Mr Dow Goes to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair
Mr. Dow goes to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
In a previous blog about autumns in North Hampton, excerpts from Samuel A. Dow’s diary described his trip to the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia at Fairmount Park, the first world’s fair in the United Staten. He delighted in that experience and nearly twenty years later, made an even longer journey to Chicago’s Columbian Exposition.
The 1893 Columbian Exposition was in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. Designed by prominent architects of the day, including ones remembered to this day, there were fourteen major neoclassical buildings centered around a reflective pool known as the Great Basin. An artificial building material named white staff on the temporary buildings gave the fairgrounds its nickname, “The White City”.
I recently obtained the three volume set of the 1893 The Book of The Fair (me personally, not the Historical Society, and for free to boot), and was curious to learn about the sights Dow mentioned in his diary.
But first, how did he get there? By train to Boston; then boarding a 3pm train that arrived at 9am the next day in Buffalo, NY. He had time to visit Niagara Falls before getting a 1:25pm train to Chicago, travelling through New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois (he had a sleeping car) and arriving in Chicago at 9:30am the following day, October 6th. After checking into Hotel Puget Sound on Sheridan Avenue, he spent the afternoon at the Fair, making what must have been whirlwind visits to the Woman’s, Children’s, and Horticulture buildings, and a “short time” in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building.
The Woman’s Building was designed by a female architect, the winner of a competition open to women only. It had an assembly hall, library, and two large murals 58 x 12 feet and other art by female artists. Mary Cassatt painted one of the murals entitled Modern Woman.
The Children’s Building exhibited the best practices in the late 19th century for child-rearing and education. The Horticulture Building boasted a large dome over an equatorial scene of giant palms, bamboo and other tropical flora. There is a Childe Hassam painting of the building.
The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building exhibited works related to literature, science, art and music. It was an immense building that would rank in terms of footprint as one of the largest buildings in the world even today.
Dow went back the next day, spending a longer time at the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, as well as the Idaho, New Hampshire and Washington buildings (34 states had their own pavilions), and a short time in the Art Building. (A Cow Hampshire blog post describes the stunning NH building).
He also saw the Illinois, a detailed, full-scale mockup of an Indiana-class battleship, constructed as a naval exhibit. He stayed into the evening to see the fairgrounds lighted with over 100,000 incandescent lamps – “very beautiful beyond description”.
The next day was Sunday and Dow went to church twice: first to a Congregational church and then to the Emmanuel Baptist Church where Dwight L. Moody, a notable evangelist, preached. Dow arrived 1 ½ hours early, as did others wishing to hear the famous Moody. (The Moody Church continues to this day; and there is an historical Massachusetts connection).
That Monday was Chicago Day and it set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 751,026 people. Dow does not mention the crowds of this and Tuesday, his last two days at the Fair. They were chock-a-block though and included visits to state buildings – Kansas, California, New Hampshire again, Arkansas – and two international ones – India and China.
He spent more time at the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building, as well as Fine Arts. He mentions any number of exotic animals and ends with the Electricity Building. This fair was the first one illuminated by electricity. Westinghouse had won the bid over Edison and the Fair was lit using Nikola Tesla’s invention for A/C electricity.
It is here that the typescripts of excerpts of Dow’s diaries end. Did he attend the next world fair in the United States, the 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition and summer Olympic Games! Can you imagine?