Agricultural Building – Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

“A realized picture one will never forget”: Windsor Castle in Miniature at the Columbian Exposition
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“A realized picture one will never forget”: Windsor Castle in Miniature at the Columbian Exposition

HISTORY

“A realized picture one will never forget”: Windsor Castle in Miniature at the Columbian Exposition

Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair who entered the west portal of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building encountered a remarkable scene on their right. The striking display left no doubt that they had arrived in the exhibition space of Great Britain. A handsome art gallery wore a fanciful crown—a detailed miniature of Windsor Castle, forty-five feet long and eighteen feet wide. This intricate roof-top model enticed visitors to enter the Sunlight Soap pavilion sponsored by Messrs. Lever Brothers [...]

By Scott|2025-08-18T18:37:41-05:00August 19th, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, Great Britain, Lever Brothers, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Queen Victoria, Victoria House, White Star Line building, Woman's Building|1 Comment

Betsy Ross Cleans Up at the 1893 World’s Fair
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Betsy Ross Cleans Up at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Betsy Ross Cleans Up at the 1893 World’s Fair

Without the flag, there would be no Flag Day. And without Betsy Ross, there would be no flag (or so the story goes). Among abundance of eye-catching exhibits inside the Agricultural Building of the 1893 World’s Fair stood a unusual sculpture of the purported mother of the American flag. The Agricultural Building housed many wonderous exhibits of the varied output of farms and the amazing products of a burgeoning agriculture industry. Visitors could encounter the likeness of Betsy [...]

By Scott|2025-07-19T11:57:32-05:00June 14th, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, Charles H. Weisgerber, Dreydoppel Soap|0 Comments

Workers Escaping Death at the 1893 World’s Fair
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Workers Escaping Death at the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

Workers Escaping Death at the 1893 World’s Fair

The excerpt below, from The Chicago Record’s History of the World’s Fair, reminds us of the dangerous work that thousands of laborers (mostly immigrants) faced as they built the White City of 1893. The Medical Bureau of the Columbian Exposition officially reported only thirty-two deaths during construction of the fairgrounds. Luckily, the workers mentioned below escaped that fate. [Note: Although the article mentions the first accident happening at the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, the location likely was the [...]

By Scott|2024-08-21T15:43:39-05:00September 2nd, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Agricultural Building, construction, Horticultural Building|4 Comments

164. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Canal – Looking South
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164. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Canal – Looking South

REPRINTS

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 interesting feature. The photograph from which the illustrations were made [...]

By Randy|2024-05-12T09:49:55-05:00May 12th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Agricultural Building, colonnade, Electricity Building, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Rostral Columns, South Canal|0 Comments

159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn
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159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn

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159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn

THE NORTH FRONT OF THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING, AND LAWN.—Between the magnificent Agriculture Building and the Grand Basin was a lawn not very broad, but nearly a thousand feet in length, resting the eye with its strip of green, and giving room for a just estimate of the architectural beauties displayed above. In the view given here is afforded not only a charming perspective of the Agriculture Building's graceful front, but of two Exposition features which commanded general admiration and [...]

By Randy|2023-12-27T09:06:06-06:00December 27th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, colonnade, Grand Basin, Peristyle, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

The Flying Dutchman Enlightens the World’s Fair of 1893
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The Flying Dutchman Enlightens the World’s Fair of 1893

HISTORY

The Flying Dutchman Enlightens the World’s Fair of 1893

Visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago who found their way into the southwest corner of the Agricultural Building Annex encountered a most curious figure. Rising above a display of farm plows stood a twelve-foot-tall, pot-bellied man flamboyantly dressed and having a pair of huge wings. He stood on a tree stump holding a luminous ear of corn, striking a pose that lampooned the famous Liberty Enlightening the World (aka the Statue of Liberty) by Frédéric Auguste [...]

