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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Liberty Bell (p. 56)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 56 – THE COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL THE COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL.—Not least among the ideas natural to the Columbian year, and which finally embodied themselves, was that of casting a new Liberty Bell, one the very metal of which should have associations connected with the thought of liberty and a universal brotherhood. The plan of such a bell was conceived [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – United States Military Encampment, Government Plaza (p. 55)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 55 – UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA.—North and east of the Manufactures Building was an extensive plaza devoted altogether to the uses of the United States Government. Here were the military encampment, the life-saving station, the signal service bureau, the naval station, the light-house exhibit and similar governmental features. The view shown [...]
June 2018 Trivia Question
Our monthly newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. The June 2018 Trivia Question When the Ferris Wheel attraction finally opened, on June 21, 1893, which musical group performed in one of the cars for the inaugural rotation? A. the Iowa State Band B. the Exposition Orchestra C. the Irish Village choir D. [...]
Iowa State Band Performs on Inaugural Spin of the Ferris Wheel
The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on June 21, 1893. Though more than a month late (the fair opened on May 1), the wheel became one of the most popular attraction of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Some 2,000 spectators gathered on the Midway Plaisance for the opening ceremony. The festivities began at 3 pm with speeches by Robert W. Hunt, President of the Ferris Wheel Company; George [...]
Cephalopod Week Visits the 1893 World’s Fair
“Cephalopod Week” on NPR’s Science Friday celebrates the “amazing, adaptive, and sometimes creepy” family of sea creatures that includes the squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. Among the wonders of the 1893 Word's Fair lurked several tentacled delights. Armed with sucking disks on its tentacles Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair could view cephalopods inside Henry Ives Cobb’s beautiful Fisheries Building. Trumball White and William Igleheart’s World's Columbian Exposition Chicago [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Facade of the French Section (p. 54)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 54 – THE FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION.—Among the various magnificent national displays made in the Manufactures Building that of France ranked with the greatest, either exteriorly considered or with regard to the works and products on exhibition. The section was on the east side of the north and south thoroughfare, known as Columbia [...]
A Flag for the Fair
In 1893, the U.S. flag sported forty-four stars for the forty-four states of the union. Flag Day marks the anniversary of adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777. An official holiday (though not a federal holiday) since 1946, Flag Day commemorations emerged in the 1880s. Apparently there were no Flag Day observances at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition on June 14, though. In honor [...]
“Nicodemus” in Las Vegas is a Virtual Reality Fair Fright
Electricity at the World's Fair, on the set of the new virtual-reality adventure "Nicodemus" in Las Vegas. The demon Nicodemus is on the loose in the old fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. That is, if you are inside of a new virtual-reality attraction in Las Vegas. The VOID at Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian/The Palazzo resort (3377 South Las Vegas Boulevard) in Las Vegas [...]
“Devil in the White City” is top-10 Illinois Book
Erik Larson’s 2003 best-selling book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ignited a passion for the 1893 World’s Fair in countless readers. The title recently earned a spot in the list of top-10 books with links to Illinois. Larson’s historical non-fiction thriller tells parallel stories about the monumental efforts of Daniel Burnham to build the White City in Jackson Park [...]
Columbian Exposition Stamp Collecting … and Complaints
Of the many “firsts” associated with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the issuing of the first commemorative postage stamps by the United States Post Office became philatelic history. The set of sixteen stamps are among the most sought-after by collectors of stamps and Columbiana. In the winter of 1892, Postmaster-General John Wanamaker reported on the Columbian series: The introduction of the Columbian series of postage stamps will contribute in [...]
June 21, 2018: Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the Ferris Wheel in Chicago and Santa Monica
UPDATE 6/21/2018: Navy Pier has cancelled this event: https://navypier.org/event/125th-anniversary-ferris-wheel/ The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on Thursday June 21, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Marking this anniversary will be celebrations of the Ferris Wheel at two of America’s most famous piers. Chicago’s Navy Pier and Santa Monica Pier will each commemorate George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.’s famous feat of engineering, which reached 264 feet into [...]
Yachting to the World’s Fair
Visitors traveled to the 1893 World’s Fair by train, boat, carriage, horse, bicycle, and even by foot (sometimes very long distances). Below is an annotated excerpt from “Going to the Fair” in the June 1893 issue of Current Literature, in which the author describes the route to travel by yacht from New York to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. “The Water Route” Certainly for the man who owns a [...]
June 16, 2018: It’s Your Park Day (with tour) on Midway Plaisance
June 16, 2018, is "It's Your Park Day" in Chicago, the the Chicago Parks Foundation's annual citywide volunteer day, celebrating Chicago's beautiful green spaces and the communities who support them. One site includes Midway Plaisance Park, site of the great Midway attraction of the 1893 World's Fair. In addition to a park clean-up (all morning), there will be a free historical walking tour to mark the 125th anniversary of [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The “Farmer’s Bridge.” (p. 52)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 52 – THE "FARMER'S BRIDGE" THE "FARMER'S BRIDGE." — Not a few of the prominent features of the Columbian Exposition acquired popular titles quite different from their official designation. The main entrance to the Transportation Building became known as "The Golden Door," the rolling chairs propelled largely by theological students, acquired the title of " Gospel Chariots;" the Columbian [...]
Meat Free Since ’93: National Vegetarian Museum tours Chicago
Did you know that Chicago became an epicenter for vegetarianism in the late 1800s? This question open the display of the National Vegetarian Museum exhibit currently touring the Chicago region. Did you also know that it happened at the 1893 World’s Fair? In early June of 1893, vegetarians from around the world gathered in Chicago, "hog butcher for the world," as part of the World's Congress program of the [...]
Vienna Beef History Museum opens in Chicago
We have not yet reached the dog days of summer, but Chicago is already celebrating its most famous dog, with the opening of the Vienna Beef History Museum. The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicago’s iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the [...]
Memorial Day, 1893
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan of Illinois, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance of “comrades who died in defense of their country” during the recent war between the states. Decoration Day was held on May 30 annually. By 1890, all northern states had adopted the holiday. In 1968, the U.S. Congress established Memorial Day as the [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Agriculture Building (p. 51)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 51 – THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING.—Viewed from the northwest, different facades of the great Agriculture Building can be seen and a fair idea obtained of its magnitude and beauty. Though but a single story in height, most imposing effects were sought in the design of the structure and were fully realized. Its dimensions were, for the main [...]
June 15, 2018: “Night at the Fair” MSI After Hours (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago occupies one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. To honor the 125th anniversary of the building and the fair, the museum is hosting “Night at the Fair” for their latest MSI After Hours event on June 15, 2018, from 7 to 10 pm. MSI invites you to “don your best fair attire” (a glass dress, perhaps?) [...]
June 5, 2018: Leading Ladies of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition at Driehaus Museum (Chicago)
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum is sponsoring a lecture “Leading Ladies of Chicago’s Columbian Exposition: Celebrating 125 Years” by Chicago historian Sally Sexton Kalmbach. Although the right to vote was still over 20 years away, the leading ladies of Chicago’s Gilded Age began exerting their power as leaders of social society and cultural tastemakers. Historian Sally Kalmbach will discuss how these women also played an integral leadership role in creating [...]