Why the 1893 World's Fair Still Haunts the American Imagination
How often do you think about the 1893 World's Fair?
The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition lasted six months but has never really left us. From Pabst Blue Ribbon labels to BioShock Infinite to Tartarian conspiracy theories, the White City keeps resurfacing. This essay argues that our fascination says less about 1893 than about the contexts we inhabit—and that the past is always reshaped by reimagination, not neutral facts.
The faculties were all alert; he forgot himself or he felt the limits of his own personality slipping away, extending widely, boundlessly, until the whole scene was in his own soul.
- hcrisp
On a related note, I visited the St Louis Art Museum which is on the site of the 1904 World's Fair. Then it contained many ornate buildings made of plaster:
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/...
The art museum is in a remodeled building that sits on the top of the same hill overlooking the pond. What it looks like now:
https://nohomejustroam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/St-Lou...
Those world's fairs were something else.
- pravj
I have been maintaining a habit of reading about a place before travelling there. Mostly, it's either short story books telling about the cultural lore or history of the place.
Recently, I visited Budapest and read a book with the same name by Victor Sebestyen.
One critical topic stood out: "Budapest, the city, was rebuilt significantly in the two decades leading up to 1896 for a World Exhibition marking 1000 years of the country."
It was not a proper world fair, but we can call it so.
Since then, the same question has been running through my mind: what happened to world fairs, and why don't we have more of these?
Operationally, it gives me chills to imagine a "concert/festival" [in today's terminology] of such scale being pulled off across months.
- mbil
The Devil in the White City stands out as one of my favorite books. And I live near the location of the prison in Philadelphia where HH Holmes was hanged, though it’s now the site of a grocery store. So I’m regularly reminded by the historical marker sign.