RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
Autographed Letter about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the 1893 World’s Fair Sells at Auction
A letter inviting the International Folk-Lorre Congress of the 1893 World's Fair to attend Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show has sold at auction for $937.50. Heritage Auctions' February 20, 2020, "Americana & Political Signature Auction" included the hand-written letter from Nate Salsbury, manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Company. An 1893 letter from Nate Salsbury, manager of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, inviting the International Folk-Lorre Congress at the World's Columbian Exposition to see a performance. [Image from Heritage Auctions.] Dated January 19, 1893, Salsbury writes to the wife of Fletcher S. Bassett, who helped establish the International [...]
Raising the Ante for Midway Playing Cards
A Kickstarter campaign is raising funds for a new edition of Midway playing cards.
POSTPONED March 29, 2020: 26th Annual World’s Fair Memorabilia Show (Elk Grove Village, IL)
This event has been postponed. The 26th Annual World's Fair Memorabilia Show will be held on Sunday, March 29, 2020, from 10 am to 4 pm at the Holiday Inn at 1000 Busse Road (Rt. 83 and Landmeier Rd.) in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Collectors and dealers will meet to buy, sell, and trade items related to World's Fairs from 1876 to the present. Although the main focus will be on the 1933/34 Chicago World's Fair, there will also be items from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and other Chicago-related ephemera. More than 15 tables of World's Fair items for [...]
“Celebrating the Black History of Jackson Park” Video
The Obama Foundation has released a five-minute video titled “Celebrating the Black History of Jackson Park” that features the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Introduced by President Obama, the video touches upon the Haitian Pavilion, Frederick Douglass, and “Colored American Day” with historical perspectives from Chicago History Museum Assistant Curator Julius Jones, Associate Professor of History at the University of Chicago Adam Green, and President of the Jackson Park Advisory Council Louise McCurry.
WGN-TV Documentary Explores “Hidden History” of African Americans at the 1893 World’s Fair
In honor of Black History Month WGN-TV aired a new half-hour documentary show titled “Hidden History” that included a segment on the experience of African Americans at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. WGN News anchor Micah Materre opened the six-minute segment reminding viewers that “African Americans have a long and storied history in Chicago,” with one important moment of African Americans influence on the world taking place in and around the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Historian Kay James McCrimon details some of the “hidden history” of how officials systematic excluded African Americans from exhibiting at the [...]
Mar. 4, 2020: Toast Chicago’s Birthday with a (virtual) trip to the 1893 World’s Fair at the Chicago History Museum
The Chicago History Museum will toast Chicago's Birthday on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, with another opportunity to experience a virtual-reality visit to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Chicago 00 Project will exhibit their spectacular 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition virtual reality experience. Guests will be taken on an immersive tour of the world’s fair, known for its dazzling White City and eclectic Midway Plaisance, experiencing Chicago’s past and present in 360 degrees and flying 264 feet in the air on a virtual ride of the world’s first Ferris Wheel. Due to limited capacity, advance sign up is required. Elsewhere in [...]
94. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Obelisk and Southern Colonnade
THE OBELISK AND SOUTHERN COLONNADE.—A fitting termination made to the view south on the South Canal was formed by the Southern Colonnade with the Obelisk in front. The Obelisk was history repeated in stone, or at least in its imitation, for it was a reproduction of the famous Cleopatra's needle, the original of which, thousands of years old, was presented by the Khedive of Egypt to the United States and is now a prominent object in Central Park, in New York City. The Obelisk stood on a finely carved pedestal reached by a circle of steps descending to the [...]
Mar. 3, 2020: World’s Fair Auction #36 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #36, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 22 through 59 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: a handsome powder jar made of milk glass and featuring a color image of an unusual vista of the Administration Building. a rare Parker Brothers "World's Fair Picture Puzzle" complete with 23 large jigsaw pieces in original box. a hand-written letter from a visitor on [...]
CANCELLED Mar. 19, 2020: “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair” Urban History Seminar (Chicago History Museum) GalleryCANCELLED Mar. 19, 2020: “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair” Urban History Seminar (Chicago History Museum)
CANCELLED Mar. 19, 2020: “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair” Urban History Seminar (Chicago History Museum)
The Chicago History Museum's Urban History Seminar on March 19, 2020, will be on “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair." Rebecca Graff, associate professor of anthropology at Lake Forest College (IL), will offer a scholarly presentation, followed by lively discussion. Reception with cash bar at 5:45 p.m. Dinner at 6:15 p.m. Presentation at 7:00 p.m. Reservations required. $25, price includes dinner and parking. The Chicago History Museum is located at 1601 N. Clark Street in Chicago. The Ohio State Building, remnants of which lie buried in Jackson Park.
A Valentine’s Day Wish from Harriet Monroe
Here is a Valentine’s Day verse from Harriet Monroe’s Valyria and Other Poems (A.C. McClurg & Company, 1892), which she dedicated to the memory of architect John Wellborn Root. FOR JOHN PAUL Who sent roses on St. Valentine's day. Stay, sweet roses, stay but a day, Breathe me your souls ere your leaves decay. That over the air to my valentine I may waft him a perfume as rich as wine, That shall charm his desire to some dear repose As safe and as sweet as thy heart, white rose!