RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Iron Gates, German Section (p. 49)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 49 – THE IRON GATES, GERMAN SECTION THE IRON GATES, GERMAN SECTION.—The facade, if it may be so called, of the German exhibit in the Manufactures Building, was as unique as it was attractive. No solid front or imposing arches faced the visitor, but, instead, merely three iron gates connected by an iron fence. But the gates were on a grand scale and with the connecting fence formed in the opinion, not only of metal workers but of artists, the most beautiful piece of wrought-iron work ever made, and [...]
June 1-July 1, 2018: “Burnham’s Dream: The White City” musical
The world premiere of a new musical about the Director of Works for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition opens on June 1 for a one-month run in Chicago. “Burnham’s Dream: The White City,” written by June Finfer with music by Elizabeth Doyle, tells “the tale of ambition of a city and of an architect … Chicago’s Dream City that lived for only a few months, then vanished.” In her 2010 play, “The Glass House,” Finfer explored the life and great work of another famous Chicago architect, Mies van der Rohe and his Farnsworth House. This new show, directed by [...]
“Shock of the New: The Legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair” on BackStory
On May 11, the American history podcast BackStory released episode #0238, an hour-long exploration of the Columbian Exposition titled “Shock of the New: The Legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair.” Hosts Ed Ayers, Nathan Connolly, and Joanne Freeman invite listeners to visit the fairgrounds starting with a segment called “Dreaming Bigger.” Historian Bernie Carlson then explores the role of electricity at the fair in “Electric Feel.” Purdue University Associate Professor & Director Women's Studies Tracey Jean Boisseau highlights the “Woman’s Pavilion” while Historian Robert Rydell (author of All the World's a Fair) tours the Midway Plaisance in “Midway Fun.” [...]
How Chicago beat New York to get the 1893 World’s Fair
Colleen Connolly’s piece “How Chicago beat New York to get the 1893 World’s Fair” in the May 11 Chicago Tribune provides a short history of Chicago’s effort to win the bid to host the World’s Columbian Exposition. Testimony by Republican Rep. Robert Hitt of Illinois before the House of Representatives in February 1890 argued for holding the event in Chicago, then a city only 53 years old: “The people of Chicago are unanimous, hearty, enthusiastic; no word of bickering, no division of opinion, no whisper of partisanism, no jealousy of neighbors, no powerful body of land-owners who feel wronged and [...]
May 20: Auction of original columns from Ceylon Building
Columns from the Ceylon Building [Image from Clars Auction Gallery.] Remnants from an original 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition building come up for auction on May 20, offering a rare opportunity to own a piece of the Fair. Clars Auction Gallery (5644 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, California) will auction a set of hand-carved pillars that were part of the original Ceylon Building on the fairgrounds. Their auction 598 “Art, Furniture, Jewelry, Asian” on Sunday, May 20, starts at 11:30 AM CDT and includes four lots (6404, 6405, 6505, and 6406) of 11-by-1-foot pillars from the Ceylon Tea Building, each “hand [...]
The First Ticket Sold at the World’s Fair?
The following story about Opening Day of the Columbian Exposition on May 1, 1893, comes from “Sketches and Anecdotes of the Fair” in the June 1893 issue of Current Literature [public domain]. A contrasting story published in the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that the first person on the fairgrounds on Opening Day was a man from Oskaloosa, Iowa. Whether or not the story below is true … it should be. Probably the most humorous incident of the opening day was connected with the first man who paid admission into the Exposition on the opening day. He was braced against [...]
July 21, 2018: Devil in the White City Bus Tour
Experience the murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America on a 4-hour bus tour offered by the Chicago History Museum on Saturday, July 21, 2018. (A second tour will be offered on August 25, 2018.)Inspired by Erik Larson’s best-selling book, this tour will take you back to 1893 with historian Al Walavich to follow the trails of Daniel Burnham and the devilish doings of H. H. Holmes. Visit the historic fairgrounds, the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park, and discover what has become an iconic Chicago story.Tickets are $55 ($44 for CHM members.) and available for purchase here. [...]
“Hamilton: The Exhibition” Coming to Chicago
125 years after the World’s Columbian Exhibition closed in Chicago, Hamilton: The Exhibition, will open in this city. Broadway World reports that the interactive exhibit, which uses the smash musical Hamilton to tell the story of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America, will open in Chicago on November 17, 2018. What comes next is a tour of other U.S. cities. The Chicago Tribune reports that the producer of the Broadway show, Jeffrey Seller, picked Chicago as the first stop of the touring exhibit because … wait for it … “he had been inspired [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Ferris Wheel (p. 48)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 48 – THE FERRIS WHEEL THE FERRIS WHEEL.—What the Eiffel Tower was to the Paris Exposition the Ferris Wheel was to the Columbian. Like the Eiffel Tower, it was a triumph of engineering and an example of metal construction on a gigantic scale, but it had the additional feature of activity. It was in motion, a monster plaything, a device for furnishing a novel experience to the multitude. The story is told and seems to be authenticated that the idea of the wheel was conceived by Mr. Ferris while [...]
Opening Day, addendum: Fate of the Key
Fate of the Key This addendum concludes our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. “Electric Button” stereoscope card photograph. [Image (colorized) from the New York Public Library Digital Archive.] An advertisement for Kirk’s American Family Soap, showing Director-General Davis, the Duke of Veragua, and President Grover Cleveland (and possibly the arm of Mayor Harrison?) as the president presses the golden key to open the World’s Fair. “Hurrah! hurrah! The button has been pressed, Hurrah! [...]