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Wishing our readers a plentiful Thanksgiving!
THE STATUE OF "PLENTY" from Picturesque World's Fair (W. B. Conkey, 1894). The pieces of statuary which stood beside the portals of the great buildings or bridge approaches, or on pedestals overlooking the Grand Basin and canals and lagoons, had all definite names fitted to the idea of their conception. What Kemeys and Proctor did with wild animals Potter and French did with domestic ones, introducing them in statuary with [...]
Nov. 30, 2017: “Fair Game” theater show at Northwestern University
An interactive theater show opening soon at Northwestern University will allow audience members to walk through the magic (and menace) of the 1893 World’s Fair. “Fair Game: A Chicago Spectacle” by Sit and Spin Productions explores Chicago in the years 1891 to 1893, as the city builds and then hosts the Columbian Exposition. Written and directed by Eli Newell, the choose-your-own-adventure “FAIR GAME” is described this way: As the [...]
See the Midway, German Building, and Palace of Fine Arts on Film
The Chicago Tribune has posted a video mash-up of Chicago aerial scenes, pairing vintage film footage—shot in 1914 from a dirigible flying over the city—with modern video of the same locations. The German Building (looking south) Of particular interest to fans of the 1893 World’s Fair are scenes of the Midway Plaisance (shown at 3:45 minutes in the video) followed by a fly-over of the 58th Street [...]
Model Stock Car from Woman’s Building at Dec. 6 Auction
A beautiful item that was displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair will be coming up for auction on December 6, 2017. Geneva Armstrong's model cattle car (Jackson's Auction) Exhibits in the Woman’s Building showcased the achievements of many women inventors. Among them was Geneva Armstrong, who displayed a model of the railroad stock car she designed and patented, which had an adjustable trough for feeding and watering [...]
Get Your (So-Called) Orange Cider
You’ve just taken the thrill ride of your life—ascending 264 feet into the air on a giant rotating wheel of iron, viewing the expansive fairgrounds of the Columbian Exposition from a perspective intended only for birds, and gently returning to terra firma in a car filled with scores of other passengers. You need a drink. Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair walking along the Midway may have spotted a [...]
Weinstein, War, and the White City
The 1893 World’s Fair has made small guest appearances on the big screen and small screen, but has yet to be a major featured setting for a film or television series. The 2005 documentary film EXPO – Magic of the White City, narrated by Gene Wilder, (link to online video) uses still images of the Columbian Exposition along with video footage (oddly chosen, in some cases) to tell the [...]
West Point Cadets’ Encampment on the Fairgrounds
In honor of Veteran’s Day, let’s look back to the summer of 1893, when the 300 young soldiers camped on the grounds of the World’s Fair in Chicago. The West Point Cadets traveled to the Columbian Exposition by train from their home on the Hudson, pulling into Terminal Station in Jackson Park at noon on August 18. Crowds gathered to watch the troops assemble in the plaza. “The battalion [...]
C. D. Arnold Gelatin Silver Prints at Nov. 10th Auction
Charles Dudley Arnold served as the official photographer of the 1893 World's Fair. Between 1891 and 1894, he documented the construction of the fairgrounds and operation of the Exposition, capturing spectacular views of architecture, events, and visitors. Some of the most iconic images of the Columbian Exposition came from C. D. Arnold's camera. Sets of his beautiful large-size platinum prints can be found in several library collections, and many [...]
Chicago History Museum WCE display updated
The World's Columbian Exposition exhibit at the Chicago History Museum The Chicago History Museum blog post "New Additions to an Old Favorite" reports that the museum's permanent exhibition Chicago: Crossroads of America made some updates this past summer to the section on the 1893 World's Fair, including: an expanded section on activist and author Ida B. Wells, showing her 1893 pamphlet “The Reason Why The Colored American Is Not in the [...]
Carter Harrison Played His Part, October 1892
An excerpt from The Illustrated World's Fair Vol. 3, No. 16, October 1892, p. 330: EX-MAYOR CARTER H. HARRISON ON CHICAGO AN ARTICLE BY THE BEST-KNOWN CHICAGOAN. In the middle of an elegant street, well toward the heart of the city of Chicago, stands a dead cottonwood tree. Trunk and branches are bare of bark. It is gnarled and white. Should one cut a cross-section of the trunk he [...]
