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Echoes of the White City Part 1: Chicago Society’s 1894 Charity Bazaar
When the Midway reopened in 1894, the Ferris Wheel had only four passenger cars, the girls in the Congress of Beauty had to shave their faces, and the famous “belly dance” was performed by a male window decorator from Marshall Field’s.As carriages pulled up along Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s society folk were greeted by a fat, little man wearing “trousers that might have been intended for twin balloons,” a fez, and [...]
A 360-Degree View of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Sneak Peek)
The Chicago 00 Project has released a sneak peek of their upcoming an augmented and virtual reality experience, The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, to be published in early 2020. A partnership between the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, the Chicago 00 Project has been producing a series of interactive multimedia experiences using historical images of important sites and events in Chicago. Their augmented reality app allows participant [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Fort Sheridan in the Government Building (p. 89)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 89 – FORT SHERIDAN IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING FORT SHERIDAN IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—In point of reproduction, under a roof, of certain objects connected with the aim of its display the government did exceptionally well. The lay figures of soldiers and animals, the first to exhibit styles of uniforms of different eras, the second to illustrate means of transportation [...]
Oct. 31, 2019: “Devil In The White City” Halloween party (Chicago)
Flight Club, a social darts club with bar and restaurant, will re-imagine the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair for Halloween with a "Devil In The White City" party. For $49, partiers can toss back darts, drinks & dinner amidst the madness, magicians, fortune-tellers & murder mysteries. Flight Club is located at 111 W. Wacker Drive in Chicago.
“The Current War” offers only a dimly lit view of the 1893 World’s Fair
The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago shines on the big screen, if only for a few minutes. The Current War (2017, released 2019) tells the story of the rancorous rivalry between inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who adamantly championed direct current (DC) technologies to electrify and illuminate American cities, and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who banked on alternating current (AC). The legendary “war of the currents” has these titans of [...]
“Greatly Interested in the World’s Fair is the Wizard.” Thomas Edison’s 1891 Visit to Chicago
Thomas Edison visited Chicago on May 12, 1891, staying for several days “to attend to some private interests” and to consult with Prof. John P. Barrett, Chief of the Department of Electricity and Electrical Appliances for the World’s Columbian Exposition. [“Proposition for a Compromise” Chicago Inter Ocean May 12, 1891, p. 8.] The article below, from the front page of the May 12, 1891, issue of the Chicago Evening [...]
“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair
In August 1893, Thomas A. Edison visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His time at the World's Fair bears little resemblance to the story portrayed on screen in The Current War. According to the report below, from the September 2, 1893, issue of Electrical Review, Edison kept a low profile and showed little interest in the electrical exhibits. Thomas A. Edison, accompanied by his family, arrived in Chicago [...]
Guidance for the Unsophisticated
Before “Goin’ to the Fair,” Americans received unsolicited advice in their small-town newspapers on how to navigate the city of Chicago during their visit to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The June 22, 1893, issue of the Mount Vernon (OH) Democratic Banner offered these words of guidance: There is little doubt that a large proportion of those who will attend the World's Fair ought to be under the charge [...]
Goin’ to the Fair
Americans planning to visit the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago were inundated with cautionary tales about evil trappings in the big city and stories of tourists being ripped off. While an event the size of the World’s Columbian Exposition certainly had its fair share of scammers, reports of exorbitant prices on the fairgrounds were largely unsubstantiated. Even before the opening of the Fair, the poem reprinted below offered guidance [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Interior of Machinery Hall (p. 88)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 88 – INTERIOR OF MACHINERY HALL INTERIOR OF MACHINERY HALL.—Quite different from the view afforded inside any other of the buildings of the Fair was that where the acres of all kinds of modern machinery were exposed in competition. So constructed that the most effective display of such exhibits could be made, the vast hall presented a scene never [...]
