Sonneberg’s Santa Claus Visits the 1893 World’s Fair

Although the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition ran during the warm months of May through October, a touch of Christmas could be found on the fairgrounds. Nestled in the northwest corner of the German Pavilion inside the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building (Section F, 77-79), the toy manufacturers of Sonneberg, Germany, featured a lovely display of toys and dolls filling an ornate carriage and topped by a Christmas tree. A photograph of the German toy exhibit in the Manufactures [...]

By |2022-12-29T18:45:06-06:00December 24th, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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The Dying Scene of this Magnificent Exposition: Mayor Carter Harrison’s Final Speech

World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated “American Cities Day” on Saturday, October 28, 1893, two days before the close of the Fair. Chicago’s Mayor, Carter Harrison, hosted what was thought to be the largest congregation of U.S. mayors ever assembled. Greeting the guests as they arrived on the fairgrounds on the bitterly cold day was the blast of a cannon and musical fanfares from a group of sixteen trumpeters stationed around Music Hall. Mayors represented the great cities of Philadelphia, Milwaukee, [...]

By |2022-12-10T10:10:40-06:00October 28th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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What was Chicago’s official color for the Columbian Exposition?

Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his Cherokee red, and Maxfield Parrish had his own blue. Diana Vreeland was known for wearing red, and Shelby Latcherie’s colors were "blush" and "bashful" (a.k.a “pink” and “pink”). Icons often have a signature color. In October of 1892, Chicago excitedly prepared for her coming out ball. The world soon would arrive to see the Fair, and downtown businessmen decided to decorate their city for the occasion. Chicago needed a signature color. An object [...]

By |2022-04-29T18:39:49-05:00October 21st, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Yerkes Observatory Faces Uncertain Future

Perched on a hilltop above Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, stands a magnificent structure having two significant connections to the 1893 World’s Fair. After more than 120 years of operation, this important legacy of the Columbian Exposition faces an uncertain future. Architect Henry Ives Cobb. (Image from The Graphic History of the Fair. (Graphic Co., 1894).] Henry Ives Cobb, born on August 18, 1859, in Brookline, Massachusetts, had become one of Chicago's most distinguished architects by the time of the [...]

By |2023-04-16T18:07:26-05:00August 19th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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The Yerkes Telescope, Great Revealer of the Solar System

Among the many enormous and record-breaking displays at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, none were astronomical as the Yerkes Telescope. The historic telescope has been on view to the public, and in service to scientists, for the past 120 years while housed in the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, a beautiful building designed by World’s Fair architect Henry Ives Cobb. The observatory and treasured telescope face an uncertain future as the University of Chicago ceases operations of the [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:31:14-06:00August 19th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Grand Basin from the Administration Gallery (p. 62)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 62 – THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE ADMINISTRATION GALLERY.—Very striking was the effect produced by the body of water known as the Grand Basin, forming a symmetrical marble-framed lake in the center of the Court of Honor. Here, during the day, were reflected the hosts of white fronts uprearing on every side; here, at night, were flashed back the blaze of light [...]

By |2018-08-07T20:33:18-05:00August 9th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Germany’s “Glory of Germania” Tile Painting in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

Within the enormous Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition stood the imposing German Pavilion. Along with the other world powers of the era—Great Britain, France, and the United States—Germany displayed her national output in a prominent location around the central clock tower along the middle stretch of Columbia Avenue. Floorplan of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building [Image from Diagrams of World's Fair Buildings. Rand McNally, 1893.] Occupying a section [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:30:10-06:00August 7th, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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July-September, 2018: “Glory of Germania” on Display at DANK Haus in Chicago

A German ceramic tile tableau exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair is back on display for a limited time at the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center in Chicago. The Glory of Germania is an 18-by-12-foot tableau constructed of 1,057 individual tiles displayed with the German exhibit inside the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. (See our full post here.) After 93 years on display in the Germania Club of Chicago and another 32 [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:29:38-06:00August 7th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , , |1 Comment
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – United States Military Encampment, Government Plaza (p. 55)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 55 – UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA UNITED STATES MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, GOVERNMENT PLAZA.—North and east of the Manufactures Building was an extensive plaza devoted altogether to the uses of the United States Government. Here were the military encampment, the life-saving station, the signal service bureau, the naval station, the light-house exhibit and similar governmental features. The view shown is taken from the Government Building looking southeast, the northeast [...]

By |2023-02-19T09:39:32-06:00June 25th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Facade of the French Section (p. 54)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 54 – THE FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION.—Among the various magnificent national displays made in the Manufactures Building that of France ranked with the greatest, either exteriorly considered or with regard to the works and products on exhibition. The section was on the east side of the north and south thoroughfare, known as Columbia Avenue, and at its junction with the main division east [...]

By |2018-07-04T14:16:27-05:00June 18th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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