Swedish Building (Sweden)

Aug. 8-Nov. 2, 2025: “Swedes at the Fair” (Swedish American Museum, Chicago)
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Aug. 8-Nov. 2, 2025: “Swedes at the Fair” (Swedish American Museum, Chicago)

EXHIBITS (current), NEWS

Aug. 8-Nov. 2, 2025: “Swedes at the Fair” (Swedish American Museum, Chicago)

The Swedish American Museum in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood is running a special exhibit on “Swedes at the Fair” from August 8 through November 2, 2025. The exhibit highlights Swedes and Swedish-American participation in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition with displays about the Swedish Pavilion, the Swedish Restaurant [including an image from our post "Tales from the Swedish Café"], Sweden Day, the American Union of Swedish Singers, the Royal Swedish Commission, Pehr Samuel Peterson’s tree nursery, the Lapland Village, and [...]

By Scott|2025-08-12T16:20:11-05:00August 13th, 2025|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS|Tags: Sweden, Sweden Day, Swedish Building (Sweden), Swedish Restaurant|3 Comments

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building
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137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

REPRINTS

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

NORTH AND WEST FROM THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—From the dome of the Government Building the prospect north and west afforded as much variety as could be had from any point of observation of the Fair Grounds, since in other directions the view was either much shorter or was cut off by the huge department structures. The illustration shows the Fisheries in the foreground, the details of the south façade of the main building outlined very clearly at such short distance. [...]

By Randy|2022-04-24T13:28:09-05:00April 24th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Brazil Building, Café de la Marine, California State Building, Fisheries Building, Guatemala Building, Illinois State Building, Merchant Tailors' Building, Michigan State Building, New York State Building, Ohio State Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Spectatorium, Swedish Building (Sweden), U.S. Government Building, Venezuela Building, Washington State Building, Wooded Island|0 Comments

Tales from the Swedish Café
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Tales from the Swedish Café

HISTORY, REPRINTS

Tales from the Swedish Café

Swedes from Chicago and around the world celebrated Sweden Day at the World’s Columbian Exposition on July 20, 1893. Many of the festive events took place at the beautiful Swedish Building. Nearby stood the Swedish Restaurant, which served as another site for Swedes to gather on the fairgrounds and as a concession to showcase Scandinavian fare to visitors from around the world. The Swedish Restaurant (also called the Swedish Café) was run by Robert Lindblom (1844-1907), a prominent Swedish-born trader [...]

By Scott|2023-11-28T09:00:50-06:00July 20th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY, REPRINTS|Tags: Gustaf Wickman, Robert Lindblom, Swedish Building (Sweden), Swedish Restaurant, Teresa Dean|0 Comments

Libraries at the Columbian Exposition
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Libraries at the Columbian Exposition

REPRINTS

Libraries at the Columbian Exposition

“Extremes meet at Chicago.” —librarian Caroline Harwood Garland. The 1893 World’s Fair was full of contrasts: exotic dancing on the Midway and educational exhibits; fountains illuminated by electricity and bibles illuminated by paintings, dynamos and the Dewey decimal system; balloon rides and books. Amidst the Cracker Jack and orange cider was also “food for reflection in the existence of so many libraries.” To celebrate National Library Week, let’s take a look at libraries at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [...]

By Scott|2024-04-10T16:45:52-05:00April 7th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Arkansas State Building, Battleship Illinois, Brazil Building, California State Building, Candace Wheeler, Ceylon Building, Children's Building, Clara Doty Bates, Colorado State Building, Costa Rica Building, Dora Wheeler Keith, East India Building, Florida State Building, Germany Building, Guatemala Building, Hamlin Garland, Idaho State Building, Ignacy Paderewski, Illinois State Building, Indiana State Building, Iowa State Building, Java Village, Kansas State Building, Kentucky State Building, Louisiana State Building, Maine State Building, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, Maryland State Building, Mines and Mining Building, Missouri State Building, Music Hall, Nebraska State Building, New York State Building, North Dakota State Building, Ohio, Pennsylvania State Building, rolling chairs, South Dakota State Building, Swedish Building (Sweden), Territory Building, Texas State Building, Theodore Thomas, Tiffany, Turkish Building (Turkey), U.S. Government Building, Utah State Building, Venezuela Building, Victoria House, Virginia State Building, Washington State Building, Wisconsin State Building, Woman's Building|0 Comments

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 28)
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PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 28)

REPRINTS

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS (p. 28)

PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 28 THE SWEDISH BUILDING.—The remarkable style of architecture of the Swedish Building made it conspicuous among the group between the north pond and the lake, and it may be added, that the comment thus attracted was most favorable. The building stood on a triangular piece of ground, and to meet this exigency, in preparing the plans a hexagon was inscribed within the triangle and the shape of the structure [...]

By Randy|2018-03-11T14:37:42-05:00February 1st, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: chicago 1893, Gustaf Wickman, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Sweden, Swedish Building (Sweden)|0 Comments