Season’s Readings: 2023 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition

This has been a year of rich and valuable additions to the Columbian Exposition bookshelf. Summarized below are important new nonfiction works that explore connections between the Chicago fair and Western Pennsylvania, Lebanon, England, and Massachusetts. Two others look at the religious and spiritual legacy of the Columbian Exposition. New fictional works explore the fairgrounds though the eyes of visitors in both realistic stories and magical adventures. We also include a few late additions that we missed last season. [...]

By |2023-12-06T14:37:41-06:00December 6th, 2023|Categories: FICTION, NEWS, PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Looking for the Paris Wheel

The man whose name is synonymous with the kinetic attraction he erected on the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 World’s Fair died of typhoid fever on November 22, 1896, at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. Though now unforgettably linked to his engineering marvel, the name of George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. was unfamiliar to many fairgoers who walked by the great wheel, as shown in this story published in the October 29, 1893, issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune. Persist [...]

By |2019-10-16T21:13:12-05:00November 22nd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – A View Through the Ferris Wheel (p. 85)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 85 – A VIEW THROUGH THE FERRIS WHEEL A VIEW THROUGH THE FERRIS WHEEL.—Imposing as was the Ferris Wheel seen from a distance, a great object towering aloft and showing the location of the Fair from a distance of miles away, it was scarcely less impressive when its monster parts were examined from one of the cars which revolved with it, carrying their hosts of passengers. It was not [...]

By |2021-05-16T11:25:24-05:00August 26th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Iowa State Band Performs on Inaugural Spin of the Ferris Wheel

The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on June 21, 1893. Though more than a month late (the fair opened on May 1), the wheel became one of the most popular attraction of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Some 2,000 spectators gathered on the Midway Plaisance for the opening ceremony. The festivities began at 3 pm with speeches by Robert W. Hunt, President of the Ferris Wheel Company; George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., engineer and designer of the metal [...]

By |2018-09-02T09:33:06-05:00June 21st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
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June 21, 2018: Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the Ferris Wheel in Chicago and Santa Monica

UPDATE 6/21/2018: Navy Pier has cancelled this event: https://navypier.org/event/125th-anniversary-ferris-wheel/ The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on Thursday June 21, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Marking this anniversary will be celebrations of the Ferris Wheel at two of America’s most famous piers. Chicago’s Navy Pier and Santa Monica Pier will each commemorate George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.’s famous feat of engineering, which reached 264 feet into the sky above the Midway Plaisance. The festivities at Navy [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:25:51-06:00June 8th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Ferris Wheel (p. 48)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 48 – THE FERRIS WHEEL THE FERRIS WHEEL.—What the Eiffel Tower was to the Paris Exposition the Ferris Wheel was to the Columbian. Like the Eiffel Tower, it was a triumph of engineering and an example of metal construction on a gigantic scale, but it had the additional feature of activity. It was in motion, a monster plaything, a device for furnishing a novel experience to the multitude. The [...]

By |2018-05-07T05:34:34-05:00May 7th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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A Google Doodle for the Columbian Exposition’s 125th Anniversary?

During the centennial of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1993, Google did not exist. How times have changed. The main Google search page usually features a “Google Doodle.” These temporary re-designs of the iconic Google logo commemorate people, events, holidays, and other notable anniversaries of the day. Clicking the image takes browsers to more information on the subject of the doodle. Since the practice began in 1998, Google has honored several people associated with the 1893 World’s Fair. Doodles [...]

By |2018-04-20T21:24:01-05:00April 20th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry Celebrates the 1893 World’s Fair

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago is housed in one of the few buildings remaining from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition: what was then the Palace of Fine Arts. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the World’s Fair, the Museum has mounted two displays commemorating the historic event. Lego Ferris Wheel Adam Reed Tucker installing his LEGO Ferris Wheel model. [Image from the Museum of Science and Industry.] The original 264-foot Ferris Wheel left Jackson [...]

By |2018-03-09T19:02:08-06:00March 10th, 2018|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Chicago: City of the Century (2003)

News of the passing of David Ogden Stiers on March 3 has garnered tributes to the actor’s unforgettable role on M*A*S*H and his voice performances for several animated film from Disney Studios. Mr. Stiers also played a small but valuable role in the history of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, serving as the narrator of one of the first documentaries about the great fair. Chicago: City of the Century, based on the 1996 book of the same title by [...]

By |2023-04-09T08:50:58-05:00March 9th, 2018|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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