In 1893, the midwestern metropolis of Chicago, Ill., threw a gala party and invited the world to attend. Opening Day was May 1, and during its six-month run, 27 million people passed through the gates (at 50 cents each) to view the most spectacular and grandiose exposition ever seen up to that time. The World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated Christopher Columbus’ delivery of America 400 years earlier. Folks had eagerly awaited its arrival.
The Chicago World’s Fair, as it is more commonly called, signaled to the world that America had come of age and was ready to take its place as a leader in the council of nations. It lavished praise on our technological advancement and scientific genius, showcasing not only our great accomplishments, but our promise for the future.
The Exposition
In all, more than 150 buildings, including 12 gigantic exhibition halls, were constructed. Nearly every state, and many foreign nations, had special buildings, as did a number of American manufacturers.
The fair’s buildings were illuminated by electric lights, a novelty in the 1890s that would be copied and greatly expanded upon by future world’s fairs. A lavish system of lagoons, upon which sailed canoes, barges, gondolas and other small craft, highlighted the expo.
Bad weather delayed construction, and a one-year postponement of Opening Day from 1892 to 1893 had to be implemented. On May 1 of the following year, the World’s Columbian Exposition was officially opened to the public.
The Midway, with its concessions, rides, and halls of entertainment, drew the most attention and interest. Everything else at the fair was educational, with exhibits of great inventions and advances designed to promote the great manufacturing and agricultural might of the United States. But on the Midway, it was all fun. Eateries featured foreign cuisine, and everywhere there were exhibitions of all sorts by the inhabitants of Egypt, Africa, and Latin America.
Collectibles
Many novelties, games, souvenirs and books - tons of ephemera - were manufactured or published for the 1893 fair. The city of Chicago and, indeed, the entire nation were hotbeds of expo mania in 1892 and 1893. Momentos of every description were on sale both inside and outside of the fairgrounds. Guide books and commemorative books of all types flooded every store and retail shop in the Windy City.
Magazines, including Ladies’ Home Journal, the various Harpers, and New England, filled their pages with articles and pictures of the fair. Many ads in these publications contained expo tie-ins.
Trade cards were freely handed out to fairgoers at the various exhibits. Around the country, food sellers and vendors of everything from lawn mowers to kitchen stoves distributed such cards picturing views of the fair and advertising their products or services. And, at least 5,000 different stereopticon views were on sale, stereo viewing being all the rage at this time.
Bookmarks were very popular, many of them picturing various fair structures such as the women’s building and important people like President Grover Cleveland and Chicago society leaders Mrs. Potter Palmer.
Across America, the public was swamped by lively music inspired by the happenings in Chicago. Several special songs were written about the World’s Fair, including “Cairo Street Waltz,” “The Song of the Ferris Wheel,” “Naughty Doings on the Midway,” “Columbian Exposition March,” and “The White City March and Two Step.” Today, well over a century later, beautifully illustrated sheet music of these and other expo ditties attract dedicated collectors.
Publishing giants McLoughlin Brothers, Graham & Matlock, and Parker Brothers head the list of board game makers. With titles such as “Uncle Jeremiah’s Trip to the Fair,” they became top sellers in stores coast to coast.
As the millions of visitors strolled the broad boulevards and took in the wondrous sights, they found vending machines everywhere dispensing something new, something never see before: souvenir postcards. In fact, one hundred of these special vending machines dotted the landscape throughout the expo grounds.
All of these keepsakes and memorabilia are eagerly collected today, as are the admission tickets for the fair itself and for the individual attractions, especially those found on the Midway. Also sought are decks of souvenir playing cards with illustrations of fair buildings, published by the G.W. Clark Co.
Official licensee for postcards at the Columbian Exposition was New York City entrepreneur Charles W. Goldsmith. Only his postcards were sold through the vending machines and at the one kiosk. Special envelopes of 12 postcards were also available for 25 cents in addition to singles at two for a nickel.
Though Goldsmith’s cards were the only “officials,” they were far from being the sole postcards of the Chicago Exposition. At least four other identified publishers and three or four anonymous ones flourished. All of their cards were sold off the fairgrounds, in the Greater Chicago area, and in other parts of Illinois.
The great and wonderful World’s Columbian Exposition, held over 100 years ago in Chicago to celebrate America’s maturity and our magnificent industrial and scientific progress, holds a very special place in 19th-century history. Never forgotten by those who visited it, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 has certainly never been forgotten by collectors.