Title: Picturesque World's Fair, Vol. I, No. 1, Feb. 10, 1894 - An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views . . . Comprising Illustrations of the Greatest Features of the World's Columbian Exposition and Midway Plaisance: Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Scenic and Ethnological
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Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Picturesque World's Fair, Vol. I, No. 1, Feb. 10, 1894 - An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views . . . Comprising Illustrations of the Greatest Features of the World's Columbian Exposition and Midway Plaisance: Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Scenic and Ethnological" ***

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NO. 1, FEB. 10, 1894***


PICTURESQUE WORLD'S FAIR

An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views
Published with the Endorsement and Approval of
George R. Davis,
Director-General of the World's Columbian Exposition.

Comprising Illustrations of the Greatest Features of
The World's Columbian Exposition and Midway Plaisance
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Scenic and Ethnological.

The Magnificent Water and Landscape Effects and Charming Vistas
Made Realistic by Authentic Reproduction
in All of the Colors of Nature and Art.

Under the direction of the celebrated Landscape Artist, John R. Key.
From Photographs made by authority of the Director-General, for the
United States Government, and by Special Artists Employed Expressly
for this work.

Each View Accompanied by a Graphic and Accurate Description.



Published by
W. B. Conkey Company,
Official Publishers of the World's Columbian Exposition Catalogue,
etc.
Chicago

Copyright, 1894.
W. B. Conkey Company.
All Rights Reserved.
This work being fully protected by copyright, any infringement will
be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.



INTRODUCTION.

The publishers of "Picturesque World's Fair," in presenting these
exquisite views, feel justified in congratulating themselves upon the
success that has attended their efforts to place within the reach of
all classes of people an artistic realistic reproduction of the great
Exposition. Not only do the publishers feel gratulation in their own
behalf, but they believe that through the perfection of the printers'
art, by means of the application of labor-saving machinery, and
through the enterprise of the progressive press of the United States,
a work so rare, so interesting, so accurate and so invaluable, at so
insignificant an expense, will be a benefaction to all classes of
people.

That the handsomely colored views contained in this volume, true in
every respect to the design of the decorator and the unrivaled charm
of nature, have received the most enthusiastic indorsement of the
Director-General, the Executive Officer of the Exposition, who from
the beginning to the close was its center figure and its controlling
and guiding force, affords the publishers little opportunity for
comment upon the pictorial features of this work. No production of a
similar character has received the sanction of the Director-General;
no enterprise of a contemporaneous period has received a higher
compliment.

Accompanying the views will be found a brief but vivid description of
the buildings; their contents and the environments, together with
much condensed valuable sympathetic information. In fact, it has been
the intention of the publishers to present to the public a review and
pictorial presentation of the great Fair that will rejoice and
refresh those who had the good fortune to be among its visitors, and
impart satisfactory reproduction in line and letter, that will in a
great measure compensate those whose unavoidable absence would
perhaps without this work have debarred them from an intimate and
intelligent appreciation of the Exposition's manifold wonders.

Standing upon the little Spanish Caravel, the Santa Maria, so small a
craft as to seem a vessel in miniature, and looking above, about and
beyond the mooring, it was impossible to realize that the grandeur,
the brilliancy and the sweeping proportions of the Columbian
Exposition were inspired and produced by the commemoration of the
great event this little ship, by the guiding hand of the great
Navigator, was the instrumentality in achieving. As the success of
the voyage of a Genoese sailor marked the era of endless and
boundless advance of civilization, so the commemorative Exposition
will for all time stand as an epochful event, glorious in its effect
upon this generation, and momentous in its influence upon those to
follow.

As these beautiful and expressive illustrations set forth the
greatness of the Exposition in the full blast of achievement, they
must call into grateful remembrance the thousands who in humble, but
no half-hearted way have done their share in the mighty task of its
preparation; the tiller of the soil who sent from every clime the
yellow grain; the nurserymen who from every sunny slope have given
the richest product of the tree and vine; the miner in every mountain
who has wrested tribute from the treasure vaults of nature to delight
the wondering visitor. The worker in the forest; the worker in the
mill who have sent the product of the axe and the loom; the fisherman
who seined and hooked in the depths of the sea; the inventor, the
mechanic, the artisan and artist, all with incomparable energy and
skill gave their full measure to this colossal testimonial of the
prodigality of nature and the genius of mankind.