By Scott|2023-09-15T08:38:26-05:00September 12th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, W. H. Mullins Manufacturing Company|0 Comments

154. Picturesque World’s Fair – East front of Machinery Hall and the Obelisk
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154. Picturesque World’s Fair – East front of Machinery Hall and the Obelisk

REPRINTS

154. Picturesque World’s Fair – East front of Machinery Hall and the Obelisk

EAST FRONT OF MACHINERY HALL, AND THE OBELISK.—The area of water extending to the south from the Grand Basin and known as the South Canal was so entirely surrounded by the beautiful in art or architecture that a view across it from any point was sure to be something captivating. The view above is from the northeast corner of the canal, just where the " Farmer's Bridge " terminated on the area in front of the Agriculture Building, with [...]

By Randy|2023-10-10T17:09:30-05:00July 27th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Alexander Phimister Proctor, Farmer's Bridge, Grand Basin, Machinery Hall, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

The Making of the White City (Part 2)
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The Making of the White City (Part 2)

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The Making of the White City (Part 2)

[Continued from Part 1] A great stage decked with ambitious scenery Perhaps the first thing that would strike a stranger entering the World’s Fair grounds in the summer of 1892 would be the silence of the place, the next the almost theatrical unreality of the impression by the sight of an assemblage of buildings so startlingly out of the common in size and form. When I speak of the silence, I mean the effect of silence. There are seven [...]

By Scott|2025-07-23T10:15:53-05:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Daniel Burnham, Electricity Building, Fisheries Building, Francis Millet, Frederick Law Olmsted, Golden Door, Henry Codman, Henry Ives Cobb, Horticultural Building, Illinois State Building, illumination, Jenny, Karl Bitter, lagoon, Machinery Hall, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Mines and Mining Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Peabody & Stearns, Philip Martiny, Richard Hunt, Solon S. Beman, staff, Statue of the Republic, telephone, U.S. Government Building, Van Brunt & Howe, William Le Baron Jenney, Woman's Building|0 Comments

147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building
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147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building

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147. Picturesque World’s Fair – The French Colonies Building

THE FRENCH COLONIES BUILDING.—Situated well over toward the southeast corner of the grounds and out of the great tide of movement, the French Colonies Building at the Exposition did not attract the attention it merited, though it attained a degree of popularity toward the close, as the interesting nature of its contents became known. Its locality was sometimes referred to as "the back yard of the Fair," though it contained many curious and beautiful displays, not the least among [...]

By admin|2023-02-12T00:09:53-06:00January 15th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Blooker's cocoa mill, French Colonies Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Progress (whaling bark), South Pond, windmills|0 Comments

Hiding the pickle at the 1893 World’s Fair
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Hiding the pickle at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Hiding the pickle at the 1893 World’s Fair

The dramatic merchandizing showcased at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition included a quirky subset of exhibits that might be described as “a blank made out of blank.” Much of it involved playing with food. Visitors could admire a Liberty Bell made out of citrus fruit, a Knight on horseback made out of prunes, a landscape painting made out of cereals and grasses, and a Venus de Milo statue made out of chocolate. One tasty display that was promised to [...]

By Scott|2022-11-16T15:32:42-06:00November 14th, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, Heinz|0 Comments

136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain
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136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain

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136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN.—It was a merit of the famous Columbian Fountain and one indicative of its quality as a great work of art that it was beautiful from whatever direction a view of it might be taken. So perfect were the relations of its parts that even a bird's-eye view gave something symmetrical and picturesque In the illustration, the observer being almost directly north and at a slight elevation, minor details of the barge are not [...]

By Randy|2022-07-10T10:19:29-05:00March 15th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Columbian Fountain, Farmer's Bridge, Machinery Hall, MacMonnies Fountain, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

132. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Columbian Obelisk
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132. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Columbian Obelisk

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132. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Columbian Obelisk

THE COLUMBIAN OBELISK.- The Obelisk, which was the prominent object at the southern end of the South Canal, connected the wonderful civilization the World's Fair represented with the hardly less wonderful civilization of thousands of years ago. Ancient Egypt furnished, in a manner, her contribution to the architecture of the Columbian Exposition, the Obelisk, from a distance, reminding the observer of one of the " Cleopatra's Needles," of which, by the way, an exact reproduction was among the attractions [...]

