RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
The (Im)Perfection of Rude Simplicity: Davy Crockett’s Descendant Visits the Hunter’s Cabin at the 1893 World’s Fair
Many visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago on June 9, 1893, were eagerly trying to spot the Infanta Eulalia, the visiting Princess from Spain, as she toured the White City and Midway Plaisance. Meanwhile, just off the south end of the Wooded Island, a direct descendant of the legendary pioneer Davy Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) visited the quaint Hunter’s Cabin. Sponsored by Theodore Roosevelt and his Boone and Crockett Foundation and designed by prolific architect Charles Atwood, the Hunter’s Cabin was a replica of a typical pioneer house from 1850s and contained a display [...]
Sept. 8, 2019: “Walking the White City” Tour in Jackson Park
The Glessner House is sponsoring "Walking the White City," a walking tour of Jackson Park on Sunday, September 8, 2019, from 10 am to noon. Led by architect and historian John Waters, the tour will locate the sites of landmarks of the fair, explore the fascinating vestiges of the fair that still remain, and show how the fair influenced the design of Jackson Park as we know it today. The tour costs $25 per person ($20 for Glessner House members) and pre-paid reservations (required) can be made here. The tour begins at the Statue of the Republic in Jackson [...]
Summer 2019 Trivia Question
Our seasonal newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. Gondola on the North Pond, featuring a traditional fero da prora. [Image from Johnson, Rossiter A History of the World's Columbian Exposition Volume 1 - Narrative. D. Appleton and Co., 1897.] The Summer 2019 Trivia Question The prow of a traditional Venetian gondola has a metal plate (a fero da prora), which serves as a counterweight to the gondolier. The design symbolizes the S shape of the [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Looking North from the South Colonnade (p. 84)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 84 – LOOKING NORTH FROM THE SOUTH COLONNADE LOOKING NORTH FROM THE SOUTH COLONNADE.—In the opinion of many people the most striking extended view to be had upon the Fair grounds was from the Obelisk, at the southern extremity of the South Canal, or better still, from the Colonnade immediately in its rear. From this point opened a vista nearly a mile in length terminated only by the beautiful front of the Art Palace, the dome of which is faintly discernible in the accompanying illustration. The whole stretch of [...]
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 tasks of his presidency on the evening of 1 May 1893. After saying a few words to the crowd, he [...]
Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), dean of American Architecture
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Richard Morris Hunt, on July 31, 1895. Among the most revered architects working in the U.S. at the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Hunt was invited to contribute a design for the Administration Building, which stood in a position of honor at the west end of the Grand Basin. The magnificent classical Beaux-Arts building, capped by a gleaming gold dome, was considered one of the finest structures on the fairgrounds. One contemporary chronicler called it “the gem and crown of the Exposition Buildings” [Moseley, 192]. His design for the Administration [...]
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 Fair: “The grandeur of the place, marked with monumental symmetry and Gilded Age splendor, sparked the imaginations of the fair’s [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Brazil Building (p. 83)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 83 – THE BRAZIL BUILDING THE BRAZIL BUILDING.—The structure erected by the greatest of the South American Republics was what might have been expected from that great country. Brazil appropriated for the Columbian Exposition no less than $600,000, and of this sum $50,000 was expended on the building where all visitors were entertained and where were the official head-quarters of the commission. The edifice was in the form of a Greek cross, and it was originally intended by the architect to build the entire superstructure of steel, but threatened [...]
Tales from the Swedish Café
Swedes from Chicago and around the world celebrated Sweden Day at the World’s Columbian Exposition on July 20, 1893. Many of the festive events took place at the beautiful Swedish Building. Nearby stood the Swedish Restaurant, which served as another site for Swedes to gather on the fairgrounds and as a concession to showcase Scandinavian fare to visitors from around the world. The Swedish Restaurant (also called the Swedish Café) was run by Robert Lindblom (1844-1907), a prominent Swedish-born trader on the Chicago Board of Trade. Appointed by Chicago Mayor Dewitt Cregier to the city's initial World’s Fair executive committee, [...]
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 tropical creature. The problem is … an alligator has no business being in a Chicago pond. “Chance the Snapper” A [...]