Oct. 24, 2019: “A History of Illinois Ferris Wheels and the 1893 Columbian Exposition” (Assumption, IL)
Macon County Historian Mark Sorensen will speak about the 1893 World’s Fair at the Oct. 24 meeting of the Assumption Historical Society in Assumption, IL. His illustrated talk on “A History of Illinois Ferris Wheels and the 1893 Columbian Exposition” starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Bromwell Lodge (225 N. Chestnut St. in Assumption) and is free and open to the public.
Autumn 2019 Trivia Question
Our seasonal newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. The Autumn 2019 Trivia Question Which famous world leader stood motionless on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition pointing at the New York State Building? We had several interesting guesses--Teddy Roosevelt (who was at the Fair), George [...]
A Fair Harvest
With autumn comes the fall harvest. The doggerel below, from the April 1892 issue of Halligan’s The Illustrated World's Fair, has a rural farmer anticipating the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Poet W. H. Jewett may be referencing Littleville, Alabama, in the second verse. A photograph of pumpkins from the California exhibit in the Agricultural Building, from a Kilburn stereoscope card. [Image from the Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum [...]
Oct. 22, 2019: World’s Fair Auction #35 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #35, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 17 through 55 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: a lovely "Columbus Panorama" tri-fold book that depicts "American Declaration of Independence July 4th, 1776," [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Egyptian Swordsmen (p. 87)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 87 – EGYPTIAN SWORDSMEN EGYPTIAN SWORDSMEN.— Among the attractions of a Street in Cairo were a number of swordsmen, some of them very expert in their profession. Their weapons were not of the style in use among Europeans and Americans, but resembled Japanese swords somewhat and had no guard above the hand grip. The blades were not, however, used [...]
Sept. 13-Nov. 4, 2019: DEADLY, a New Musical Set at the 1893 World’s Fair (Los Angeles)
A new musical set at the 1893 World’s Fair makes its world premiere at the Sacred Fools Theater Company of Los Angeles this fall. Deadly, written by Vanessa Claire Stewart, with music by Ryan Thomas Johnson, explores the chilling events of the “murder castle” operating near the grounds of the Columbian Exposition. The twin stories of the Fair and the serial killer, which were the subject of Erik Larson’s dramatic [...]
Oct. 21, 2019- May 2021: American Medina-Stories of Muslim Chicago (Chicago History Museum)
Some of the earliest Muslim communities in Chicago came for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and on the Midway Plaisance were several of the first mosques in the city. The Chicago History Museum opens a new exhibit “American Medina: Stories of Muslim Chicago” on October 21, 2019. CHM notes that “the intention of this exhibition is to record the diverse stories and life experiences of Muslim people living in [...]
Oct. 19-20, 2019: Open House Chicago Features 1893 World’s Fair Connections
Vestiges of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition can be found scattered around the globe … if you know where to look. Several sites related to the World’s Fair are included in the 2019 Open House Chicago, held on October 19-20, 2019: Decorators Supply Corp. (3610 S. Morgan St.) manufactured cast ornamental plaster that helped create the mouldings for the buildings of the "White City" at the 1893 World's Fair. St. [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Curious Grain Picture (p. 86)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 86 – THE CURIOUS GRAIN PICTURE THE CURIOUS GRAIN PICTURE.—There were many fine exhibits in the big Illinois Building, many novel displays and a great showing of objects with what might be called an agricultural tendency, but the throng was always greatest at one particular point, that being immediately in front of what became known popularly as " The [...]
Oct. 13, 2019: The Vanishing City–Excavating the World’s Fair (Glessner House)
Glessner House is hosting a talk on "The Vanishing City: Excavating the World’s Fair of 1893" on Sunday, October 13, 2019, from 4-5 pm. Rebecca Graff, assistant professor of anthropology and chair of the American studies at Lake Forest College, divulges what is hiding beneath the future Obama Presidential Center site in Chicago. Professor Graff will discuss her archaeological and archival research focused on the Fair’s ephemeral “White City” [...]