RECENT POSTS
from
World’sFairChicago1893.com
“Frederick Douglass’s Defiant Stand at Chicago’s World’s Fair”
February 14 is often listed as the birthday of Frederick Douglass, who late in life served as the Commissioner of the Haitian Republic. Daniel Hautzinger writes in “Frederick Douglass's Defiant Stand at Chicago's World's Fair” (WTTW, February 14, 2018) that “Frederick Douglass never knew the date of his own birth, or even how old he was … But the famous abolitionist and orator eventually chose to celebrate his birthday [...]
“Devil in the White City” to be a Hulu Mini Series
One man built a dream city on the shores of Lake Michigan, attracting tens of millions of visitors from around the world. Another built a nightmare hotel in a neighborhood near the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Erik Larson entwined the true stories of architect Daniel H. Burnham and serial killer H. H. Holmes into a fascinating narrative in his 2003 bestseller The Devil in the White City: [...]
Finding the Fair at the Field
In terms of quantity and quality, one of the greatest collections of objects from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition resides in the Field Museum in Chicago. The permanent collection is a treasure trove of unique and fascinating items from the 1893 Exposition. We visited the museums several times recently to take in some of the temporary exhibits having World’s Fair materials on display and share a few photos here. [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part IV: The Incomparable Loveliness of the Illuminations
Author Julian Hawthorne visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Like so many other visitors who recorded their impressions of visiting the World’s Fair, he offered some of his highest praise for the electrical lighting of the night scene in the Dream City, a “banquet of royal beauty.” Reprinted below is the fourth and final part of Julian Hawthorne’s “The Lady of the Lake” about his June visit [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part III: Curiosities of the Midway Plaisance
Author Julian Hawthorne visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Reprinted below is the third part of Julian Hawthorne’s “The Lady of the Lake” about his June visit to the fairgrounds and published in the August 1893 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine. The previous installments can be found in Part I and Part II. [NOTE: By today’s standards, some of Hawthorne’s remarks about the Midway Plaisance and citizens of the [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part II: A Pure Delight of the Soul
Author Julian Hawthorne visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Reprinted below is the second part of Julian Hawthorne’s “The Lady of the Lake” about his June visit to the fairgrounds and published in the August 1893 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine. Part 1 can be found here. THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne The Palace of Fine Arts depicted in “Art Palace from the Southwest” [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin
Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 21, 1934) was the only son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and himself a journalist and author. Julian Hawthorne’s biographer notes that “as an author, he far exceeded the literary production of his famous father, composing no less than twenty-six novels and romances, over sixty short stories, almost a hundred essays, and several lengthy works of history, biography, and autobiography.” [Bassan, Maurice Hawthorne’s [...]
Ice and Snow on the Midway Plaisance
Here's some cool news from the July 8, 1893, Chicago Dispatch: Yesterday the thermometer nearly reached the one hundredth degree mark, and to-day is not much cooler, yet amidst this sultry heat of midsummer many thousands of visitors to the Midway Plaisance can, and many did, enjoy the enviable pleasure of a genuine sleigh ride on pure white snow. Not imitation snow, but the pure crystal itself. It is [...]
The World’s Fair in a Cup of Cocoa
An advertisement for Blooker's Cocoa from Harper's Weekly in 1893. This is a good day to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and think about the 1893 World’s Fair. In a contemporary magazine advertisement promoting their distribution of Blooker’s Dutch Cocoa, the Franco-American Food Company offered this copy: “The Columbian Exposition will soon be a thing of the past. Thousands of people who have visited the White [...]
Chicago Magazine Recalls the “Indecent Undulations” on the Midway Plaisance
A photograph of "Egyptian Dancing Girls" from Picturesque World’s Fair shows more modest attire than is often described for the "belly dancer" show on the Midway. The February 2019 issue of Chicago Magazine offers a historical survey of baring skin in the Windy City. “Unbuttoning Chicago’s History of Covering Up” opens with the 1893 World’s Fair, summarizing how the “belly dancers” in the Street in Cairo exhibit on [...]
