Fun Facts about Pope Leo and the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago

Chicago is losing its Malört over the announcement that Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected to be the first pope from the United States. Born in the Bronzeville neighborhood and raised in Chicago’s south suburbs, Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. Back in 1893, Pope Leo XIII had a varied—and rather unusual—presence at the World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Pope Leo XIII loaned many Vatican treasures to be exhibited at the World’s Fair. One theme of [...]

By |2025-05-10T06:23:51-05:00May 10th, 2025|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Ron Soule’s “Escape from the Emerald City” imagines an origin story for Oz at the 1893 World’s Fair

Escape from the Emerald City by Ron Soule. Independently published, 2023. 105 pages. Hardcover, $14.95. ISBN 9798395968029. Paperback, $7.95. ISBN 9798395968111. In the growing library of “fairground fiction,” stories that involve historical figures offer a special treat to readers who enjoy imagining how famous (and soon-to-be-famous) people experienced the 1893 World’s Fair. A then-unknown traveling salesman from Chicago visited the fairgrounds on several occasions with his wife and four sons. Only a few years later he would burst onto [...]

By |2023-12-21T06:05:37-06:00December 21st, 2023|Categories: FICTION, PRODUCTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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144. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Electricity Building

INTERIOR OF THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING.—How the world advances was perhaps better illustrated in the Electricity Building than in any other of the great structures on the grounds. At no previous exposition had there ever been a structure set apart for electrical exhibits and at none could there have been anything like the display here made. The marvelous advance in the use of electricity has been accomplished since Philadelphia and Paris did their best. Science and invention have but lately [...]

By |2023-12-05T09:38:46-06:00October 14th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Remembering Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima, and the 1893 World’s Fair

Though relatively unknown at the time, one participant in the 1893 World’s Fair later became a famous fixture of food advertising and a part of many people’s kitchens for more than a century. For the past ninety-seven years, the final resting place of the real woman behind the character was an unmarked plot of grass in a cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. A sign welcoming guests to the September 5, 2020, headstone ceremony for Nancy Green. On [...]

By |2024-01-15T07:42:58-06:00September 9th, 2020|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , |2 Comments
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THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 6)

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

By |2023-12-20T13:45:56-06:00December 27th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
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“The Current War” offers only a dimly lit view of the 1893 World’s Fair

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago shines on the big screen, if only for a few minutes. The Current War (2017, released 2019) tells the story of the rancorous rivalry between inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who adamantly championed direct current (DC) technologies to electrify and illuminate American cities, and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who banked on alternating current (AC). The legendary “war of the currents” has these titans of the electrical industry setting their sights on powering the Columbian [...]

By |2025-01-30T18:40:44-06:00October 30th, 2019|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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“Greatly Interested in the World’s Fair is the Wizard.” Thomas Edison’s 1891 Visit to Chicago

Thomas Edison visited Chicago on May 12, 1891, staying for several days “to attend to some private interests” and to consult with Prof. John P. Barrett, Chief of the Department of Electricity and Electrical Appliances for the World’s Columbian Exposition. [“Proposition for a Compromise” Chicago Inter Ocean May 12, 1891, p. 8.] The article below, from the front page of the May 12, 1891, issue of the Chicago Evening Post, describes his interest in the 1893 World’s Fair and [...]

By |2019-10-27T20:47:54-05:00October 28th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair

In August 1893, Thomas A. Edison visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His time at the World's Fair bears little resemblance to the story portrayed on screen in The Current War. According to the report below, from the September 2, 1893, issue of Electrical Review, Edison kept a low profile and showed little interest in the electrical exhibits. Thomas A. Edison, accompanied by his family, arrived in Chicago last Monday evening, and went immediately to a house on [...]

By |2019-10-26T18:34:12-05:00October 26th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |1 Comment
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1893 World’s Fair Coming to the Big Screen in THE CURRENT WAR

The lights are back on for a film partially set on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Scheduled to open in October 2019 is The Current War, a historical drama about the legendary “war of the currents” between titans of the electrical industry who are setting their sights on powering the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The Current War tells the story of the vicious rivalry between inventors Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), [...]

By |2024-09-23T08:18:36-05:00June 30th, 2019|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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Opening Day, Part 6: Reading of “The Prophecy”

Reading of “The Prophecy” This is Part 6 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. At the conclusion of Reverend Milburn’s invocation, General-Director George R. Davis again commanded the attention of the crowd and announced the third number on the program. "I introduce to you Miss Jessie Couthoui, who will read the poem." With faultless [...]

By |2018-04-25T20:23:28-05:00April 27th, 2018|Categories: OPENING DAY|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment
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