Ignacy Paderewski Battles the Midway Camel

Twenty-two-year-old Ignacy Jan Paderewski (November 18, 1860 – June 29, 1941) was already a rock star when he performed a concert for the opening of the 1893 World’s Fair. The Polish pianist’s adoring fans—enchanted as much by his luxuriant red locks as by his charismatic keyboard performance—succumbed to “Paddymania.” His distinguishing coiffure made Paderewski a common subject of caricatures and cartoons. One example places him back at the World’s Columbian Exposition, where one denizen of the Midway Plaisance was [...]

By |2024-11-05T10:07:15-06:00November 18th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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“Crazy Enthusiasm” for Ignacy Paderewski at the 1893 World’s Fair

Among the constellation of famous (or soon-to-be-famous) visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair, few stars shined as bright as pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941). Wherever he performed, concert halls filled with passionate and adoring fans. The musical celebrity with wild and alluring red hair cast a spell over the women in the audience. One pundit, in the days before Paderewski’s concert at the opening of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, diagnosed their craze as “Paddymania.” The Musical Courier [...]

By |2022-12-10T09:57:36-06:00September 25th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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“It filled me with a great wonder and excitement” Ignacy Paderewski Remembers the 1893 World’s Fair

Who possessed enough star power to follow President Grover Cleveland after he triumphantly opened the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago on May 1, 1893? That honor went to the most famous musician of the time—twenty-two-year-old Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, who commanded the stage in Music Hall the next night. His finesse with the ivory keys, his unwieldy mass of luxuriant red hair, and his stage magnetism earned him great celebrity, a devoted and swooning audience, and more than [...]

By |2022-12-10T09:57:31-06:00September 24th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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“Chicago’s Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934” Explores the Windy City’s Raucous Roots

Chicago's Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934 by Jim Edwards. Arcadia Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781467103701. Softcover, 128 pages. $21.99. Partying ruled in the years between Chicago’s two World's Fairs, writes historian Jim Edwards in his introduction to Chicago's Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934. The collection of 169 annotated images form a loose theme around the titular “lollapalooza” (a ball in the notorious First Ward, not a modern music festival). Edwards curates a visual review of many of the characters, fetes, and vice that enlivened [...]

By |2022-12-10T10:08:53-06:00January 21st, 2020|Categories: PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Libraries at the Columbian Exposition

“Extremes meet at Chicago.” —librarian Caroline Harwood Garland. The 1893 World’s Fair was full of contrasts: exotic dancing on the Midway and educational exhibits; fountains illuminated by electricity and bibles illuminated by paintings, dynamos and the Dewey decimal system; balloon rides and books. Amidst the Cracker Jack and orange cider was also “food for reflection in the existence of so many libraries.” To celebrate National Library Week, let’s take a look at libraries at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [...]

By |2024-04-10T16:45:52-05:00April 7th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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