MacMonnies Fountain – Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

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

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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!) [...]

A Columbian Exposition jigsaw puzzle oddity
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A Columbian Exposition jigsaw puzzle oddity

PRODUCTS

A Columbian Exposition jigsaw puzzle oddity

As January 29 is National Puzzle Day, let’s take a look at an unusual jigsaw puzzle depicting the 1893 World’s Fair. A jigsaw puzzle titled "The 1893 World's Fair" from the Nice Card Company shows an impossible view of MacMonnies Fountain and the Agricultural Building. Produced by the Nice Card Company, “The 1893 World’s Fair” is a 500-piece, 18-by-24-inch jigsaw puzzle. The assembled image is a photograph of the front part of MacMonnies Fountain on the west [...]

By Scott|2024-01-25T17:02:22-06:00January 29th, 2024|Categories: PRODUCTS|Tags: Grand Basin, MacMonnies Fountain|0 Comments

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque
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The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

REPRINTS

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

Continued from Part 1 [Note: This text includes names and descriptions now considered culturally disparaging. Please see our statement on “Potentially Offensive Text and Images.”] THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque But in that brief view a lesson was also taught you which you took to heart at once. It was that the charm of the [...]

By Scott|2023-07-02T13:10:12-05:00July 1st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, Christopher Columbus (statue by Lawrence), Columbian Guard, Court of Honor, Golden Door, gondolas, Ho-o-den, Japanese Tea House, MacMonnies Fountain, Palace of Fine Arts, rolling chairs, Transportation Building, Woman's Building, Wooded Island|1 Comment

136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain
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136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain

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136. Picturesque World’s Fair – Birds-Eye View of the Columbian Fountain

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN.—It was a merit of the famous Columbian Fountain and one indicative of its quality as a great work of art that it was beautiful from whatever direction a view of it might be taken. So perfect were the relations of its parts that even a bird's-eye view gave something symmetrical and picturesque In the illustration, the observer being almost directly north and at a slight elevation, minor details of the barge are not [...]

By Randy|2022-07-10T10:19:29-05:00March 15th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Columbian Fountain, Farmer's Bridge, Machinery Hall, MacMonnies Fountain, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

128. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Falls of the Columbian Fountain
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128. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Falls of the Columbian Fountain

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128. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Falls of the Columbian Fountain

THE FALLS OF THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN.—Viewed from its front, and at a point not remote, the overflow of the Columbian Fountain afforded the spectacle of one of the most charming of'cataracts. The mass of water tumbled down from level to level in a great foaming semi-circle, until, finally, it plunged into the Grand Basin, a white sheet impress-ive in its beauty. Wider than the famous Falls of Minnehaha, though with not quite so much descent, the falls of the [...]

By Randy|2021-10-27T04:42:44-05:00October 27th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Columbian Fountain, gondolas, Grand Basin, MacMonnies Fountain, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|0 Comments

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

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 1)
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THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 1)

REPRINTS

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 1)

THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)

By Scott|2022-12-10T10:10:07-06:00December 22nd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: California State Building, Columbus Quadriga, Court of Honor, electric launches, Grand Basin, Illinois Central Railroad, MacMonnies Fountain, Peristyle, Statue of the Republic|1 Comment

Echoes of the White City Part 3: “Fourteen Villages and a Jail”
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Echoes of the White City Part 3: “Fourteen Villages and a Jail”

HISTORY

Echoes of the White City Part 3: “Fourteen Villages and a Jail”

Entering Battery D Armory, visitors to “Echoes of the White City” faced a replica in miniature of one of the greatest attractions of the 1893 World’s Fair

By Scott|2022-12-10T10:10:12-06:00November 20th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Candace Wheeler, Carl Rohl-Smith, Columbian Guard, Columbian Liberty Bell, Daniel Chester French, East Indian Bazaar, Electric Scenic Theater, Ellen Henrotin, Ferris Wheel, George Francis Train, Hobart Chatfield-Taylor, Irish Village (Blarney Castle), Irish Village (Donegal Castle), Japanese Bazaar, Java Village, Justice (statue), kinetoscope, Lapland Village, Lorado Taft, MacMonnies Fountain, Midway Plaisance, Miss Mary Lawrence, Robert Lindblom, Statue of the Republic, World's Congress of Beauty|1 Comment

“The couple gasped in horrified surprise.” Nude Art at the 1893 World’s Fair
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“The couple gasped in horrified surprise.” Nude Art at the 1893 World’s Fair

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“The couple gasped in horrified surprise.” Nude Art at the 1893 World’s Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago exposed visitors to a new world. Many experienced what has been described as the "shock of the new” when facing awesome technological advances and the rich variety of human cultures on exhibition. Others felt a shock just from seeing the human form openly displayed. “No one can help noticing the frankness and more than pagan un-reserve with which contemporary artists are treating the nude, both in painting and in sculpture.” wrote Julian Hawthorne in his [...]

By Scott|2024-09-24T09:06:18-05:00May 28th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: MacMonnies Fountain, Palace of Fine Arts, Peristyle, Rostral Columns, Theodore Baur|0 Comments

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Columbian Fountain from the Rear (p. 80)
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Columbian Fountain from the Rear (p. 80)

REPRINTS

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Columbian Fountain from the Rear (p. 80)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 80 – COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN FROM THE REAR.— Father Time became a familiar figure during the Fair to the hosts who gathered about the music stands on the eastern part of the Grand Plaza, for the barge of the Columbian Fountain rode stern on to the plaza and Time was at the barge's helm. The illustration is an excellent one of the fountain from the [...]

