RECENT POSTS
from
World’sFairChicago1893.com
164. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Canal – Looking South
THE NORTH CANAL—LOOKING SOUTH —From a point near the west approach to the bridge connecting the Electricity and Manufactures Buildings a view was afforded southward down the South Canal, which had many interesting features. The always thronged bridge between the plaza in front of the Administration Building and the south front of the Manufactures cuts off, it is true, a portion of the view but adds in itself an [...]
Reaching the fairgrounds by cable car, cattle car, steamboat, or L?
Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition had many options for transportation to (and within), the fairgrounds. The poem below, about various transportation modes, may have been a sly advertisement for the company mentioned in the final line. “The Crowd Entering the Grounds from the Elevated Railway,” drawn by T. de Thulstrup after a sketch by T. Dart Walker. [Image from Harper’s Weekly June 10, 1893.] Some reached The [...]
“The crush was terrible”: A firsthand account of Opening Day at the 1893 World’s Fair
A correspondent to the Russell Record in Russell County, Kansas, offered this account of Opening Day of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Despite having a rather unpleasant time adrift in the “Surging Sea of Humanity” assembled in Jackson Park for the ceremony, and despite the World’s Fair being far from complete in early May, this Kansan advised that “No one, who can conveniently see it, should fail to do [...]
Curiosities from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
The University of Illinois has shared some interesting artifacts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition that are held in the University Archives and campus libraries. The article by Nicole Cazley and Kim Schmidt features the University of Illinois Guest Register, a pass book for a member of John Philip Sousa’s band, a guidebook, a Certificate of Visitation [read more about these rare souvenirs here], a topographic map display, and [...]
May 14, 2024: “L Car No. 1 First Look” (Chicago)
The Guild of the Chicago History Museum will host an exclusive first look at the newly renovated elevated train car that took visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair. Attendees will peruse World’s Fair artifacts with curators, meet historic figures who made headlines at the Fair, and hop aboard the L car for a tour as it reopens after its restoration. Period musicians, 19th-century costumes, and a luncheon straight from [...]
May 10, 2024: “MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great World’s Fairs” (Clarks Summit, PA)
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will present MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great “World’s Fairs” on May 10, 2024, in Clarks Summit, PA. A spectacular musical celebration of the legendary world’s fairs, including the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Music played a key role in these international festivals, launching both hit songs and the [...]
May 7, 2024: DREAM CITY musical (Chicago)
A new musical about the 1893 World’s Fair takes the stage at Theater Wit in Chicago for one night only. Dream City, with book and lyrics by June Finfer and music by Elizabeth Doyle, will be offered as a staged reading on May 7, 2024, at 7:30 PM. Finfer and Doyle’s musical is a revision of Burnham’s Dream: The White City, staged in 2018. This new version featured five [...]
Greetings from a Transportation Angel
We were delighted to hear from several readers about the lovely images featured in our recent post “Angels in the Spandrels: The Winged Decorations of Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building” We’ve made the image available on greeting cards (single, pack of 10, and pack of 20) and a few other items through our Café Press shop at https://www.cafepress.com/worldsfairchicago1893. We greatly enjoy sharing what we learn about the 1893 World’s Fair [...]
Angels in the Spandrels: The Winged Decorations of Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building
Critics glorified and reviled Louis Sullivan’s renegade design for the Transportation Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. The polychromatic color scheme and the grand Golden Door received the most commentary at the time of the Columbian Exposition, and both elements continue to fascinate students of architecture today. Louis Sullivan’s striking design for the Transportation Building featured a polychromatic façade and majestic “Golden Door” entrance on the east side. [...]
“Sick of the picturesque”: Hamlin Garland oversells the 1893 World’s Fair
Note: Hamlin Garland will be inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, from 5:30—8 pm at the Chicago History Museum. Further information about Hamlin Garland can be found at the Hamlin Garland Society website https://www.garlandsociety.org/ “Sell the cook stove if necessary and come. You must see this fair.” This oft-repeated quote, brimming with enthusiasm and promise for the 1893 World’s [...]