Let us be ever mindful, too, of the great influences of and for good
that have found their source and inspiration in this great
Exposition. The fellowship and sympathy established within these
grounds among all people, of all classes, from all lands, are indeed
significant of the day not far distant when peace and good-will
throughout all the world shall be as common a portion of every man's
heritage as the air he breathes. In how far the great truths to be
drawn from this Fair may influence the future of other people, either
in an individual or political sense, it would be difficult to hazard
an opinion. Doubtless, too, within the life of the present
generation, the uplifting influence of this Exposition will become
manifest among many, and the broadening civilization growing from it
be emphatically felt in every land. To our own homogeneous people,
the good has already begun. They have caught the inspiration from
this monument of art and industry, and as they extend it over the
face of this progressive and ambitious country enlightenment will be
spread broadcast and a yet higher standard of knowledge and beauty be
established among our people.



[Illustration: THE COURT OF HONOR BY MOONLIGHT.]

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, the passage of gondolas and launches with their merry parties
slipping through light and shade, the gleaming and shifting splendor
of the fountains, the sensuous music filling the air, all combined to
make such a scene one unsurpassable and likely to be unforgotten. The
view given above is from the east end of the Grand Basin with the
statue of The Republic in the immediate foreground and the
Administration Building in the distance. Above a full moon with a few
fleecy clouds which neither obscure her nor the myriads of stars add
to the charms of the particular night. From the Manufactures Building
on the right a blaze of electric glory makes wonderful lights and
shades upon the Agricultural Building to the south and brings out
statuary and architectural features in white relief. At the west end
of the basin the fountains are in full play and their bright colors
are but varied by the band of white light between. The water lies
like a silken carpet. It is a dream picture--no other term will fit
it--and it is true to the scene as it appeared. A wonderful thing was
the Court of Honor at night, something hardly even imagined before,
unless as a picture in a fairy tale or in some oriental story. But it
was a reality.


[Illustration: THE MINING BUILDING.]

THE MINING BUILDING.--This imposing facade illustrates the massive
and graceful proportions of the Mining Building. The grand central
arch, one hundred feet high, and the domed pavilions at either corner
are supported by heavy pilasters of granitoid blocks, suggestive of
great solidity. The lofty bays, the recessed balcony with pillared
support, the elaborate frieze, the architectural reliefs, the
bannered flagstaffs, give the finishing touch of beauty to simple
strength. The great floor space is seven hundred by three hundred and
fifty feet m area including a space of five and one-half acres. The
dome of Administration, in the rear, and the towers of Electricity to
the left, give an exalted sky relief and indicate the relation of
this to the other edifices of the Central court. At the left appears
the verdure of the water-bound and wooded islands--the centerpiece of
the Exposition landscape. The continuous fringe of green at the
water's edge is broken by the pedestals of the statuary in the
immediate foreground. The projecting cornice above the horse is all
that is visible of the Golden Door to the Transportation Building.
The equestrian groups are fitting accessories of the scene. Their
spirited energy and the expressive, life-like attitudes of horses and
riders won the praise of eminent sculptors. The frontier and mountain
life they represent is intimately associated with the development of
the industry to which the great edifice in front, with its abundant
wealth of mineral, ore and metal is dedicated.


[Illustration: THE GOLDEN DOOR.]

THE GOLDEN DOOR.--The main portal of the Transportation Building,
because of its strikingly attractive features both of design and
coloring, became known as "The Golden Door," and certainly deserved
the admiring title given it by the public. The Transportation
Building, as a whole, was a complete departure in style and hue from
the great mass of structures which gave the White City its name, and
its greatest entrance was its most novel and beautiful part. It was,
beyond question, the chief illustration at the World's Fair of what
can be done in architecture by combining exquisite reliefs with
oriental richness of painting, though in the decoration of entrances
architects and artists had lavished all their genius and invention.
The doorway is an arch, or, more properly speaking, a quintuple arch,
the five blending into a whole elaborately ornamented and embellished
with delicate bas-reliefs. The combined arches form a semi-circular
environment for a symbolical mural painting in the background and
just above the entrance proper. The impression is thus produced of a
picture gorgeously framed, and this effect is further enhanced by a
square, treated in a similar manner to the arches, and joining the
peripheries of the exterior one. This remarkable portal was painted a
pea-green and the bas-relief was overlaid with silver leaf, the
result being something dazzling in the extreme. Not merely because of
its richness and originality, but because of the lesson it taught by
comparison with less florid though grander styles the Golden Doorway
was certainly among the most notable architectural features shown.



