Fairground Fiction
Stories about, or set in,
the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT WORLD’S FAIR FICTION
Winter World’s Fair Reading
As we head into the holiday season, you might find some time to enjoy a trip to the 1893 World's Fair through some vintage fiction. Check out our Fair Fiction Library page to connect with some historical novels, fictional memoirs, and juvenile literature. We'd eventually like to offer short summaries or reviews of these titles, so send us your thoughts if you happen to read one of these titles.
THE LIVING INFINITE imagines Princess Eulalia’s visit to the World’s Fair
"The White City was a young woman in a wedding gown. It was an undiscovered country." -- The Living Infinite by Chantel Acevedo The Infanta Eulalia of Spain She was the Queen of the Fair and the toast of the town, but the love affair between the Spanish Princess and Chicago was short-lived. After 47 days of travel that included visits to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Washington DC, and New York, the Infanta Eulalia of Spain pulled into Chicago on June 7, 1893, as one of the most anticipated and celebrated guests of the Columbia Exposition. The city extended [...]
VINTAGE FICTION INVOLVING THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR
- Burnett, Frances Hodgson Two Little Pilgrims Progress. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]
- Burnham, Clara Louise Sweet Clover: A Romance of the White City. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1894. [Available at Archive.org]
- Butterworth, Hezekiah Zigzag Journeys in the White City. Estes and Lauriat, 1894. [Available at Archive.org]
- Cobb, Weldon J. A World’s Fair Mystery. Melbourne Publishing, 1892.
- Crowley, Mary Catherine The City of Wonders: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair. William Graham Co., 1894. Reprinted here.
- Dockarty, A. J. (“Ebenezer Slimmens”) Midway Plaisance: The Experience of an Innocent Boy from Vermont in the Famous Midway. Chicago World Book, 1894.
- Dramond, Alonzo E. A Secret of the Midway Plaisance. Byron S Adams, 1893.
- Ferris, George Washington Gale Car No. –: A Romance of the Ferris Wheel. The Narrative of James Black. Corbitt & Skidmore, 1893.
- Finley, Martha Elsie at the World’s Fair. Dodd, Mead, 1894. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]
- Holley, Marietta Samantha at the Fair. Funk & Wagnalls, 1893. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]
- Jenks, Tudor The Century World’s Fair Book for Boys and Girls, Being the Adventures of Harry and Philip with their Tutor, Mr. Douglas, at the World’s Columbian Exposition. The Century Co., 1893. [Available at Archive.org]
- Neely, F. Tennyson (“Tennyson”) A Tale of the World’s Fair. P. T. Neeley, 1890. [Available at Archive.org]
- Neville, Edith Alice Ashland: a Romance of the World’s Fair. Peter Fenelon Collier, 1893. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]
- Rathborne, St. George The Bachelor of the Midway. Mascot Pub. Co., 1894. [Available at Archive.org]
- [Stead, William Thomas] From the Old World to the New; or, A Christmas Story of the World’s Fair, 1893. Review of Reviews, 1892. [Available at Archive.org]
- Stevens, Charles McClellan (“Quondam”) The Adventures of Uncle Jeremiah and Family at the Great Fair. Laird & Lee, 1893. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]
- Stevens, Charles McClellan (“Quondam”) The Egyptian Harp Girl: A Mystery of the Peristyle. Laird & Lee, 1894.
- [UNKNOWN] A Peep at the World’s Fair. Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1893?
- [UNKNOWN] Jeremiah Judkin’s Trip to the Fair: Being a Truthful Account of a Most Extraordinary Occurrence. Woolson Spice Co., 1894.
- [UNKNOWN] Short Stories with a Glimpse at the Columbian Exposition. N. Malloy, 1893?
- Van Deventer, Emma Murdoch Against Odds: A Detective Story. Rand McNally, 1894; reprinted in Hartman, Donald K. (Ed.) Fairground Fiction: Detective Stories of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Epoch Books, 1992. [Available at Amazon]
- Ward, A. B. (Alice Bailey) “A Medley of the Midway Plaisance” in The Luck of a Good for Nothing. Outing Publishing Co. 1895.
- Western, Carl T. Adventures of Reuben and Cynthy at the World’s Fair, As Told by Themselves. Wellington Pub. Co., 1893.
- Whitson, John Harvey Chicago Charlie, the Columbian Detective. Beadle & Adams, 1893. Hartman, Donald K. (Ed.) Fairground Fiction: Detective Stories of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Epoch Books, 1992. [Available at Amazon]
- Yandell, Enid; Jean Loughborough; Laura Hayes Three Girls in a Flat; Knight Leonard and Co., 1892. [Available at Archive.org and Amazon]