Fabulous Fungi at the Fair

Avert your eyes from a post-apocalyptic future in which fearsome fungi destroy civilization and instead look back at some marvelous mushrooms at the 1893 World’s Fair. George Hiller with his mushroom bed in the dome gallery of the Horticultural Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from the Chicago Tribune Jan. 22, 1893.] The January 22, 1893, issue of the Chicago Tribune reported on “Mushrooms at the Exposition” having “a bed in the Horticultural Building well worth seeing”: [...]

By |2023-03-14T06:54:04-05:00March 12th, 2023|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Progress of the Century: The Celebrated Agave Plant of the 1893 World’s Fair

Uncle John rose with the morning sun on April 23, 1893 and made a bee-line for the Horticultural Building on the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park, Chicago. The opening of the Fair—when President Cleveland would push the button to unfurl the flags along the White City rooftops and release the water to the glorious fountains—was still nine days away. Today, however, the Chief of the Horticultural Department was expecting a throng of visitors to his [...]

By |2023-03-11T16:15:10-06:00May 7th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
Go to Top