[Illustration: CHICAGO DAY AT THE EXPOSITION, OCTOBER 9, 1893.]

On the night of October 9, 1871, the City of Chicago was destroyed by
fire, the devastation being so great as to excite the sympathy of the
whole civilized world. Where had been a flourishing city was but a
great expanse of smoking ruins. So complete was the destruction that
the task of rebuilding seemed an impossible one. It was the greatest
fire in history.

October 9, 1893, was "Chicago Day" at the World's Columbian
Exposition, the day selected to do honor to the city in which the
great Fair was held. The view above given, showing a part of the
throng in the Court of Honor, tells a portion of the story. More than
seven hundred and fifty-one thousand people assembled on the grounds!
It was the greatest gathering in history.


[Illustration: ON THE WOODED ISLAND.]

ON THE WOODED ISLAND.--Without the Wooded Island, with its touch of
the country, its wonderful flowers and shrubbery and winding walks,
and cosy nooks and quaint Japanese houses of the past, the Fair would
have lacked one of its most refreshing and interesting features.
Charming alike to the naturalist, the couples who liked to wander by
themselves, the student or the mere lover of the beautiful, was the
island which added such variety to the scenery of the vast inclosure.
The flora, transplanted from a thousand different and distant places,
seemed to thrive here as at home, and nature seemed assisting man to
make the whole as nearly a perfect thing as possible. And man
certainly did his own part exceedingly well. He utilized what nature
gave to the greatest advantage and added numerous improvements of his
own which were in admirable taste. The view which appears above is
but a bit, just the extreme southern end of the island where it is
connected with the mainland by a tasteful bridge. There appears the
broad way leading up to the Administration Building directly in
front, with the Electricity Building showing partly on the left and a
corner of the Mining Building on the right. The very spirit of the
island's atmosphere is caught in the illustration, the flowers, the
shrubbery, the sturdy trees and the fairy lamps which gave such
brilliancy to the night scene, are all depicted just as they were.
The spot was one of the most charming on the Island.


[Illustration: THE ART PALACE.]

THE ART PALACE.--No structure among the many which made up the White
City commanded more universal admiration than did the Art Palace,
wherein were displayed the triumphs of artists from all over the
world. It was a fitting receptacle for its marvelous displays. The
style of architecture adapted in the building was of the
Grecian-Ionic order and the blending and adaptation of what was most
perfect in the past was such as to secure an effect, if not in the
exact sense original, at least of great harmony and grandeur. The
area of the main structure is three hundred and twenty by five
hundred feet. It is intersected by a nave with a transept one hundred
feet wide and seventy feet high, and a central dome sixty feet wide
and one hundred feet high surmounted by a winged figure of Victory.
The main structure is surrounded by a gallery forty feet in width. It
has two annexes one hundred and twenty by two hundred feet in
dimensions, each with exterior colonnades. Because of the enormous
value of the statues and paintings exhibited--the buildings' contents
were estimated to be worth five million dollars--it was necessary to
make the Art Palace fire-proof and it was so built, at a cost of six
hundred thousand dollars. It so remains a permanent structure and is
now occupied by the Field Columbian Museum, one of the great Fair's
heritages to the public. The view of the building from the lagoon on
the south, from the broad highway on the north and the areas of lawn
in other directions are such as to afford a just idea of its
excelling beauty. It stands today without peer a triumph of
architecture.


[Illustration: THE MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING.]

