Displays about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition can be found in museums, restaurants, hotels, and other public spaces around the globe. Exhibits about the Fair are listed below, organized by location (alphabetically).
A separate pages listsย vestiges from the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition.
Plan your visit using ourย map of sitesย associated with the Fair.
UNITED STATES
CALIFORNIA
The West Coast Clock and Watch Museum in Vista, CA
COLORADO
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Golden displays about the Wild West show outside the WCE
FLORIDA
The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake has some decorative art in the Main Street U.S.A. shops, as an homage to Elias Disney’s time working for the WCE.
ILLINOIS
The Bahai Temple in Wilmette has wall displays explaining the introduction of the Bahai faith in the U.S. at the WCE.
The Berghoff restaurantย in Chicago has aย display of Berghoff’s Beer and the WCE and many WCE photos
The Chicago History Museum in Chicago has permanent displays of the Chicago Crossroads exhibit and the Court of Honor diorama.
FEW Spirits in Evanston is a distillery steeped in WCE imagery.
The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago has a large collection of artifacts that were on display at the 1893 Fair
Theย Glessner House Museumย in Chicago has displays about the Glessners and the WCE
Harry’s Sandwich Shop in the historic Monadnock Building in Chicago is decorated with WCE photos.
Hayden Hallย in Chicago features original art inspired by the WCE.
Theย Marquette Building in Chicago has a display about the WCE in the first-floor lobby
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago features the 999 Steam Locomotive and the Empire State Express
The Newberry Library in Chicago houses an extensive collection of WCE papers.
The Oak Park River Forest Museum in Oak Park houses displays a stock certificate from the WCE and an original painting associated with the Fair.
Osmium coffee bar in Chicago features a fantastic wall mural of a supernatural WCE Grand Basin.
The Union League Club in Chicago has a display case of WCE memorabilia in their first-floor lobby.
The Viking Ship (website) in Geneva ย is maintained by the Friends of the Viking Ship with a display of memorabilia from the WCE.
The Westclox Museum in Peru displays a clock sold at the WCE.
INDIANA
The Studebaker Museum in South Bend exhibits their 1893 Columbian Carriage along with wall displays about the Studebaker company at the WCE.
IOWA
The Buffalo Bill Museum (website) in Le Claireย has a display of memorabilia from the Wild West Show next to the WCE
NEW YORK
The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning
The Richard Hunt Memorial in New York City honors the architect of the Administration Building at the WCE with a statue depicting a model of it.
PENNSYLVANIA
Hershey Story Museum in Hershey has exhibits about Milton Hershey and the WCE
The Pittsburgh Convention Center in Pittsburgh has a display about hometown engineer George Ferris.
WISCONSIN
Christopher Columbus Museum in Columbus
RECENT POSTS ABOUT WORLD’S FAIR EXHIBITS
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 Worldโs Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicagoโs iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the Worldโs Fair at a stand operated by Austrian-Hungarian immigrants Emil Reichel and Samuel Ladany. They sold their Vienna sausages for 10 cents in โOld Viennaโ on the Midway. Also known [...]
Chicagoโs Museum of Science and Industry Celebrates the 1893 Worldโs Fair
The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago is housed in one of the few buildings remaining from the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition: what was then the Palace of Fine Arts. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Worldโs Fair, the Museum has mounted two displays commemorating the historic event. Lego Ferris Wheel Adam Reed Tucker installing his LEGO Ferris Wheel model. [Image from the Museum of Science and Industry.] The original 264-foot Ferris Wheel left Jackson Park in the spring of 1894, when it was dismantled and moved to Lincoln Park. For the past few months, [...]
Presidential Painting
A painting of a young Abraham Lincoln, reported to have been on display at the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition, was unveiled on February 9, 2018, at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The Young Abraham Lincoln by William Morton Jackson Rice [Image from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.] The Young Abraham Lincoln, a 56-by-85-inch oil painting by William Morton Jackson Riceย (1854-1922), depicts Lincoln sitting in front of a tree he has just chopped down. The buckskin-clad youth is shown reading a book with a small meal set on a red cloth handkerchief at [...]
Mar. 23-Aug. 29, 2018-Exhibit Showcases Mexicans at the 1893 Worldโs Fair
An upcoming exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Artย in Chicago features the early artistic involvement and influence of Mexican immigrants in Chicago beginning with the Worldโs Columbian Exposition in 1893. Arte Diseรฑo Xicรกgo: Mexican Inspiration from the World's Columbian Exposition to the Civil Rights Era opens on Friday, March 23, 2018, with a reception from 6โ8 pm, and continues through August 19, 2018, in the Main Gallery. One of the earliest proponents of holding a worldโs fair to mark the quadricentennial of Columbusโ arrival on the continent was a Mexican physician, Dr. Carlos W. Zaremba, who proposed that [...]
Meadows Museum displays BEACH AT PORTICI from 1893 Worldโs Fair
The Meadows Museumย on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas has announced their acquisition of Beach at Portici, a work that was on display at the 1893 Worldโs Fair in Chicago and the final painting of 19th century Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (1838-1874). The American Exhibit of art occupied 24,000 square feet of space in the northeastern part of the Palace of Fine Arts at the Columbian Exposition. One section was devoted to foreign masterpieces owned by citizens of the United States.ย โConsidered one of the most important international exhibitions of the 19th century," writes theย Meadows [...]
