Eugene Field Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

Toward the close of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, The Critic invited twenty-five notable scholars, writers, and leaders of the day to offer their brief impressions of the World’s Fair. At such a monumental event with so many novelties … what impressed them the most? It is interesting how frequently these contributors sing the same notes as they rhapsodize about the fairgrounds at night and the illumination of the Court of Honor, praise (except for Henry Fuller!) [...]

“Let this gentleman in at once”: Trouble at the Gate of the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
“Let this gentleman in at once”: Trouble at the Gate of the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

“Let this gentleman in at once”: Trouble at the Gate of the 1893 World’s Fair

Horace Tucker ran a tight ship. As Superintendent of the Department of Admissions for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Tucker had to account for every person who entered the fairgrounds. In order to pass through an entrance gate, everyone needed to supply either a ticket or a complimentary pass. Everyone. A Special Pass to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition included the printed signature of Horace Tucker, Superintendent of the Department of Admissions. [Image from private collection.] Adlai [...]

By Scott|2023-06-28T18:04:59-05:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Adlai Stevenson, Eugene Field, Horace Tucker, W. T. Baker|0 Comments

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2
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Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2

HISTORY

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2

Continued from Part 1 Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1880. “I come to see the American side of the Fair” On September 10, 1893, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and his wife Jeanne-Émilie arrived in Chicago and settled into the Hotel Metropole. This hotel stood on Michigan Avenue at 23rd Street, just south of the tony Prairie Avenue District called home by many of Chicago’s elite citizens, including Marshall Field, George Pullman, Ferdinand ("Ferd") W. Peck, and John Jacob Glessner. [...]

By Scott|2024-01-28T12:05:19-06:00July 6th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Art Institute of Chicago, Buffalo Bill, Carter Harrison, Columbian Liberty Bell, Eugene Field, Ferd Peck, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Harry G. Selfridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Philip Armour, Union League Club of Chicago|2 Comments

Dec. 16, 2020-July 11, 2021: “Fantastic Fairs: The Fields at the World’s Fairs” (St. Louis)
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Dec. 16, 2020-July 11, 2021: “Fantastic Fairs: The Fields at the World’s Fairs” (St. Louis)

EVENTS (past)

Dec. 16, 2020-July 11, 2021: “Fantastic Fairs: The Fields at the World’s Fairs” (St. Louis)

The Field House Museum in St. Louis is dedicated to preserving the legacy and birthplace of author Eugene Field. A temporary exhibit in the museum’s main entryway showcases objects relating to Eugene Field’s involvement at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and his wife Julia Field’s position as juror at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Columbian Exposition books, stereoview cards, tickets, souvenir spoons, and a holograph letter from Mr. Field to Clara Doty Bates fill one display [...]

By Scott|2021-08-08T09:45:30-05:00June 7th, 2021|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: Eugene Field|0 Comments

Charles Dana’s 1892 Roast of Chicago, Part 3. “A Desperate, Perhaps Final, Crisis in Her History”
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Charles Dana’s 1892 Roast of Chicago, Part 3. “A Desperate, Perhaps Final, Crisis in Her History”

REPRINTS

Charles Dana’s 1892 Roast of Chicago, Part 3. “A Desperate, Perhaps Final, Crisis in Her History”

The May 29, 1892, issue of New York Sun contained a nearly full-page invective titled “Chicago As Chicago Is.” Although the piece was signed "THE PICADOR," news outlets attributed this diatribe directly to the Sun’s editor and owner, Charles Dana. Having rebounded from the Great Fire of 1871, the Windy City easily extinguished his malicious editorial roast.

By Scott|2024-05-17T09:18:07-05:00October 12th, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Dana, Eugene Field, New York|1 Comment

Echoes of the White City Part 4: “Heard No More”
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Echoes of the White City Part 4: “Heard No More”

HISTORY

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.

By Scott|2022-10-03T09:09:02-05:00November 27th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Board of Lady Managers, camels, Chicago Hussars, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Eugene Field, Harlow Higinbotham, Isabella quarter, Michigan Military Academy Cadets, Midway Plaisance, Thomas W. Palmer, Virginia Meredith|0 Comments

Clara Doty Bates, Hostess of the 1893 World’s Fair Children’s Library
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Clara Doty Bates, Hostess of the 1893 World’s Fair Children’s Library

HISTORY, Uncategorized

Clara Doty Bates, Hostess of the 1893 World’s Fair Children’s Library

“There are some crusty old bachelors and a few childless women who make a pretense of disliking children, but it's a flimsy sort of sour-grape antipathy, and rarely rings true. Even those people who do not like children's society will find a great deal to enjoy in their domicile.” —Emma. B. Dunlap, writing about the Children’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Clara Doty Bates. [Image from A Woman of the Century edited by Frances E. Willard [...]

By Scott|2023-12-08T08:50:27-06:00March 21st, 2019|Categories: HISTORY, Uncategorized|Tags: Children's Building, Clara Doty Bates, Eugene Field, World's Congress Auxiliary|0 Comments

Tchaikovsky’s Tribute to Children for the 1893 World’s Fair
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Tchaikovsky’s Tribute to Children for the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Tchaikovsky’s Tribute to Children for the 1893 World’s Fair

“Earth hold no music half so sweet as the laughter of a happy child.” -- Bertha Palmer in Fame's Tribute to Children (1893) On this day the world remembers the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840 -- November 6, 1893), who died 125 years ago. Although he did not attend the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he did provide a small musical gift to help build it. The Children's Building. [Image from Bancroft, Hubert [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T10:37:56-06:00November 6th, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Bertha Palmer, Board of Lady Managers, Children's Building, Eugene Field, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Theodore Thomas|0 Comments