THE MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING.--Ranking in popular
estimation as one of the greatest wonders of the Fair, the
Manufactures Building compelled the astonishment and admiration of
the artists and architects of the world as well. The largest building
in area ever erected under one roof it has yet been recognized as a
triumph artistically not less than as a marvel of daring in
construction. In describing the mammoth structure, which rises in the
illustration above and beyond the Wooded Island, figures become
almost poetry, so striking are they in character. The building covers
an area of nearly thirty-two acres, and the interior, with the
galleries, had an exhibiting space of nearly forty-four acres The
height of the roof truss over the central line was two hundred and
twelve feet nine inches, and its span three hundred and fifty-four
feet in the clear. The building was four times as large as the old
Roman Colosseum, which seated eighty thousand people, and its great
central hall, a single room without a supporting pillar, could seat
three hundred thousand persons. The height of the exterior walls was
sixty-six feet and the grand entrances in each facade are eighty feet
in height by forty in width. The structure was of the Corinthian
order of architecture, was rectangular in form, and the classic
severity of its style was relieved by the corner pavilions and
elaborate and appropriate ornamentation. Its cost was $1,700,000 and
17,000,000 feet of lumber, 12,000,000 pounds of steel and 2,000,000
pounds of iron were used in its construction.


[Illustration: INTERIOR OF MANUFACTURES BUILDING.]

INTERIOR OF MANUFACTURES BUILDING.--Very like a great city by itself
was the interior of the Manufactures Building, with its forty-four
acres of exhibiting space--space which was not enough, great as it
was for what the world demanded, with its broad avenues, its scores
and scores of galleries, its wonderful exhibits and its teeming
population. Never under one roof before was collected such an
enormous display of what human industry and ingenuity can produce;
never was made such an exhibition of what has been accomplished in
productive art. The mammoth proportions of the building on the
outside impressed all beholders but hardly prepared them for the
effect upon them when within. It was many things in one; a
magnificent showing of the beautiful and useful, a city doing
business, a promenade for hundreds of thousands, a great entity which
seemed almost as if separate from the remainder of the Exposition.
The view given is from the height of the gallery and down Columbia
avenue, the great thoroughfare, fifty feet in width, extending
through the building north and south being so designated. An avenue
of equal width crossed the center of the structure from east to west.
In the foreground may be seen displays from Switzerland, Norway,
Denmark Canada, Great Britain, France and Belgium. In the distance
just in the center of the building may be seen the great clock, so
that the view is really one of half the extent of Columbia avenue,
and the general effect of the great central arch of the building the
throngs are lacking, this admirable view being taken in the early
morning.


[Illustration: GRAND ARCH OF THE PERISTYLE.]

GRAND ARCH OF THE PERISTYLE.--In the memory of millions of people the
grand colonnade or Peristyle, which reared itself between the great
eastern basin and Lake Michigan, will remain as the most beautiful
inanimate object upon which their eyes ever rested. The Peristyle was
in the purest Phidian style, was five hundred feet in length and
fifty feet in height, connecting the Casino and Music Hall. The
Corinthian columns represented the different States and Territories.
Along the top of the Peristyle appeared eighty-five allegorical
figures all in heroic proportions. At the center the colonnade was
broken by a vast triumphal arch supporting the famous group known as
the Columbus Quadriga. Here the Discoverer was represented in a
chariot drawn by four horses led by women, with heralds riding beside
them. Columbus leaned on a jeweled sword, his head was thrown back,
and the expression on his face was that of a man who had conquered
all obstacles at last. The figure was fourteen feet in height. The
whole group was full of life and vigor. Well executed groups on the
pedestals of the arch represented the genius of Navigation. The
feature was but one of many of the glorious Peristyle, one of the
artistic triumphs of the Fair. Its cost was two hundred thousand
dollars. On the evening of January 8, 1894, the Casino, Music Hall
and the entire Peristyle were totally destroyed by fire. Of the host
who witnessed the scene hundreds were in tears at the destruction of
a thing so majestic and beautiful.


[Illustration: THE ELECTRIC FOUNTAINS.

