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Rolling-Chair Romances
Recruit eight-hundred young college men to the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and assign them to work as escorts for young, attractive women. The situation is fraught with danger, advised the Chicago Record in an article appearing in May of 1893. The annotated news story reprinted below aimed to expose the “rolling romances” formed at the World’s Fair between the wheel-chair pushers—young men with a “very attentive [...]
Pushing for a Labor Strike at the Fair
The American labor movement and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition share an intertwined history. Labor Day became an official U.S. federal holiday in 1894. The official histories of the World’s Fair rarely recognize the back-breaking labor of the working class and largely immigrant labor force that carved the lagoon, constructed the White City, operated the concessions. The following article from the August 16, 1893 issue of the Chicago Inter [...]
Aug. 30, 2018 – Feb. 24, 2019: S.S. Columbus Whale Boat Exhibit at the North Point Lighthouse and Museum (Milwaukee)
"A Whale of a Ship" exhibit at the North Point Lighthouse and Museum in Milwaukee. The S.S. Christopher Columbus, the only whaleback ship ever built for passenger service, transported millions of visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair between downtown Chicago and the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. The excursion liner operated on the Great Lakes through 1933. A new exhibit running from August 30, 2018, through February 24, 2019 [...]
Sept. 8-Oct. 13, 2018: “Chicago’s Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World’s Fair” Tours (Chicago)
In conjunction with their exhibit “Treasures from the White City: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893," the Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago is offering a series of walking tours titled “Chicago's Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World's Fair” on Saturdays from 1-2:30 pm between September 8 to October 13. Led by Sally Kalmbach, the tour will explore Chicago’s famous Gold Coast neighborhood. Still one the most beautiful [...]
Inside the Administration Building Dome: “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” by William Dodge (Part I)
PART I: DECORATING THE DOME OF THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING “Fame comes only after death to those who have slaved during life.” —William de Leftwich Dodge The gem and crown of the Exposition Along with the Ferris Wheel and the Statue of the Republic, this magnificent structure is one of the most iconic images of the 1893 World’s Fair. With its grand and golden dome, the Administration Building towered over [...]
When the Brownies Visited the Columbian Exposition Fairgrounds
In the summer of 1892, the job of readying the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition for its official dedication in October and then finishing work in time for the May 1, 1893, opening must have seemed an impossible task. Luckily, the magical Brownies were there to “lend a helping hand.” The Brownies are a band of adventurous and mischievous little characters created by writer and illustrator Palmer Cox [...]
Aug. 25, 2018: Historic Marker for the Norway Building
On Saturday August 25, 2018, an Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) marker commemorating the Norway Building was dedicated in Jackson Park on the exact site where the building stood during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. A delegation of Norwegians traveled to the event from Orkdal—where the building was originally constructed and then returned to in 2017 as a museum and heritage center (see "The Long Journey of the Norway Building.") [...]
Sep. 28-Dec. 31, 2018: “Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The celebration of the 125th anniversary of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 will climax this fall with a major exhibit and series of programs at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The Library is simultaneously celebrating the 125th anniversary of the opening of their beautiful building, designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb, architect of the Fisheries Building and several other structures on the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. Pictures from an [...]
Wooded Island Well Suited for Climate Change
It is not easy to find good news in reports about climate change. A news story in the August 17, 2018, Chicago Tribune offered one small encouraging note in an otherwise distressing description of the impacts of climate change on the Chicago region. “The birches in the corner of your kid’s favorite park, the towering spruce in your suburban backyard, that graceful linden on your block — all are likely [...]
Yerkes Observatory Faces Uncertain Future
Perched on a hilltop above Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, stands a magnificent structure having two significant connections to the 1893 World’s Fair. After more than 120 years of operation, this important legacy of the Columbian Exposition faces an uncertain future. Architect Henry Ives Cobb. (Image from The Graphic History of the Fair. (Graphic Co., 1894).] Henry Ives Cobb, born on August 18, 1859, in Brookline, Massachusetts, had become [...]
The Yerkes Telescope, Great Revealer of the Solar System
Among the many enormous and record-breaking displays at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, none were astronomical as the Yerkes Telescope. The historic telescope has been on view to the public, and in service to scientists, for the past 120 years while housed in the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, a beautiful building designed by World’s Fair architect Henry Ives Cobb. The observatory and treasured telescope face an uncertain [...]
Company Vacation to the 1893 World’s Fair
The Wellington Machine Company of Wellington, Ohio, was a foundry for the manufacturing of brick-making machines. An image of the works can be seen in an 1890 engraving here. The article below from the August 16, 1893, issue of Clay Record (an industry semi-monthly) reports on the company’s generous gift to its employees: an all-expense-paid vacation to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. NICE TRIP TO THE WORLD’S FAIR. [...]
1893 World’s Fair Commemorative Postage Stamps and the (Alleged) Death of Stamp Collecting
"The report of my death was an exaggeration.” -- Mark Twain (June 2, 1897) In his July 23, 2018, “U.S. Stamp Notes” column at Linn’s Stamp News, John M. Hotchner describes the birth of World’s Fair philately at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. His article “World’s fair philately: 19th and early 20th centuries” explains how the set of 16 commemorative postage stamps, which at the time cost $16.34 (roughly $444 [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Grand Basin from the Administration Gallery (p. 62)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 62 – THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY.—Very striking was the effect produced by the body of water known as the Grand Basin, forming a symmetrical marble-framed lake in the center of the Court of Honor. Here, during the day, were reflected the hosts of white fronts uprearing on every side; [...]
Sept. 8, 2018-Aug. 11, 2019: “Treasures from the White City: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893” at the Driehaus Museum (Chicago)
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum presents Treasures from the White City: Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, displaying original objects and memorabilia designed for and exhibited at the fair on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. The objects are drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, as well as the Richard H. Driehaus private collection, and are exhibited in two galleries in the Nickerson Mansion, the building that now houses the [...]
Germany’s “Glory of Germania” Tile Painting in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building
Within the enormous Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition stood the imposing German Pavilion. Along with the other world powers of the era—Great Britain, France, and the United States—Germany displayed her national output in a prominent location around the central clock tower along the middle stretch of Columbia Avenue. Floorplan of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building [Image from Diagrams [...]
July-September, 2018: “Glory of Germania” on Display at DANK Haus in Chicago
A German ceramic tile tableau exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair is back on display for a limited time at the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center in Chicago. The Glory of Germania is an 18-by-12-foot tableau constructed of 1,057 individual tiles displayed with the German exhibit inside the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. (See our full post here.) After 93 years on [...]
July 2018 Trivia Question
Our monthly 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 July 2018 Trivia Question Which of the following Liberty Bells was NOT on display at the 1893 World's Fair? A. the original Liberty Bell from Philadelphia. B. a "New Liberty Bell" cast in honor of the Fair. C. a Liberty [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Convent of La Rabida (p. 61)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 61 – THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA.—In marked contrast with the great modern structures near it was the reproduction at the Exposition of the Convent of La Rabida, or, to express its title more correctly, the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, which means The Convent of St. Mary of the Frontier. It [...]
How The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition Played Into Chicago’s Rivalry With New York
WBEZ’s Curious City podcast “How The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition Played Into Chicago’s Rivalry With New York” answers the question Where does Chicago’s inferiority complex toward New York come from and when did it start? Recorded live at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago during their “Night at the Fair” After Hours event on June 15, 2018, this episode of Curious City exposes the roots of [...]