By Randy|2019-05-12T10:11:33-05:00May 21st, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Columbian Fountain, fountain, Frederick MacMonnies, MacMonnies Fountain, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin
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THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin

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THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin

Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 21, 1934) was the only son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and himself a journalist and author. Julian Hawthorne’s biographer notes that “as an author, he far exceeded the literary production of his famous father, composing no less than twenty-six novels and romances, over sixty short stories, almost a hundred essays, and several lengthy works of history, biography, and autobiography.” [Bassan, Maurice Hawthorne’s Son: The Life and Literary Career of Julian Hawthorne. Ohio [...]

By Scott|2019-02-03T10:31:16-06:00February 2nd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Alexander Phimister Proctor, Daniel Chester French, Edward Kemeys, Edward Potter, Frederick MacMonnies, Julian Hawthorne, Karl Bitter, MacMonnies Fountain, Peristyle, Philip Martiny, Statue of the Republic|2 Comments

Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman
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Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman

HISTORY, LOST & FOUND

Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman

Two pillars of the 1893 World’s Fair died unexpectedly before they could complete their work on the fairgrounds. Even the preliminary architectural contributions of both men, however, played a monumental role in the success of the Columbian Exposition. So, it was fitting that a small monument to the memory of these two leading designers graced the fairgrounds. John Wellborn Root (left) and Henry Sargent Codman (right). Glorious achievements January 13 marks the anniversary of the death of [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T10:11:00-06:00January 13th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY, LOST & FOUND|Tags: Columbian Fountain, Daniel Burnham, Devil in the White City (book), Field Museum, Frederick Law Olmsted, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, Henry Codman, John Root, MacMonnies Fountain, Museum of Science and Industry, Palace of Fine Arts|2 Comments

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Fountain (p. 63)
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Fountain (p. 63)

REPRINTS

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Columbian Fountain (p. 63)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 63 – THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN THE COLUMBIAN FOUNTAIN.—The Columbian Fountain was generally recognized as a triumph of artistic work on a splendid scale and beyond simplicity in its significance. The prominent object in the Court of Honor, directly in front of the Administration Building was a great circular basin, one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, in which Columbia sat in a Barge of State, drawn by sea-horses and [...]

By Randy|2018-09-10T04:53:10-05:00September 10th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Barge of State, Columbia, Columbian Fountain, Court of Honor, MacMonnies Fountain, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR|1 Comment

Inside the Administration Building Dome: “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” by William Dodge (Part I)
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Inside the Administration Building Dome: “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” by William Dodge (Part I)

HISTORY

Inside the Administration Building Dome: “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” by William Dodge (Part I)

PART I: DECORATING THE DOME OF THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING “Fame comes only after death to those who have slaved during life.” —William de Leftwich Dodge The gem and crown of the Exposition Along with the Ferris Wheel and the Statue of the Republic, this magnificent structure is one of the most iconic images of the 1893 World’s Fair. With its grand and golden dome, the Administration Building towered over the fairgrounds from a commanding position of honor at the [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T10:33:42-06:00September 2nd, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Administration Building, Daniel Burnham, Francis Millet, Frederick MacMonnies, Glorification of the Arts, Grover Cleveland, Horticultural Building, MacMonnies Fountain, Opening Day, Princess Eulalia, Richard Hunt, William Dodge, William Pretyman|1 Comment

Opening Day, Part 10: The Great Transformation Scene
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Opening Day, Part 10: The Great Transformation Scene

OPENING DAY

Opening Day, Part 10: The Great Transformation Scene

The Great Transformation Scene This is Part 10 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. As the last words fell from his lips at the conclusion of his short address, President Grover Cleveland placed his finger on the telegraph key. With his hand touching the electric switchboard, a chrysalis transformation scene was about to begin [...]

By Scott|2022-10-10T08:59:18-05:00May 1st, 2018|Categories: OPENING DAY|Tags: “America”, “Hallelujah Chorus”, Administration Building, Agricultural Building, Allis engine, American flag, Andrew Johnson, Casino, Court of Honor, Duke of Veragua, Exposition Orchestra, Francis Millet, gondolas, Grand Basin, Grover Cleveland, Krupp Gun, Machinery Hall, MacMonnies Fountain, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, May 1, Music Hall, Peristyle, Statue of the Republic|1 Comment

Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity
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Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity

OPENING DAY

Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity

A Sea of Humanity This is Part 3 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. As the procession of the President of the United States began its march south on Michigan Avenue, thousands of people in downtown Chicago began forming their own spontaneous parade to the World’s Fair. Everyone on West Madison Street and North [...]

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 25)
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 25)

REPRINTS

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 25)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 25 THE MACMONNIES FOUNTAIN FRONT.—This view, taken from a position in the Grand Basin, affords a just idea of the appearance of the Columbian Fountain from the east, and of the steps and terrace down which the water tumbled in a cascade when the fountain was in action. The Sea Horses of Commerce, which were represented as assisting the rowers in the propulsion of the barge, uprear themselves in [...]

By Randy|2018-06-12T15:36:32-05:00January 24th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: electric fountains, Electricity Building, gondolas, Grand Basin, MacMonnies Fountain, Mines and Mining Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Sea Horses of Commerce|0 Comments