The Columbian Exposition as a New World Fable
“A New World Fable” by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen describes the 1893 World’s Fair as a “wealth of achievement” that promises to be “an elevating influence which will endure beyond the present generation.”
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“The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress” Raises Story of a Forgotten Ship from the 1893 World’s Fair
The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress: New Bedford, Chicago and the Twilight of an Industry by Daniel Gifford. McFarland Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781476682150. Softcover, 204 pages. $45.00. Along the eastern edge of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition were four different exhibits of sea craft, each with a unique story to share. The reproductions of the Spanish Caravels—the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria—served as a fitting commemoration of the theme of World’s Fair, Columbus’ 1492 voyage. The Viking [...]
Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1893 Report to the American Institute of Architects
Equaling or surpassing the grandeur of the White City palaces were the awesome scenic grounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The eminent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who had laid out New York's Central Park and the Chicago suburb of Riverside, transformed Jackson Park (“the least park-like ground within miles of the city”) into a garden of stunning beauty enjoyed by tens of millions of visitors. In this report to the American Institute of Architects (published The American [...]
THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 13)
THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)
THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 7)
THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)
THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 1)
THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)
Echoes of the White City Part 4: “Heard No More”
In 1894, Chicago socialites rebuilt a miniature version of the great Midway Plaisance from the 1893 World’s Fair inside of two downtown armories. “Echoes of the White City—The Midway” culminated in a “Grand Finale” on November 27.
Autumn 2019 Trivia Question
Our seasonal newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. The Autumn 2019 Trivia Question Which famous world leader stood motionless on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition pointing at the New York State Building? We had several interesting guesses--Teddy Roosevelt (who was at the Fair), George Washington, and Winston Churchill, and one correct answer: Augustus Julius [...]
A Fair Harvest
With autumn comes the fall harvest. The doggerel below, from the April 1892 issue of Halligan’s The Illustrated World's Fair, has a rural farmer anticipating the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Poet W. H. Jewett may be referencing Littleville, Alabama, in the second verse. A photograph of pumpkins from the California exhibit in the Agricultural Building, from a Kilburn stereoscope card. [Image from the Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California at Riverside.] FARMER HEDGEROW'S [...]
Tiffany Clock from the 1893 World’s Fair Sells for $150,000
(Left) The “Louis XV Clock” on display in the Tiffany Pavilion within the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. [Image from Bancroft, Hubert Howe The Book of the Fair. The Bancroft Company, 1893.] (Right) The Tiffany clock today. Note the plain lower panel, compared to the image of the clock from 1893. [Image from Sotheby’s.] A magnificent clock manufactured by Tiffany & Company and exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair sold by Sotheby's at their June 4, 2019, auction [...]