By Randy|2022-01-08T17:22:45-06:00January 8th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Machinery Hall, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, South Canal, South Colonnade|0 Comments

127. Picturesque World’s Fair – Eastern Portal of Machinery Hall
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127. Picturesque World’s Fair – Eastern Portal of Machinery Hall

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127. Picturesque World’s Fair – Eastern Portal of Machinery Hall

EASTERN PORTAL OF MACHINERY HALL.—The view here given is an admirable one of the eastern entrance to Machinery Hall and makes plain the remarkable architectural style of that great edifice. The entrance has been described at length, but only such a view as this, the reproduction of a photograph taken from the Agriculture Building at a point directly across the canal, could bring out the charming details. The portico of this entrance was a popular resort because here was [...]

By Randy|2021-10-16T05:24:37-05:00October 16th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, gondolas, Machinery Hall, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, South Canal|0 Comments

Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair
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Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair

Though relatively unknown at the time, one participant in the 1893 World’s Fair later became a famous fixture of food advertising and a part of many people’s kitchens for more than a century. For the past ninety-seven years, the final resting place of the real woman behind the character was an unmarked plot of grass in a cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. A sign welcoming guests to the September 5, 2020, headstone ceremony for Nancy Green. On [...]

By Scott|2024-01-15T07:42:58-06:00September 9th, 2020|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, Aunt Jemima, Nancy Green, Thomas Edison|2 Comments

94. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Obelisk and Southern Colonnade
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94. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Obelisk and Southern Colonnade

REPRINTS

94. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Obelisk and Southern Colonnade

THE OBELISK AND SOUTHERN COLONNADE.—A fitting termination made to the view south on the South Canal was formed by the Southern Colonnade with the Obelisk in front. The Obelisk was history repeated in stone, or at least in its imitation, for it was a reproduction of the famous Cleopatra's needle, the original of which, thousands of years old, was presented by the Khedive of Egypt to the United States and is now a prominent object in Central Park, in [...]

By Randy|2020-02-23T11:09:31-06:00February 23rd, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Machinery Hall, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, South Canal, South Colonnade|0 Comments

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 6)
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THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 6)

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THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 6)

THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)

By Scott|2023-12-20T13:45:56-06:00December 27th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Electricity Building, Grover Cleveland, Justice (statue), kinetograph, kinetoscope, Mines and Mining Building, model kitchen, phonograph, rolling chairs, Stollwerk Brothers, telautograph, Thomas Edison, Tower of Light|1 Comment

“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair
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“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair

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“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair

In August 1893, Thomas A. Edison visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His time at the World's Fair bears little resemblance to the story portrayed on screen in The Current War. According to the report below, from the September 2, 1893, issue of Electrical Review, Edison kept a low profile and showed little interest in the electrical exhibits. Thomas A. Edison, accompanied by his family, arrived in Chicago last Monday evening, and went immediately to a house on [...]

By Scott|2019-10-26T18:34:12-05:00October 26th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Electricity Building, John Barrett, The Current War, Thomas Edison|1 Comment

A Fair Harvest
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A Fair Harvest

REPRINTS

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 [...]

By Scott|2019-10-05T09:16:55-05:00October 6th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building|0 Comments

All the World is Beer
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All the World is Beer

NEWS, PRODUCTS

All the World is Beer

A HAPPY PROSPECT. Sing a song of wondrous things A city full of sights: Common folks and queens and kings Enjoying the delights. When the fair is opened, And all the world is here, We'll have a jolly time throughout the Exposition year. (from The Illustrated World’s Fair, May 1892) For a jolly time throughout the current year, consider a taste of “All the World is Here,” a new beer inspired by the 1893 World's Fair from Temperance Beer [...]

By Scott|2019-08-18T10:21:42-05:00August 21st, 2019|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, beer, Field Museum|1 Comment

The Best Potato Display Ever Made
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The Best Potato Display Ever Made

HISTORY

The Best Potato Display Ever Made

In honor of National Potato Day, here is a look at “the best potato display ever made,” which was exhibited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The agricultural exhibit from New York State occupied 4,000 square feet on the south side of the main aisle of the Agricultural Building, near the eastern entrance. For the autumn season, the exhibit featured potato varieties grown all around New York State--from Chittenango to Chateaugay and from East Aurora to Westbury Station. [...]

By Scott|2023-04-09T08:59:32-05:00August 19th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Agricultural Building, New York|2 Comments