The Dream City:Photos of the Midway Plaisance in 1893
The Hall Gallery will be featuring thru February photos of the Midway Plaisance in Chicago that were taken during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Midway was a mile long 80 acre area designed for the amusement seeker at the 1893 Columbian World’s Fair. Visitors could relax and enjoy all kinds of fun: concessions, theater, music, shopping, and even see snake charmers & belly dancers. Visitors could experience the villages and towns showing cultures that many had only read about or were seeing for the first time.
The Midway’s money making concessions and sideshows made over 4 million in 1893 dollars. It was the more memorable portion of the Exposition for many visitors Following the Exposition, the Midway Plaisance was returned to a park setting under the renewed plans of Frederick law Olmsted. In the years after the Expostion closed, the word Midway came to be used in the United States to signify areas that were set aside for amusement commonly seen at county or state fairs.
The photos on view were from The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition published by N.D. Thompson Publishing Co in 1893. These were part of an educational art series that was published weekly showing the magnificent natural scenery and the landscape effects all conveying authentic realistic impressions as received by the actual visitor during the exposition in 1893.
The Library Hall Gallery can be viewed during Library Hours:
Sunday 1:00pm-5:00pm
Monday-Thursday 9:00pm-8:00pm
Friday- 9:00am to 6:00pm
Saturday 10am to 6:00pm
