PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Egyptian Swordsmen (p. 87)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 87 – EGYPTIAN SWORDSMEN EGYPTIAN SWORDSMEN.— Among the attractions of a Street in Cairo were a number of swordsmen, some of them very expert in their profession. Their weapons were not of the style in use among Europeans and Americans, but resembled Japanese swords somewhat and had no guard above the hand grip. The blades were not, however, used much in a defensive way, that being left to the [...]

By |2019-12-17T13:27:33-06:00September 30th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |1 Comment
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Oct. 21, 2019- May 2021: American Medina-Stories of Muslim Chicago (Chicago History Museum)

Some of the earliest Muslim communities in Chicago came for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and on the Midway Plaisance were several of the first mosques in the city. The Chicago History Museum opens a new exhibit “American Medina: Stories of Muslim Chicago” on October 21, 2019. CHM notes that “the intention of this exhibition is to record the diverse stories and life experiences of Muslim people living in Chicago in order to build connections in our communities through [...]

By |2020-05-04T15:15:55-05:00September 21st, 2019|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Sean Masterson’s Magic from the Midway

A story about the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition weaves its was through a Chicago magic show. Sean Masterson’s Timeless Magic  blends expert sleight-of-hand trickery, quirky humor, and a personal detective story centering around a World’s Fair commemorative coin. Masterson shares with his audience his quest to discover the origin of his coin, taking us on a tour of several magicians who worked on the Midway and in Chicago at the time of the Fair. (You’ll [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:53:22-06:00August 30th, 2019|Categories: NEWS, THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – A View Through the Ferris Wheel (p. 85)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 85 – A VIEW THROUGH THE FERRIS WHEEL A VIEW THROUGH THE FERRIS WHEEL.—Imposing as was the Ferris Wheel seen from a distance, a great object towering aloft and showing the location of the Fair from a distance of miles away, it was scarcely less impressive when its monster parts were examined from one of the cars which revolved with it, carrying their hosts of passengers. It was not [...]

By |2021-05-16T11:25:24-05:00August 26th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part III: Curiosities of the Midway Plaisance

Author Julian Hawthorne visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Reprinted below is the third part of Julian Hawthorne’s “The Lady of the Lake” about his June visit to the fairgrounds and published in the August 1893 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine. The previous installments can be found in Part I and Part II. [NOTE: By today’s standards, some of Hawthorne’s remarks about the Midway Plaisance and citizens of the international villages sound racist. It was not uncommon for commentators [...]

By |2022-12-10T10:03:20-06:00February 5th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Ice and Snow on the Midway Plaisance

Here's some cool news from the July 8, 1893, Chicago Dispatch: Yesterday the thermometer nearly reached the one hundredth degree mark, and to-day is not much cooler, yet amidst this sultry heat of midsummer many thousands of visitors to the Midway Plaisance can, and many did, enjoy the enviable pleasure of a genuine sleigh ride on pure white snow. Not imitation snow, but the pure crystal itself. It is in itself worth a trip to Chicago and to the [...]

By |2019-02-01T06:05:18-06:00February 1st, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |1 Comment
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Chicago Magazine Recalls the “Indecent Undulations” on the Midway Plaisance

A photograph of "Egyptian Dancing Girls" from Picturesque World’s Fair shows more modest attire than is often described for the "belly dancer" show on the Midway. The February 2019 issue of Chicago Magazine offers a historical survey of baring skin in the Windy City. “Unbuttoning Chicago’s History of Covering Up” opens with the 1893 World’s Fair, summarizing how the “belly dancers” in the Street in Cairo exhibit on the Midway Plaisance shocked some viewers, raised ire of the [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:40:24-06:00January 26th, 2019|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Algerian Theatre (p. 72)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 72 – THE ALGERIAN THEATER THE ALGERIAN THEATRE.—The Algerian and Tunisian Village, in which the theatre was the chief attraction, was situated near the center of the Midway Plaisance and adjoining the Street in Cairo. The frontage, as may be seen in the illustration, was not remarkably pretentious, but the main building inside had a Moorish dome with towers and minarets, and its exterior was covered with the rich-hued [...]

By |2018-12-31T05:50:05-06:00December 31st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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Virility on the Midway: “The Longest Beard in the World” (Death Valley Days, 1956)

We’ll be exploring other films and videos that use the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition as a setting in our “Filming the Fair” series. Check out other WCE videos in the Zoopraxiscope Hall section of our website. Have you heard of “The Longest Beard in the World” concession on the Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? This fictional attraction plays a part in an episode of the long-running television series Death Valley Days. “The Longest Beard in the [...]

By |2018-07-06T07:33:16-05:00July 28th, 2018|Categories: VIDEO|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Iowa State Band Performs on Inaugural Spin of the Ferris Wheel

The great Ferris Wheel opened to the public on June 21, 1893. Though more than a month late (the fair opened on May 1), the wheel became one of the most popular attraction of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Some 2,000 spectators gathered on the Midway Plaisance for the opening ceremony. The festivities began at 3 pm with speeches by Robert W. Hunt, President of the Ferris Wheel Company; George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., engineer and designer of the metal [...]

By |2018-09-02T09:33:06-05:00June 21st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
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