| Since Erik Larson's book, "The
Devil In The White City," was published in 2003, I've received many
inquiries about certain buildings or scenes mentioned in the
book. The first question usually is, "Is the Montauk Building the
same as the Monadnock Block?" Unfortunately, no. The
Montauk Building was demolished too early to appear in view cards. During the time of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the only predecessor to the "Penny Postcard" was the souviner album which may have included postcard sized lithographs of Chicago scenes. By Act of Congress, May 19, 1898, the "Private Mailing Card" was introduced. An undivided card, the stamp side of the card was strictly for the address, with the front side dedicated to printed scene or greeting (no personal message allowed). What we call "View Cards" were not widely used until 1905. Because of this delay in the common use of view cards, they may only reflect popular scenes of the day....and most scenes from the 1893 Columbian Exposition did not survive long enough to appear in souviner cards. However, there are some excellent photographic images of the fair. I've listed some resources farther down on this page. 1903
STREET MAP
Including the areas of Englewood, Hyde Park, Washington Park and Jackson Park Chicago, Illinois POSTCARDS
Use your BACK button to return: 1893
World's Columbian Exposition Private Mailing Cards:
Page 1: Administration Building, Woman's Building, Manufacturer's & Liberal Arts Building Page 2: Electrical Building, Mines Building, Fisheries Building
High resolution restored digital
images are available for many of these cards
 1893
COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
RECOMMENDED
READING AND VIEWING:
"The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, The Dream City": http://columbus.gl.iit.edu/dreamcity/00024024.html Digital Archive of American Architecture 1893 Columbian Exposition "The Devil In The White City" by Erik Larson , published 2003 by Vintage Books, a division of Random House. http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/about.html Documentary, "The Magic Of The White City" 2005 - narrated by Gene Wilder. http://www.columbianexpo.com/ Note: There are many excellent resources for information on the history of Chicago architecture. Inland Architect is sited often as a source for images and information. I am not subscribed, but according to its web page, a benefit of being a subscriber is the ability to view archived articles. The Chicago Library and Chicago Historical Society also are sited as sources. In my personal library, I have found these resources to be very interesting and helpful: Sources:
|