Opening Day, Part 1: Morning on the Fairgrounds

Morning on the Fairgrounds This is Part 1 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. The day of days dawned with gray skies. Jupiter Pluvius, giver of rain, held an uplifted threatening fist over Chicago this morning. Throughout the city, bunting hung to celebrate the opening of the World’s Fair sagged, damp and listless. A [...]

By |2018-04-26T06:17:33-05:00April 22nd, 2018|Categories: OPENING DAY|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The French Statue of the Republic (p. 47)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 47 – THE FRENCH STATUE OF THE REPUBLIC THE FRENCH STATUE OF THE REPUBLIC.—The majestic gilded figure which stood at the east end of the great basin in the court of Honor, and which typified the nation inviting her sisters of the world, was not the only representative statue of a Republic to be seen at the Exposition. On the east side of the broad thoroughfare known as Columbia [...]

By |2018-04-18T05:55:07-05:00April 18th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (pp. 15-16)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 15 A VIEW IN MIDWAY PLAISANCE.—A city in itself was the Midway, picturesque certainly, and educational as well, however meretricious some of its droll features. It was the playground of the multitude and they learned much while they ate, drank, stared and were merry. The view above presented is from a point about the center of the west half of the Plaisance and a little west of the Ferris [...]

By |2018-03-11T14:39:47-05:00December 26th, 2017|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (pp. 3-4)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 3 THE COURT OF HONOR BY MOONLIGHT.—Of all the magnificent spectacles the Columbian Exposition afforded the view of the Court of Honor by moonlight seems, by common consent, to be accorded the first place. The effect of wonderful lights upon the glorious white buildings and on the waters, the electric flashes through the air, the sky scene made more beautiful, if possible, by the addition of the beauties below, [...]

By |2022-07-10T09:31:07-05:00December 7th, 2017|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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1893 World’s Fair trading cards from Topps

Sports card collectors know the name Topps well. The company that has produced countless baseball cards and other sports trading cards, often packaged with a stick of chewing gum, also releases non-sports trading cards. One of their recent "vintage" collector's card lines is an "Allen & Ginter" series, named after the Virginia company that produced the first cigarette trading cards. Topps three Columbian Exposition trading cards from 2017 Earlier this year, Topps released a series of 20 [...]

By |2017-10-27T17:15:56-05:00October 27th, 2017|Categories: PRODUCTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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“Little Mary” model sale by Hindman Auctioneers

From time to time, we’ll post descriptions of interesting or unusual Columbian Exposition items for sale or up for auction. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers of Chicago is offering an interesting item related to the 1893 World’s Fair in their Sale 530: “Fine Furniture, Decorative Arts and Silver” on October 16-17, 2017. A golden Statue of the Republic model is item number 707. The item is described as “A Gilt Plaster Model of the Statue of the Republic / after Daniel [...]

By |2022-03-05T09:54:39-06:00October 16th, 2017|Categories: ANTIQUES|Tags: |1 Comment
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Fist City: a monumental beer

Move over PBR, there’s a new beer for 1893 World’s Fair enthusiasts. Fist City did not win a blue ribbon at the Columbian Exposition (hey, neither did Pabst!), because Revolution Brewing first released their pale ale in 2014. Initially offered only on tap at Big Star—a self-described “bourbon and beer-focused, taco-slinging, late-night honky-tonk in the heart of Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood”—Fist City’s popularity encouraged Revolution to offer this brew year-round, starting in April 2015, as six packs of 12-ounce cans [...]

By |2022-12-04T09:23:50-06:00October 16th, 2017|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|Tags: , , |1 Comment
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Dec. 1-30, 2017 (Chicago): Joffrey Ballet returns to the Fair

  Chicago's Joffrey Ballet will be returning to the Columbian Exposition with their 2017 production of The Nutcracker, running from December 1 to 30 at the Auditorium Theater. This spectacular ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon premiered in 2016 and invites the audience to ... "journey inside Chicago's 1893 World's Fair with Wheeldon's critically acclaimed holiday masterpiece. When young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the fair's iconic Statue of the Republic, host a holiday party, a surprise [...]

By |2018-03-02T09:34:39-06:00September 5th, 2017|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , , |1 Comment
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From the Emerald City to the White City

Having been a devoted L. Frank Baum enthusiast for decades, I developed a keen interest in learning more about his life and times upon moving to Chicago in the summer of 2003. The author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz provided the invitation to explore the history of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Many sources have offered commentary—ranging from the factual to the fanciful—on Baum’s connections to the Columbian Exposition, and I anticipate contributing additional thoughts on that [...]

By |2022-03-05T09:52:54-06:00September 4th, 2017|Categories: ABOUT, STICK|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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