Illinois Executive Mansion to display artifacts of the 1893 Worldโs Fair
The Illinois Executive Mansionย in Springfield, home to Illinois governors and their families since 1855, is undergoing a $15 Million renovation. Funded entirely by private donors, the restoration includes a renewed visitorโs center and historic exhibits, including a room displaying rare artifacts from the 1893 Worldโs Fair held in Chicago. Occupying the mansion during the Columbian Exposition was John Altgeld, the first Chicago resident and first foreign-born citizen to have been elected governor. He served from January 1893 to January 1897. The Illinois Bicentennial Commissionย has announced that โperiod bedroom suites on the second floor will highlight the Civil War Period [...]
Chicago History Museum WCE display updated
The World's Columbian Exposition exhibit at the Chicago History Museum The Chicago History Museum blogย post "New Additions to an Old Favorite" reports that the museum'sย permanent exhibitionย Chicago: Crossroads of Americaย 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 โThe Reason Why The Colored American Is Not in the Worldโs Columbian Exposition,โ a new video that includes excerpts from Frederick Douglassโs speech on August 25, 1893, for โColored American Day,โ and two flip books featuring photographs of the exposition [...]
Jun. 19, 2021โJan. 9, 2022: โChicago: When the Comics Came to Lifeโ (Chicago Cultural Center)
Chicagoโs role in the development of the early comic strip is the focus of a temporary exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center. Curated by artist and author Chris Ware, and Chicago Cultural Historian Emeritus, Tim Samuelson, โChicago: When the Comics Came to Lifeโ features the works of prominent Chicago artists and publishers from circa 1880 to 1960, with most artifacts coming from the curatorsโ personal collections. The vibrant and colorful story of the history of comics runs through the White City of the 1893 World Fair in Chicago. The first appearance of color comics printed in the United States [...]
Video of โEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ at the Driehaus Museum
โEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ at the Driehaus Museum features items exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Sept. 7, 2019-Mar. 22, 2020: โEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ at the Driehaus Museum (Chicago)
โEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ at the Driehaus Museum features items exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Vienna Beef History Museum Closes
UPDATE (1/26/2020): The Vienna Beef History Museum will be closing on February 1, 2020, with no plans for reopening, according to reporting by Block Club 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 Worldโs Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicagoโs iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the Worldโs Fair at [...]
Oct. 21, 2019- May 2021: American Medina-Stories of Muslim Chicago (Chicago History Museum)
Some of the earliest Muslim communities in Chicago came for the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition and on the Midway Plaisance were several of the first mosques in the city. The Chicago History Museum opens a new exhibit โAmerican Medina: Stories of Muslim Chicagoโ on October 21, 2019. CHM notes that โthe intention of this exhibition is to record the diverse stories and life experiences of Muslim people living in Chicago in order to build connections in our communities through listening and understanding.โ The exhibit is included with museum admission and runs through May 2021. Interior of Turkish Mosque. [...]
May 17-Aug. 18, 2019: โWorlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland’s Amusement Parksโ exhibit (Elmhust, IL)
The Elmhurst History Museum will open a new exhibit titled โWorlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland's Amusement Parksโ on May 17, 2019. Chicago has had its share of jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring amusement parks, from the rotations of the first Ferris Wheel at the 1893 World's Columbian exhibition to the ups-and-downs of The Bobs at Riverview. This new exhibit celebrates Chicago's favorite destinations for fun and thrills, including early trolley parks and suburban attractions like Kiddieland and Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom. Learn about the signature rides and iconic venues through rare photos and video, memorabilia, advertisements and intriguing artifacts. Families will encounter hands-on [...]
Finding the Fair at the Field
In terms of quantity and quality, one of the greatest collections of objects from the 1893 Worldโs 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 Worldโs Fair materials on display and share a few photos here. Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation ran from July 29, 2017, through January 7, 2018. The exhibit, created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution [...]
Sept. 25, 2018: Columbian Exposition Symposium and Exhibit at BYU-Idaho
The McKay Library Special Collections of Brigham Young University-Idaho has mounted an exhibition โSee the Fair; Exploring the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition 125 Years Laterโ during the Fall 2018 semester. With many items coming from the personal collection of Andrea Radke-Moss, a professor in the History Department, the exhibit showcases books, photos, stereoview cards, pamphlets, and other Worldโs Fair memorabilia, along with a display of period clothing. The exhibit runs from September 25 through December 14, 2018. BYU-Idaho is located in Rexburg, Idaho. On October 25-26, 2018, the university held a symposium on the 1893 Worldโs Fair. Faculty presentations [...]
Nov. 2, 2018-Jan. 5, 2020: โBrewing Up Chicagoโ at the Field Museum (Chicago)
The immigrant story behind Chicagoโs rich beer history is the focus of a new exhibition that opens on November 2 at the Field Museum in Chicago. History and beer fans visiting Brewing Up Chicago: How Beer Transformed a City will travel through time to learn about Chicagoโs founding in 1833 and the decades leading up to the Worldโs Columbian Exposition 60 years later. (Left) A medal given to the Pabst Brewing Company at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Adolphus Busch of St. Louis and Frederick Pabst of Milwaukee competed to have their beer declared the best at the [...]
Oct. 5 โ Dec. 28, 2018: โSeeds of Time: Binghamton at the Worldโs Fairโ at the Bundy Museum (Binghamton, NY)
The Bundy Museum of History and Art in Binghamton, New York, has opened a new exhibit titled โSeeds of Time: Binghamton at the Worldโs Fairโ showcasing that cityโs involvement with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The museum notes: โThe Worldโs Fair opened the door to the future, and schools and businesses representing Binghamton sent their best work to display. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Fair, this exhibit showโs Binghamtonโs contributions to the Worldโs Columbian Exposition, and how those contributions reflected Binghamtonโs values and aspirations for the future.โ One Binghamton company that exhibited at the Fair in [...]