RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
June 23, 2019: Presentation on the World’s Columbian Exposition at the Batavia (IL) Historical Society
The quarterly meeting of the Batavia Historical Society (Batavia, IL) on Sunday, June 23 will feature a presentation by Karl Bruhn on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Karl Bruhn of Batavia is a retired history teacher and volunteer for the Chicago Architecture Center. The meeting is free and open to the public and will be held at Batavia City Hall Council Chamber (100 N. Island Ave, Batavia IL 60510) starting at 2 pm. Some information provided by the Kane County Chronicle.
Wind Power History and the 1893 World’s Fair
The June 2019 issue of Maritime Reporter and Engineering News includes an article on wind energy history that notes the windmill exhibit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “Offshore Wind: A Brief History” by Tom Ewing (pp. 18-19) describes the companies that showcased wind power at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Worldsfairchicago1893.com was happy to provide an image to accompany the article. An advertisement for the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Co. of Batavia, Illinois. The company erected a display between the Transportation Building and the railroad terminal building at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Harper’s Weekly, May [...]
A visit to the Elmhurst History Museum
We had the pleasure of visiting the Elmhurst History Museum's new exhibit, “Worlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland’s Amusement Parks”, which we described here. The story of amusement parks in Chicago begins at the great 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and continues through today. The exhibit is free and runs through August 18, 2019.
June 25, 2019: World’s Fair Auction #34 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #34, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at 10 PM EDT. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 19 through 55 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: • a demitasse satuma cup with pictures of Machinery Hall and the U.S. Government Building; • a "World's Fair Prize Puzzle" word puzzle, with box; • a round metal box with die cut raised image of the Illinois State Building on [...]
“The couple gasped in horrified surprise.” Nude Art at the 1893 World’s Fair
The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago exposed visitors to a new world. Many experienced what has been described as the "shock of the new” when facing awesome technological advances and the rich variety of human cultures on exhibition. Others felt a shock just from seeing the human form openly displayed. “No one can help noticing the frankness and more than pagan un-reserve with which contemporary artists are treating the nude, both in painting and in sculpture.” wrote Julian Hawthorne in his critique of the art exhibits at the Fair. “It is a wholesome change. Self-consciousness only can be immodest.” Not everyone [...]
June 14-July 7, 2019: “White City Murder” takes the stage in Indianapolis
Eric Larson’s fascinating best-seller The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (2003) introduced many to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. For better or for worse, his pairing of the story of building the World’s Fair in Jackson Park and the exploits of serial killer H. H. Holmes in nearby Englewood has made an enduring connection between the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and murder. [For the record: no known murders occurred on the fairgrounds.] A comedic twist on this pairing is coming in the form of a new musical opening on [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Columbian Fountain from the Rear (p. 80)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 80 – COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR.— Father Time became a familiar figure during the Fair to the hosts who gathered about the music stands on the eastern part of the Grand Plaza, for the barge of the Columbian Fountain rode stern on to the plaza and Time was at the barge's helm. The illustration is an excellent one of the fountain from the rear and is as attractive, as were views taken from other points, of that splendid work of art. Grasping his [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Victoria House (p. 79)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 78 – VICTORIA HOUSE VICTORIA HOUSE.—Great Britain's Building, known as Victoria House, was hardly what might have been expected from the Mother Country. It cost $80,000, was not a particularly imposing structure, though by no means ungraceful, and was closed to the public most of the time. It occupied a charming position on the lake front, being the only structure east of the Lake Promenade. It was a Gothic, half timber house, in the style of Henry VIII., with overhanging gables and a tiled roof. Terra cotta was much [...]
“She has waxed bigger and uglier than ever.” An Englishman’s View of 1893 Chicago
Mr. Harry Hems of Exeter, England, submitted the following report on his return visit to Chicago for the opening of the 1893 World’s Fair. At the Exposition, he worked in the British section of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. His unflattering missive from May 15, 1893, about “the most dangerous town in the world” was reprinted in the June 1 issue of the Irish Builder. Let’s hope the rest of Mr. Hems’ time at the Chicago fair left a better impression. THE “WORLD'S FAIR," CHICAGO. The following, from the pen of Mr. Harry Hems, Exeter, appeared in the [...]
Happy Mother’s Day. Enjoy some Sunshine and Flowers.
Sunshine and Flowers by Irving R. Wiles was exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Art of the World Illustrated in the paintings, statuary, and architecture of the World's Columbian Exposition Volume II, edited by Ripley Hitchcock (Appleton, 1893).] Mother and child are featured Sunshine and Flowers, a painting by American artist Irving Ramsey Wiles exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair. The oil painting hung on the north wall of Gallery 6 (United States section) in the Palace of Fine Arts. This description of the painter and composition comes from Art of the World Illustrated in the [...]