1893 World’s Fair trading cards from Topps
Sports card collectors know the name Topps well. The company that has produced countless baseball cards and other sports trading cards, often packaged with a stick of chewing gum, also releases non-sports trading cards. One of their recent "vintage" collector's card lines is an "Allen & Ginter" series, named after the Virginia company that produced the first cigarette trading cards. Topps three Columbian Exposition trading cards from 2017 [...]
Nov. 16, 2017: “Making a New American Nutcracker” documentary premiers
The Joffrey Ballet's spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, which Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon re-imagined taking place on the fairgrounds of the Columbian Exposition in the winter of 1892 (see our other post here), is the subject of a new documentary titled "Making a New American Nutcracker." Produced by Daniel Andries and narrated by actress Neve Campbell, the documentary will premiere on Thursday, November 16, at 8:00 pm on [...]
Oct. 28, 2017 (Chicago): White City dinner and drinks at The Reservoir
Enjoy an evening at the White City on Saturday, October 28, with a meal and cocktails inspired by the 1893 World's Fair. The Reservoir, located at 844 West Montrose Avenue in Chicago, will host a Halloween "Devil in the White City" party beginning at 6:30 with cocktails name "White City Devil," "White City Soda" and "Devil's Elixer." A special 1893 World's Fair special dinner is on the menu, followed [...]
Walking the Fairgrounds
One of my earliest childhood memories was of my family taking a trip up to Chicago. During that adventure out of Central Illinois, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park. I can vividly recollect several exhibits: a tour through the gigantic plaster beating heart, fixating on the sliced up body used as 'artwork' in a stairwell, gazing at a golden pendulum swinging back and forth in a [...]
through Jan. 15, 2018 (Norwich, CT): Exhibit on Bela Pratt, World’s Fair Sculptor
One of the sculptors who contributed to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago is the subject of a new exhibition at the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, Connecticut. “Bela Lyon Pratt: Sculptor of Monument," which opened on October 15, 2017, and runs through January 15, 2018, showcases “50 sculptural works and two-dimensional works of art, text and archival material” from the Norwich native. One of two sculptural [...]
The Music of Dedication Day
One hundred and twenty five years ago today, on October 21, 1892, marked Dedication Day of the World’s Columbian Exposition. “A surging sea of people,” reportedly “the largest assemblage that was ever brought together under one roof,” crowded into the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building for the official ceremony. The lengthy program included several musical selections interspersed between the numerous addresses: 1. “Columbian March” (also known as “Columbus March [...]
Oct. 23, 2017 (Chicago): William Waldorf Astor’s World’s Fair Dinner at Cindy’s
The Chicago Athletic Association in 1913 Cindy's Rooftop in the historic Chicago Athletic Association hotel will host a special dinner on October 23, 2017. Four chefs have collaborated on the menu, which is based on William Waldorf Astor's World's Fair dinner held on October 9, 1889, at Delmonico's in New York, where business leaders met to plan their city's bid for the World's Fair. The 1893 World's Fair (of [...]
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 [...]
Oct. 23, 2017 (Chicago) THE LIVING INFINITE author reading
Chantel Acevedo, author of the new novel The Living Infinite, which imagines the life of Princess Eulalia of Spain and her 1893 trip to visit the World's Fair in Chicago, will visit City Lit Books in Chicago on Monday, October 23 at 6:30 pm as part of her national author’s tour. "The Midway was closing for the night, and so Tomas and Eulalia headed back towards the lights of the White City. [...]
“Little Mary” model sale by Hindman Auctioneers
From time to time, we’ll post descriptions of interesting or unusual Columbian Exposition items for sale or up for auction. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers of Chicago is offering an interesting item related to the 1893 World’s Fair in their Sale 530: “Fine Furniture, Decorative Arts and Silver” on October 16-17, 2017. A golden Statue of the Republic model is item number 707. The item is described as “A Gilt Plaster [...]