookbook reminds readers that “good manners are to the family what good morals are to society, their cement and their security.” The volume also offers this modest [...]
A big statement from Norway for the 1893 World’s Fair
"Constructed for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Norway building offered its namesake country a means of promoting their culture and rich history in the U.S. For many newly-arrived Norwegian immigrants, the Jackson Park building also stood as a testament to their belonging in America." Read more at "Hyde Park Stories: The Norway Building" by Patricia L. Morse in the Hyde Park Herald (posted November 16, 2022). Photograph by C. D. Arnold of the Norway Building on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [Image from the University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf3-00040, Special Collections Research Center, [...]
Nov. 3, 2022–Oct. 28, 2023: “The City Beyond the White City” (Charnley-Persky House Museum, Chicago)
A new exhibition explores the history of race and the built environment in Chicago through archaeology connecting the “White City” of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition to the material, spatial, and social histories of two 1892 structures—the Charnley-Persky House and the Mecca Flats—located respectively on Chicago’s privileged Near North and disinvested Near South Sides. The City Beyond the White City: Race, Two Chicago Homes, and their Neighborhoods, sponsored by the Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation and Society of Architectural Historians Present the Exhibition has two components. A physical exhibition at the Charnley-Persky House runs from November 3, 2022–October 28, 2023, [...]
“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), she had nothing but fond memories of her magical time on the fairgrounds. In her autobiography, Strange to Say: Recollections [...]
Arkansas exhibits at the 1893 World’s Fair
A female architect designed the Arkansas State Building for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The state’s displays at the Fair included a fountain made of crystals (also designed by a woman) and a 14,000-pound piece of zinc and inspired the writing of the song “My Happy Little Home in Arkansas.” Read more in “Arkansas A–Z: From middling to mighty — State’s hand in World’s Fairs” by Guy Lancaster, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (November 13, 2022)
Hiding the pickle at the 1893 World’s Fair
The dramatic merchandizing showcased at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition included a quirky subset of exhibits that might be described as “a blank made out of blank.” Much of it involved playing with food. Visitors could admire a Liberty Bell made out of citrus fruit, a Knight on horseback made out of prunes, a landscape painting made out of cereals and grasses, and a Venus de Milo statue made out of chocolate. One tasty display that was promised to fairgoers should have drawn large crowds … if they could find it. A map made out of pickles Announcements about [...]