Exhibits2023-11-04T19:06:33-05:00

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 Worldโ€™s 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

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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 Worldโ€™s Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicagoโ€™s iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the Worldโ€™s Fair at a stand operated by Austrian-Hungarian immigrants Emil Reichel and Samuel Ladany. They sold their Vienna sausages for 10 cents in โ€œOld Viennaโ€ on the Midway. Also known [...]

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By |March 10th, 2018|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Presidential Painting

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By |February 10th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (current)|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Meadows Museum displays BEACH AT PORTICI from 1893 Worldโ€™s Fair

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Illinois Executive Mansion to display artifacts of the 1893 Worldโ€™s 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 visitorโ€™s center and historic exhibits, including a room displaying rare artifacts from the 1893 Worldโ€™s 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 โ€œperiod bedroom suites on the second floor will highlight the Civil War Period [...]

Chicago History Museum WCE display updated

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By |October 30th, 2017|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Jun. 19, 2021โ€“Jan. 9, 2022: โ€œChicago: When the Comics Came to Lifeโ€ (Chicago Cultural Center)

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By |October 24th, 2021|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments

Video of โ€œEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ€ at the Driehaus Museum

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By |April 12th, 2020|Categories: EXHIBITS (past), NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Sept. 7, 2019-Mar. 22, 2020: โ€œEternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffanyโ€ at the Driehaus Museum (Chicago)

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By |February 8th, 2020|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

Vienna Beef History Museum Closes

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By |January 26th, 2020|Categories: EXHIBITS (past), NEWS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Oct. 21, 2019- May 2021: American Medina-Stories of Muslim Chicago (Chicago History Museum)

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By |September 21st, 2019|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

May 17-Aug. 18, 2019: โ€œWorlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland’s Amusement Parksโ€ exhibit (Elmhust, IL)

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By |April 17th, 2019|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

Finding the Fair at the Field

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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 โ€œSee the Fair; Exploring the 1893 Worldโ€™s 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 Worldโ€™s 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 Worldโ€™s Fair. Faculty presentations [...]

By |December 11th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Nov. 2, 2018-Jan. 5, 2020: โ€œBrewing Up Chicagoโ€ at the Field Museum (Chicago)

The immigrant story behind Chicagoโ€™s 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 Chicagoโ€™s founding in 1833 and the decades leading up to the Worldโ€™s 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 [...]

By |October 14th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , , |4 Comments

Oct. 5 โ€“ Dec. 28, 2018: โ€œSeeds of Time: Binghamton at the Worldโ€™s Fairโ€ at the Bundy Museum (Binghamton, NY)

The Bundy Museum of History and Art in Binghamton, New York, has opened a new exhibit titled โ€œSeeds of Time: Binghamton at the Worldโ€™s Fairโ€ showcasing that cityโ€™s involvement with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The museum notes: โ€œThe Worldโ€™s 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 showโ€™s Binghamtonโ€™s contributions to the Worldโ€™s Columbian Exposition, and how those contributions reflected Binghamtonโ€™s values and aspirations for the future.โ€ One Binghamton company that exhibited at the Fair in [...]

By |October 7th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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