RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
164. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Canal – Looking South
THE NORTH CANAL—LOOKING SOUTH —From a point near the west approach to the bridge connecting the Electricity and Manufactures Buildings a view was afforded southward down the South Canal, which had many interesting features. The always thronged bridge between the plaza in front of the Administration Building and the south front of the Manufactures cuts off, it is true, a portion of the view but adds in itself an interesting feature. The photograph from which the illustrations were made affords the usual afternoon scene at this point during the continuation of the Fair. On the right, the graceful columns [...]
Reaching the fairgrounds by cable car, cattle car, steamboat, or L?
Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition had many options for transportation to (and within), the fairgrounds. The poem below, about various transportation modes, may have been a sly advertisement for the company mentioned in the final line. “The Crowd Entering the Grounds from the Elevated Railway,” drawn by T. de Thulstrup after a sketch by T. Dart Walker. [Image from Harper’s Weekly June 10, 1893.] Some reached The Fair by steamboat, .....Some ride upon the “L;” Some bump their bones on the cable car .....And wish the road in—well. Some make the jaunt in a cattle car .....And [...]
“The crush was terrible”: A firsthand account of Opening Day at the 1893 World’s Fair
A correspondent to the Russell Record in Russell County, Kansas, offered this account of Opening Day of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Despite having a rather unpleasant time adrift in the “Surging Sea of Humanity” assembled in Jackson Park for the ceremony, and despite the World’s Fair being far from complete in early May, this Kansan advised that “No one, who can conveniently see it, should fail to do so.” Thousands and thousands of people collected on the grounds and crowded before the Administration building last Monday to see the Fair formally opened by Pres. Cleveland. The crush was [...]
Curiosities from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
The University of Illinois has shared some interesting artifacts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition that are held in the University Archives and campus libraries. The article by Nicole Cazley and Kim Schmidt features the University of Illinois Guest Register, a pass book for a member of John Philip Sousa’s band, a guidebook, a Certificate of Visitation [read more about these rare souvenirs here], a topographic map display, and stereograph cards. Read the article here: https://storied.illinois.edu/curiosities-1893-chicago-worlds-fair/
May 14, 2024: “L Car No. 1 First Look” (Chicago)
The Guild of the Chicago History Museum will host an exclusive first look at the newly renovated elevated train car that took visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair. Attendees will peruse World’s Fair artifacts with curators, meet historic figures who made headlines at the Fair, and hop aboard the L car for a tour as it reopens after its restoration. Period musicians, 19th-century costumes, and a luncheon straight from 1893, will offer Guild members a glimpse of the wonder that fairgoers experienced 131 years ago. “L Car No. 1 First Look” runs from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on [...]
May 10, 2024: “MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great World’s Fairs” (Clarks Summit, PA)
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will present MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great “World’s Fairs” on May 10, 2024, in Clarks Summit, PA. A spectacular musical celebration of the legendary world’s fairs, including the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Music played a key role in these international festivals, launching both hit songs and the illustrious careers of many American musicians. This new Paragon Ragtime Orchestra program features dozens of stirring world’s fair hits, performed from rare original scores, along with the continuous projections of [...]
May 7, 2024: DREAM CITY musical (Chicago)
A new musical about the 1893 World’s Fair takes the stage at Theater Wit in Chicago for one night only. Dream City, with book and lyrics by June Finfer and music by Elizabeth Doyle, will be offered as a staged reading on May 7, 2024, at 7:30 PM. Finfer and Doyle’s musical is a revision of Burnham’s Dream: The White City, staged in 2018. This new version featured five new songs, two new characters (including a villain), and no dancing. Dream City is the story of Chicago in a Gilded Age not unlike today, when immigrants, women, and minorities [...]
Greetings from a Transportation Angel
We were delighted to hear from several readers about the lovely images featured in our recent post “Angels in the Spandrels: The Winged Decorations of Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building” We’ve made the image available on greeting cards (single, pack of 10, and pack of 20) and a few other items through our Café Press shop at https://www.cafepress.com/worldsfairchicago1893. We greatly enjoy sharing what we learn about the 1893 World’s Fair with other researchers and enthusiasts. This non-profit, educational website is a labor of love … but it does cost money to host. We loathe advertisements that pop up and get [...]
Angels in the Spandrels: The Winged Decorations of Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building
Critics glorified and reviled Louis Sullivan’s renegade design for the Transportation Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. The polychromatic color scheme and the grand Golden Door received the most commentary at the time of the Columbian Exposition, and both elements continue to fascinate students of architecture today. Louis Sullivan’s striking design for the Transportation Building featured a polychromatic façade and majestic “Golden Door” entrance on the east side. [Image from Picturesque World’s Fair. W.B. Conkey, 1894; digitally edited © worldsfairchicago.com.] Observers at the Fair were not quite sure what to make of the winged figures on the façade, [...]
“Sick of the picturesque”: Hamlin Garland oversells the 1893 World’s Fair
Note: Hamlin Garland will be inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, from 5:30—8 pm at the Chicago History Museum. Further information about Hamlin Garland can be found at the Hamlin Garland Society website https://www.garlandsociety.org/ “Sell the cook stove if necessary and come. You must see this fair.” This oft-repeated quote, brimming with enthusiasm and promise for the 1893 World’s Fair, was Hamlin Garland’s enticement for his parents to visit him in Chicago. Often overlooked is the actual experience they had after accepting his invitation to the Columbian Exposition. The [...]