Reprinters Row
A collection of reprinted texts and images
from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
183. Picturesque World’s Fair – Main Structure and Dome of the Horticulture Building
MAIN STRUCTURE AND DOME OF THE HORTICULTURE BUILDING.—The admirable features of the Horticulture Building's architecture to be considered were lost to the eye of many for the double reason that its chief attractions were near the center and were to an extent lost in a view of the structure as a whole, and that the space between the Horticulture Building and the West Lagoon was but the width of [...]
A nightly scene of fairy-like loveliness: Illumination of the 1893 White City
Many of the most effusive and eloquent descriptions of the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition focus on the nightly illumination. This electrical spectacle, augmented with flame torches and fireworks, dazzled visitors in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Some cried. Others thought they were glimpsing the heavenly beyond. The luminous poetry seemed like magic, but was actually cutting-edge science. Ponderous steam engines generating some 17,000 horse power drove great dynamos [...]
182. Picturesque World’s Fair – A Frontier Ox-Cart
A FRONTIER OX-CART.—As a sort of annex to the North Dakota Building, there stood outside, upon the greensward, what was called a Red River Ox-Cart. It stood there as representing the only means of conveyance known up to within a little more than twenty years ago throughout the vast territory now composing the two Dakotas. It was simply a stuffed ox, hitched to a cart. It was an amiable-looking [...]
His (almost) last trip over that infernal Ferris Wheel
On his way to visit the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, the editor of a small-town newspaper in Kansas met a fellow traveler from Lebanon, Indiana, (Mr. J. R. Anthony). On their second day at the Fair, the men toured the Midway Plaisance together and eventually found their way to its central attraction. “The Ferris Wheel next demanded our attention. We were reluctant at first about making this circuitous [...]
181. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Illinois Building on Illinois Day
THE ILLINOIS BUILDING ON ILLINOIS DAY. — On the occasion of a day of celebration devoted to any particular state, a scene of interest occurred at that state's building. Naturally, the people of the particular commonwealth would gather in thousands about their edifice and there would be much enthusiasm and much noise while the ceremonies of the occasion were in progress. So it was to be expected that Illinois [...]
Powerlifting at the 1893 World’s Fair
The newspaper account reprinted below is a reminder that marble was mostly a myth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The destination for this faux stone block may have been the Ruins of Yucatan exhibit. Built for a Heavy Load People who were on the platform of the intramural opposite the Anthropological Building yesterday about 3 o’clock were treated to a sight which almost made them doubt their eyes. [...]
An Engine of Destruction in the Krupp Gun Pavilion
In her memoir about the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, Halcyon Days in the Dream City, Mrs. D. C. Taylor describes a day when she explored the area of Jackson Park around the South Pond. The visitor from Kankakee, Illinois, “wandered away by the fortress where is housed, black and baleful, with its great yawning mouth waiting to belch forth death, the great Krupp gun; a fearful hideous thing, [...]
180. Picturesque World’s Fair – Looking East from the Golden Door
LOOKING EAST FROM THE GOLDEN DOOR.—Very few views, possibly not more than one, were taken eastward from the Golden Door. That remarkable portal was so striking in itself that it did not occur, apparently, to any one of the various photographers to take any picture in its vicinity which did not include the glittering entrance. There were numerous views near the southern extremity of the lagoons, but there was [...]
Only One Thing in the Whole 1893 Exposition Worth Looking at
A man exploring the 1893 World’s Fair in July conveyed this story about an unimpressed visitor from New York: I met a friend on the plaisance yesterday who has just returned from New York. While there he met a New Yorker, whom he asked if he had visited the fair. The New Yorkers said “Yes, in May. I was roasted brown.” “Didn't you like the exposition?” “Like it? I [...]
Meeting on the Midway Plaisance
On any given day, tens or hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. One visitor commented on the strange coincidence of meeting familiar people on the fairgrounds: “Anyone merely passing among the thousands scattered over the Exposition grounds can get no idea of what a big patch of the earth they represent. You cannot guess how many of [...]
REPRINT SERIES
Picturesque World’s Fair: An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views (W. B. Conkey Company. 1894)