A Plan to Build Robert Burns’ Cottage at the 1893 World’s Fair
Each January 25th, Scots celebrate the life and works of their national poet, Robert Burns, by joining together for “Burns Night” or “Burns Supper.” The December 1892 issue of World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated offered this brief report on a planned structure for the upcoming 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago: Robert Burns’ cottage will be shown at the World’s Columbian Exposition. A concession for this purpose was granted to the [...]
University of Notre Dame will cover its Christopher Columbus murals
The painting used as the source for a Columbian Issue U.S. postage stamp will be removed from public view at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The basis of the engraving design for 10-cent Columbian stamp titled “Columbus Presenting Natives” is Return of Columbus and Reception at Court (1880-84), the largest of twelve murals about the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus by Italian painter and [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Irish Village (p. 74)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 74 – THE IRISH VILLAGE THE IRISH VILLAGE.—There were two Irish villages in the Midway Plaisance, each possessing many attractions. The one here shown is that in which the Countess of Aberdeen was interested and in which she had a cottage. The village was one of the first of prominent features at the left upon entering Midway from the [...]
Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building … in Green
Adler & Sullivan’s Transportation Building. [Image from The World’s Columbian Exposition Portfolio of Views by C. D. Arnold and H. D. Higinbotham (C. B. Woodward Co., 1893).] Finding references to the 1893 World’s Fair--especially in unexpected places--can be a delight. All the more so when images of the White City show up in the context of another personal passion. A few weeks ago, the yellow brick road led [...]
Jan. 24, 2019: Sophia Hayden’s Gold Medal To Be Auctioned
The reverse of Hayden's presentation medal . [Image from John McInnis Auctioneers.] John McInnis Auctioneers (76 Main Street, Amesbury, MA) will offer a rare item from the 1893 World’s Fair in their “Numismatics, Exonumia, Silver and Jewelry” auction on Thursday January 24, 2019. Lot 10 is a 14-karat gold presentation medal awarded to architect Sophia Hayden for her design of the Woman’s Building. An inscription on the obverse [...]
“We will hardly make fools of ourselves.” Carter Harrison’s Bid to Be the World’s Fair Mayor
After serving four terms as mayor of Chicago from 1879 to 1887, Carter Harrison, Sr. ran again in 1893 to become the “World’s Fair Mayor.” He oversaw the city’s hosting of the World’s Columbian Exposition until the fateful evening that he was assassinated, just days before the scheduled closing of the Fair. Shortly after the mayor’s death, The Review of Reviews (December 1893, p. 663) published this article, which [...]
Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman
Two pillars of the 1893 World’s Fair died unexpectedly before they could complete their work on the fairgrounds. Even the preliminary architectural contributions of both men, however, played a monumental role in the success of the Columbian Exposition. So, it was fitting that a small monument to the memory of these two leading designers graced the fairgrounds. John Wellborn Root (left) and Henry Sargent Codman (right). Glorious [...]
Feb. 2, 2019: Potter & Potter Auctions to Offer Columbian Exposition Collectibles
A Statue of the Republic plaster model up for sale through Potter & Potter Auctions on February 2, 2019. Potter & Potter Auctions of Chicago will offer several interesting World’s Columbian Exposition items in their February 2nd auction, “Fine Books and Manuscripts: Featuring Important Chicago Memorabilia.” A unique lot is a three-foot, golden Statue of the Republic plaster model, identified as being produced by Orlandi Statuary of [...]
Jan. 29, 2019: World’s Fair Auction #33 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #33, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, January 29, 2019, at 10 PM EDT. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 7 through 25 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: • a decorative powder box with a picture of the Administration [...]
Japanese Vase from 1893 World’s Fair Was Hiding in Plain Sight
A rare Japanese vase made especially for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago has been hiding in plain sight in a California restaurant, reports the Chicago Tribune. The beautiful piece of World's Fair history will go up for auction next month. The recently identified Japanese vase from the 1893 World’s Fair, showing a dragon (symbolizing China) over waves. The vase decorated Spenger’s Fish Grotto in Berkeley, California, [...]