RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
June 16, 2018: It’s Your Park Day (with tour) on Midway Plaisance
June 16, 2018, is "It's Your Park Day" in Chicago, the the Chicago Parks Foundation's annual citywide volunteer day, celebrating Chicago's beautiful green spaces and the communities who support them. One site includes Midway Plaisance Park, site of the great Midway attraction of the 1893 World's Fair. In addition to a park clean-up (all morning), there will be a free historical walking tour to mark the 125th anniversary of the World's Columbian Exhibition and the first Ferris Wheel located on the Midway. Starting at 11 am, the tour will begin at Stony Island and head west to the rink [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The “Farmer’s Bridge.” (p. 52)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 52 – THE "FARMER'S BRIDGE" THE "FARMER'S BRIDGE." — Not a few of the prominent features of the Columbian Exposition acquired popular titles quite different from their official designation. The main entrance to the Transportation Building became known as "The Golden Door," the rolling chairs propelled largely by theological students, acquired the title of " Gospel Chariots;" the Columbian Guards were called the "Tin Soldiers," and in other directions the American fancy for some pat, whimsical title disported itself. So it came that the broad way over the south [...]
Meat Free Since ’93: National Vegetarian Museum tours Chicago
Did you know that Chicago became an epicenter for vegetarianism in the late 1800s? This question open the display of the National Vegetarian Museum exhibit currently touring the Chicago region. Did you also know that it happened at the 1893 World’s Fair? In early June of 1893, vegetarians from around the world gathered in Chicago, "hog butcher for the world," as part of the World's Congress program of the Columbian Exposition. “Fresh countenances and sturdy frames characterized most of the vegetarians who met in a World's Congress,” reported the Chicago Daily Tribune (“Live on Vegetables” June 6, 1893) “Some [...]
Vienna Beef History Museum opens in Chicago
We have not yet reached the dog days of summer, but Chicago is already celebrating its most famous dog, with the opening of the Vienna Beef History Museum. The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicago’s iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the World’s Fair at a stand operated by Austrian-Hungarian immigrants Emil Reichel and Samuel Ladany. They sold their Vienna sausages for 10 cents in “Old Vienna” on the Midway. Also known [...]
Memorial Day, 1893
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan of Illinois, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance of “comrades who died in defense of their country” during the recent war between the states. Decoration Day was held on May 30 annually. By 1890, all northern states had adopted the holiday. In 1968, the U.S. Congress established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. Decoration Day 1893 was the first “special day” at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Paid admission, which had been slow during May, jumped to 115,578 visitors, [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Agriculture Building (p. 51)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 51 – THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING.—Viewed from the northwest, different facades of the great Agriculture Building can be seen and a fair idea obtained of its magnitude and beauty. Though but a single story in height, most imposing effects were sought in the design of the structure and were fully realized. Its dimensions were, for the main building, eight hundred by five hundred feet, and for the annex five hundred and fifty by three hundred feet, with a combined floor area of about nineteen acres. The cost [...]
June 15, 2018: “Night at the Fair” MSI After Hours (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago occupies one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. To honor the 125th anniversary of the building and the fair, the museum is hosting “Night at the Fair” for their latest MSI After Hours event on June 15, 2018, from 7 to 10 pm. MSI invites you to “don your best fair attire” (a glass dress, perhaps?) to travel back in time and become one of the 27 million guests who experienced the glitz and glamour of the World’s Fair. Sample rare music from the era; taste [...]
June 5, 2018: Leading Ladies of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition at Driehaus Museum (Chicago)
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum is sponsoring a lecture “Leading Ladies of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition: Celebrating 125 Years” by Chicago historian Sally Sexton Kalmbach. Although the right to vote was still over 20 years away, the leading ladies of Chicago’s Gilded Age began exerting their power as leaders of social society and cultural tastemakers. Historian Sally Kalmbach will discuss how these women also played an integral leadership role in creating the World’s Fair and cultivating Chicago’s successful future. The event takes place at the museum (40 East Erie Street in Chicago) on Tuesday, June 5, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. [...]
Happy Bertha-day
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Bertha Honoré Palmer, on May 22, 1849, in Louisville, Kentucky. As President of the Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 World’s Fair, she made lasting impact on the shape of the Columbian Exposition, especially with regard to raising the profile of women’s contributions to society. Here is an excerpt from her Dedication Day address, presented on October 21, 1892, in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building to a crowd of one hundred and fifty thousand: Of all the changes which have resulted from the great ingenuity and inventiveness of the [...]
The Most Wonderful Achievement the World Has Ever Seen
This article from the May 6, 1893, issue of Engineering and Mining News espouses the glory and shortfallings of the Columbian Exposition, which had recently opened in Chicago. View of north lagoon, Art Palace and state buildings, photography by William Henry Jackson. [Image from the Ball State University digital media repository.] The World’s Columbian Fair, which was opened at Chicago, May 1st, is already, in its buildings and promises to be in its exhibits, the most wonderful achievement the world has ever seen. The magic city of palaces gathered around the lakes and lagoons of Jackson Park is [...]