THE ELECTRIC FOUNTAINS.--The Electric Fountains, one on each side of
the famous Macmonnies Fountain, at the west end of the Court of
Honor, added greatly to the beauty of the night scene, and always
when playing attracted thousands to their vicinity. When quiescent,
all that could be seen of the fountains was the multitude of pipes
arranged within the rocky basin. At night, however, there came a
sudden activity, and from the pipes leaped high in the air great
streams of water glittering with the hues of the rainbow and falling
back in a cataract to the basin where the turbulent mass of color
bubbled and tossed and overflowed with dazzling effect. The fountains
exceeded in magnitude and beauty anything of the sort ever
constructed, the basins being sixty feet in diameter and pierced for
three hundred and four jets, the water from which ascended to a
height of one hundred and fifty feet. The brilliant effects were
produced by concealed lights, the charm of mystery being thus added
to the illusion. The entire apparatus was controlled by electric
signals from the dome of Machinery Hall, where the different lights
were applied and the transmission from one to another controlled at
will. The illumination was by thirty-eight arc lights of one hundred
amperes, each requiring nearly one thousand horse-power in operation.
The jets were arranged in circles and the effect was the climax of
success for this beautiful modern device.


[Illustration: THE GERMAN BUILDING.]

THE GERMAN BUILDING.--Making a fine showing in nearly all departments
of the Columbian Exposition the German Empire excelled in its
official building. Facing the lake, where its character could be
fully appreciated, the structure compelled the unstinted admiration
of the visiting world. The ground area occupied was one hundred and
fifty by one hundred and seventy-five feet and the cupola rose to the
height of one hundred and fifty feet, the total cost of the building
being a quarter of a million dollars; but it was not its dimensions
nor cost, but the novelty and charm of its form and coloring which
attracted attention. It was a poetical edifice, one telling, in a
way, the story of the Fatherland, with a richness of coloring and
ornament which was as historically and artistically correct as it was
picturesque. In the belfry was a chime of bells, with the sweet
sounds of which visitors to the Fair became familiar, and which,
after the Exposition's close, were returned to the Church of Mercy,
in Berlin. The main portion of the interior was in simulation of a
chapel, its furnishings corresponding with the idea, while apart from
this a host of historical and charming objects increased the merit of
the interior. There were valuable displays of books, and the visitor
could gain in this building information of the greatest interest. The
structure was solidly built and may remain a permanent feature of the
park.


[Illustration: A VIEW IN MIDWAY PLAISANCE.]

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 Wheel. On the
right appear the fronts of Old Vienna and on the left the entrance to
the Chinese Village and Theatre, the difference in styles of
architecture affording a striking contrast. Still further on the left
rises the front of the panorama of the volcano of Kilaueau, and in
the remote distance may be dimly perceived the domes of the great
buildings of the Exposition proper. The particular locality
represented in this illustration was one exceedingly popular with
visitors, and the number of people appearing in the broad
thoroughfare at the time the photograph was taken is by no means up
to the standard of crowded days at the Fair. The three or four
attractions here grouped together always commanded their laughing
great constituency. From Pekin to Vienna is a far cry, and from
thence into space on the wings of an American inventor is another
remarkable bit of travel, but hundreds of thousands of people made
the journey within the limit of an hour or so. The view, it need not
be said to the observer, is an admirable one, the familiar fronts
being reproduced with a fidelity which speaks for itself.


[Illustration: STATUE OF THE REPUBLIC.]

STATUE OF THE REPUBLIC.--The one figure intended to be symbolical and
representative of the Fair, as a whole, was the gigantic statue of
The Republic, at the eastern end of the waterway in the Court of
Honor. A figure, the total height of which from the water was one
hundred feet, it stood grand, majestic and kindly, a fitting
idealization of the nation, the world's hostess for the time. The
statue proper was sixty-five feet in height above the massive
pedestal and was the largest ever made in America. It was modeled
after the Phidian style, with simple, flowing garments, the bust
covered with an armored shield and arms upraised, one hand upholding
a globe upon which was perched an eagle, indicative of America's
invitation to the world; the other sustaining a staff surmounted by a
liberty cap. The arms were bare, the hair was arranged after the
Grecian fashion and the head was crowned with laurel. The distance
from the chin to the top of the head was fifteen feet, and the arms
were thirty feet long. The interior of the statue was ascended by a
stairway, and the man who attended to the electric light, by which
the crown was illuminated, climbed up a ladder through the neck. The
magnificent figure was gilded and was a striking object in its
commanding position. It became popularly known as "The Golden
Statue."





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Picturesque World's Fair, Vol. I, No. 1, Feb. 10, 1894 - An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views . . . Comprising Illustrations of the Greatest Features of the World's Columbian Exposition and Midway Plaisance: Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Scenic and Ethnological" ***

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