Benjamin Franklin (statue) Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building
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144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building

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144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building

INTERIOR OF THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING.—How the world advances was perhaps better illustrated in the Electricity Building than in any other of the great structures on the grounds. At no previous exposition had there ever been a structure set apart for electrical exhibits and at none could there have been anything like the display here made. The marvelous advance in the use of electricity has been accomplished since Philadelphia and Paris did their best. Science and invention have but lately [...]

By Randy|2023-12-05T09:38:46-06:00October 14th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Electricity Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Thomas Edison|0 Comments

The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 2)
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The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 2)

HISTORY

The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 2)

[Part 1 of this article describes the commission and construction of Carl Rohl-Smith’s statue of Benjamin Franklin for the Electricity Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.] “I begin to be almost sorry I was born so soon, since I cannot have the happiness of knowing what will be known one hundred years hence.” —Benjamin Franklin, July 27, 1783 The capital of the world vanished like a sweet dream after the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in [...]

By Scott|2022-09-04T09:03:18-05:00September 4th, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Carl Rohl-Smith, Electricity Building, George Pullman, John J. Boyle, Richard Henry Park, Solon S. Beman, Theodore Roosevelt|0 Comments

The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 1)
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The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 1)

HISTORY

The Plaster Lighting Catcher of the 1893 World’s Fair: Carl Rohl-Smith’s Benjamin Franklin statue (Part 1)

“The scientists says that electricity is life. Then Jackson Park is of a truth a living thing.” — H. D. Northrop, The World's Fair as Seen in One Hundred Days (1893) A crowd of fans sporting blue and red poured out of the new Franklin Field in Philadelphia on the first day of October in 1895, a warm and sunny start to the college football season. Elated with the Quaker’s 40–0 victory over the visiting team from Swarthmore College, [...]

By Scott|2022-09-04T09:06:10-05:00September 3rd, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Carl Rohl-Smith, Electricity Building, Enid Yandell, Henry Van Brunt, Herman Vilhelm Bissen, Mark Twain|1 Comment

139. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Pennsylvania
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139. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Pennsylvania

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139. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Pennsylvania

THE PENNSYLVANIA BUILDING.—Among the most conspicuous of the State Buildings in size and cost, that of Pennsylvania possessed an added interest because its front was an exact reproduction of that of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and because it contained the famous Liberty Bell. The edifice was in the Colonial style, of rectangular form, two stories in height, and occupied a ground space one hundred and ten by one hundred and sixty-six feet in area. Piazzas twenty feet wide surrounded [...]

By Randy|2022-05-31T06:08:30-05:00May 31st, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Liberty Bell, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

134. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the Electricity Building
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134. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the Electricity Building

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134. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the Electricity Building

ENTRANCE TO THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING.—The south front of the Electricity Building was by no means deficient in the part it sustained toward making a wall of splendid architecture about the Grand Plaza, and the special feature of this front was, of course, the main entrance to the structure. Here the architects had made their chief study and secured their greatest results. The facades were all relieved by entrances, but the one to the south had special distinction in its [...]

By Randy|2022-01-23T09:09:55-06:00January 23rd, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Benjamin Franklin (statue), Electricity Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity
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Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity

OPENING DAY

Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity

A Sea of Humanity This is Part 3 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. As the procession of the President of the United States began its march south on Michigan Avenue, thousands of people in downtown Chicago began forming their own spontaneous parade to the World’s Fair. Everyone on West Madison Street and North [...]