25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair
Toward the close of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, The Critic invited twenty-five notable scholars, writers, and leaders of the day to offer their brief impressions of the World’s Fair. At such a monumental event with so many novelties … what impressed them the most? It is interesting how frequently these contributors sing the same notes as they rhapsodize about the fairgrounds at night and the illumination [...]
Seeing the Solar Eclipse of 1893 at the World’s Fair
Did you see it? Viewers on April 8, 2024, snapped countless millions of photographs of the solar eclipse. For the total solar eclipse of April 16, 1893—visible in South America and Africa—only a handful of photographs were taken. At least one made it into a display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. A photograph of the April 1893 solar eclipse, exhibited in the California State Building [...]
163. Picturesque World’s Fair – The German Porcelain Display
THE GERMAN PORCELAIN DISPLAY.—What proved one of the greatest attractions to art lovers who visited the German section in the Manufactures Building was the wonder-ful porcelain display. No collection of just the same character and quality had ever before been seen in the United States, nor, indeed, elsewhere, and a delighted throng was con-stantly examining this portion of Germany's fine exhibit. The illustration affords a good idea of the [...]
The Ninth Wonder of the World: Turning Day into Night at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
“However grand, complete and astonishing the World's Fair may appear to the public by daylight, it is at night that it can be seen in all its splendor and magnificence,” wrote the World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated [read the article here]. Another description of the nightly illumination of the Court of Honor comes from the newspaper story reprinted below, originally from an (unknown) Chicago newspaper. Turning Day into Night “After [...]
In All Its Splendor and Magnificence: The World’s Fair at Night
The illumination of the White City evoked awe and wonder among visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “Nothing earthly can ever exceed this; man has reached high, higher, his fingers have almost touched the bars of heaven,” wrote Mrs. D. C. Taylor in her memoir Halcyon Days in the Dream City. [Read the full work here.] Reprinted below is a description of the fairgrounds at night published in [...]
“A character of its own”: The Chicago Public Library of 1893
Celebrate libraries! April 3 is National Library Giving Day and April 6 is National Library Day. Consider making a donation to the Chicago Public Library or another of your choice. Dr. Emil G. Hirsch, President of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Public Library, spoke with pride about his institution at the 1893 World’s Fair. He addressed the Congress of Librarians—which merged with the annual meeting of the [...]
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Third Prize
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Third Prize “Yesterday at the Exposition [From the Times-Herald, June 27, 2000]” by L. Frank Baum Continued from: Introduction First Prize: “Chicago’s World’s Fair, A.D. 2000” by Percival Owen Second Prize: “Greatest of All” by Mary F. Arnold Yesterday was a busy day at the exposition. The pneumatic cars[1] were discharged from the Lake Front Station at intervals of one minute [...]
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Second Prize
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Second Prize “Greatest of All” by Mary F. Arnold Continued from: Introduction First Prize: “Chicago’s World’s Fair, A.D. 2000” by Percival Owen They were smartly clad in knickerbockers and silk jackets, the latter slashed and trimmed with soft brown leather, buttoned to their throats. Each wore a belt, leggings and shoes of the brown leather and a brown sailor hat. The [...]
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: First Prize
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: First Prize “Chicago’s World’s Fair, A.D. 2000” by Percival Owen Continued from: Introduction The exposition was held on Lake Michigan. It was at first proposed to stand Lake Michigan on end, as was done with Lake Cayuga at the Ithaca fair of 1992.[1] The sail to Mackinaw would then have been a feature, as Hudson’s Bay and the Rocky Mountains would [...]
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Introduction
Fair of the Future—Chicago’s International Exposition, A.D. 2000: Introduction “If you don’t think about the future, you cannot have one.” —English novelist John Galsworthy To celebrate the upcoming opening of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the American Press Association solicited prognostication by notable people as they looked one hundred years into the future. The series, which ran in newspapers in early 1893, included essays by distinguished thinkers of the [...]