illumination Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

The Chicago Fair of 1893 Will Remain Unexcelled
Gallery
The Chicago Fair of 1893 Will Remain Unexcelled

REPRINTS

The Chicago Fair of 1893 Will Remain Unexcelled

In the aftermath of World War II—facing staggering military casualties, the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the specter of nuclear weapons—some people sought solace in fond memories of better times. The following reminiscence of visiting the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago as a young boy appeared in the July 6, 1946, issue of the Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario). The author had grown up in the small town of Morenci, Michigan. The "electric bulbs which outlined the dome [...]

By Scott|2024-08-23T14:22:10-05:00August 24th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: "Belly Dancer", Administration Building, Battleship Illinois, bum-bum, Caravels, Cliff Dwellers, Court of Honor, DeWitt Clinton (train), electric fountains, electricity, Empire State Express, Ferris Wheel, glass dress, illumination, Kansas State Building, Little Egypt, Princess Eulalia|0 Comments

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!) [...]

The Ninth Wonder of the World: Turning Day into Night at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
Gallery
The Ninth Wonder of the World: Turning Day into Night at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

REPRINTS

The Ninth Wonder of the World: Turning Day into Night at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

“However grand, complete and astonishing the World's Fair may appear to the public by daylight, it is at night that it can be seen in all its splendor and magnificence,” wrote the World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated [read the article here]. Another description of the nightly illumination of the Court of Honor comes from the newspaper story reprinted below, originally from an (unknown) Chicago newspaper. Turning Day into Night “After dark at the World's Fair will be one of the [...]

By Scott|2024-04-05T08:26:47-05:00April 6th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Auditorium, Charles T. Yerkes, Court of Honor, Diana, electric fountains, Grand Basin, illumination, search lights|0 Comments

In All Its Splendor and Magnificence: The World’s Fair at Night
Gallery
In All Its Splendor and Magnificence: The World’s Fair at Night

REPRINTS

In All Its Splendor and Magnificence: The World’s Fair at Night

The illumination of the White City evoked awe and wonder among visitors to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “Nothing earthly can ever exceed this; man has reached high, higher, his fingers have almost touched the bars of heaven,” wrote Mrs. D. C. Taylor in her memoir Halcyon Days in the Dream City. [Read the full work here.] Reprinted below is a description of the fairgrounds at night published in the World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated. The World’s Fair at Night [...]

By Scott|2024-03-31T16:42:21-05:00April 5th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Court of Honor, illumination, search lights|0 Comments

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 4: A Transformation Scene
Gallery
The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 4: A Transformation Scene

REPRINTS

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 4: A Transformation Scene

Continued from Part 3 THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 4: A Transformation Scene In such a mental condition, the best thing one could do was to take the Intramural Electric Railroad, itself a scientific exhibit, to the southern end of the grounds, and there to visit La Rabida. This was not part of a dream city, but of the living world—the [...]

By Scott|2023-07-03T17:23:44-05:00July 3rd, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, Convent of La Rabida, Court of Honor, fireworks, illumination, World's Congress Auxiliary|0 Comments

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

REPRINTS

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 [...]

A diary from the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
A diary from the 1893 World’s Fair

NEWS

A diary from the 1893 World’s Fair

Sally MacNamara Ivey "has read more than 10,000 unpublished diaries and spent 35 years collecting them.... Whenever MacNamara Ivey has had pocket change, it’s gone to purchasing diaries. Back in the late ’90s, when she and her husband were raising four kids with the money she brought in waiting tables and he made working at the local mill, she bought a diary on layaway for $500 (about $900 today). It was written by a woman who attended the 1893 [...]

By Scott|2022-12-03T10:53:46-06:00December 3rd, 2022|Categories: NEWS|Tags: Administration Building, Cold Storage Building, illumination|0 Comments

121. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Grand Basin at Night – Showing Search-Lights
Gallery
121. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Grand Basin at Night – Showing Search-Lights

REPRINTS

121. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Grand Basin at Night – Showing Search-Lights

THE GRAND BASIN AT NIGHT—SHOWING SEARCH-LIGHTS.—One of the charms of the night view over the Grand Basin was that it was always new, atmospheric or other causes producing varied effects, and the scene on one occasion being entirely different from that presented on another. And not only were atmospheric conditions fluctuating, but the artificial ones produced were made still more so, a new experience to the sight-seer after dark being thus assured beyond all peradventure. Here the great element [...]

By Randy|2021-06-25T05:22:10-05:00June 25th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Grand Basin, illumination, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, search lights|0 Comments

From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor
Gallery
From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor

REPRINTS

From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor

A visit to the 1893 World’s Fair inspired Penelope Gleason Knapp to pen a romantic and effusive love letter to the wonders of the White City. With Victorian flourish, she describes her rapturous experience in the Court of Honor, “where enchantment reigns supreme.” Her memoir offers a reminder that electric illumination on such a grand scale was an overwhelming experience for many visitors from small towns in America. Penelope Gleason Knapp In 1893, twenty-two-year-old Penelope Gleason Knapp was living [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:11:32-05:00March 22nd, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Court of Honor, Diana, electric fountains, gondolas, illumination, MacMonnies Fountain, Obelisk, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 13: The Illumination
Gallery
“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 13: The Illumination

REPRINTS

“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 13: The Illumination

Halcyon Days in the Dream City by Mrs. D. C. Taylor Continued from Part 12 To-day we went to the "Dream City," as Mrs. Candace Wheeler so prettily named the Chicago Exposition,[1] and saw the grand weekly illumination in the evening. At about five o'clock in the afternoon we pressed on with the crowd toward the grand basin. It seemed to be the objective point with all and we were so fortunate as to secure a seat on one [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:21:21-05:00November 23rd, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: illumination|2 Comments