Saturday, December 24, 2011
I'm just getting over a nasty cold/sinus infection that's kept me down for the count for several weeks. 'Tis the season to get sick!
I finally sat down last weekend and wrote out my Christmas cards.
I put on some Christmas music, and fixed a delicious mug of cappuccino and some chocolate almond biscotti to get myself in the Christmas spirit.
Terry bought me this Old Country Roses mug years ago for Christmas. He didn't know it was one of my favorite patterns, but he instinctively knew it would make me happy.
My taste buds had started to come back! Yay!
I usually set up the Christmas tree and decorate it, but this year, Terry did it for me! He did a wonderful job. It looks beautiful!
Ordering gifts online is a joy, especially when you're too sick to go to the mall.
2011 was not a good year for us. This past June, our sweet little cat Penny died suddenly. It was a shock, and saddened us for many months. So many of my blogging friends also were writing about losing pets, and I stayed away from blogging so as not to read about any more sadness.
But time does heal, and life goes on.
I wish you all a beautiful holiday season.
Cherish your loved ones. Celebrate life and make merry!
And, in my next post, I'll tell a much happier tale!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
An Early Birthday Present
This weekend, my sweet husband Terry took me out for an early
birthday present! We hopped on a train to downtown Chicago...
We passed through the Christkindlmarket for a quick
glance at all the pretty things for sale...
The food smelled SO GOOD!
But there was no time to eat anything today...
We had a little time to kill,
so we walked around the mall awhile...
Oh, the Apple Store! But no, that wasn't in today's plan...
The Allsaints Store! Oh, I just HAD to stop and gaze at
the wall of antique sewing machines!
I mean WALLS of sewing machines!
Steampunkers would absolutely love this store! Pricey, but fun!
I had to make a stop to visit with my pals, the carriage horses!
And gaze upon the famous Chicago Water Tower...
Finally! We're here!
The Peninsula Hotel!
I paused to pose by the piano...
Then climbed the grand staircase to...
Afternoon Tea in the lobby!
Doesn't Terry look dapper?
We love that the Peninsula serves a vegetarian tea on request.
We both ordered a pot of Earl Grey decaffeinated.
Then our 3-tiered server was placed on the table,
along with a basket of scones and the jam,
lemon curd and Devonshire cream!
We enjoyed our finger sandwiches first...
Followed by these scrumptious three cheese and leek quiches...
And finally the scones and the sweets!
A warm chocolate chai moelleux was a delicious bonus!
We sipped, and ate, and sipped some more...
The darkness fell over our view from the window.
We took one last look at the tree, and were on our way back home.
Thank you, Terry, for the elegant and delicious birthday present!
______________________
If you've never walked down the streets of Chicago at night,
come along with us as we leave the Peninsula and
walk back to our train. We cross the Chicago River in two
spots, pass the Christkindl Market at Daley Plaza, and
happened upon PuppetBike.com... and I gave the puppets
a dollar bill!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
World's Columbian Expo, Continued
This week, I'll give a brief summary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and set the tone with some photos taken from books and archives.
Statue of the Republic
Planning for the Columbian Expo started in late 1889. It was to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's 1892 landing in America. The Fair opened late, in May 1893, and closed in October the same year. 27 million people attended.
Columbian Fountain
The Fair's major buildings were designed in the neoclassical Beaux Arts style, and was soon nicknamed "The White City." The major buildings in the "Court of Honor" were constructed of iron and steel, and covered in a material called "staff," a mixture of plaster, cement and fiber. Most of the buildings and statuary were constructed this way, and were not meant to last.
Horticulture Building
The only surviving building within the fairgrounds, which was built to last, is the Palace of Fine Arts, now Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. In downtown Chicago, the World's Congress Auxilliary Building also survives, and is now the Art Institute of Chicago. The Norway Pavilion was dismantled and taken to Wisconsin, where it now stands in Blue Mounds.
Palace of Fine Arts
While it stood, The Columbian Exposition was a beautiful sight to behold! There were promenades, canals and fountains at every turn. In addition to the main Court of Honor buildings, there were 19 foreign government buildings, 38 state buildings, several individual exhibitors, cafes, restaurants, tea houses and refreshment buildings... a total of 200 buildings to visit! It would take weeks to cover the entire fair.
Bohemian Glass Exhibit, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building
France—Sevres Vases display, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building
The Court of Honor buildings included Administration, Machinery, Agriculture, Manufactures and Liberal Arts, Electricity, Mines and Transportation. Some of the other large buildings were U.S. Government, Horticulture, Women's Building, Forestry, Anthropology, Fisheries and the Palace of Fine Arts.
View from atop the Manufactures Building roof
Electricity Building
Electricity was a new an exciting phenomenon at the Fair. The Electricity Building showcased a telephone, electric lamps, gramophones, elevators, fans, burglar alarms, stoves, irons, and engines of all sorts. The world's first telegraph and seisomgraph machines, Edison's Kinetoscope, and a moving sidewalk were also new electric inventions at the Fair. Electric trains brought people to the Fair. The entire Fair was lit with electric lighting both inside and out.
The White City
Administration Building at night
A popular area of the fairgrounds was the Midway Plaisance, a carnival-like street one mile long. It was a lot like Disney's Epcot World Showcase, in that it featured exhibits from foreign lands, with supposed native people brought over to represent the exhibits.
Sudanese Performer at the Midway Plaisance
Countries represented displayed an Irish village and goods (with a replica of Blarney Castle), a German village, Old Vienna cafe and shops, Chinese village, Dutch village, Japanese bazaar as well as exhibits from Egypt, Persia, Turkey, Algeria, Tunis, East India, American Indian, Lapland, and Bedouins and Dahomeys. Egypt's "Street in Cairo" featured the most lucrative exhibit at the entire fair: the dancing girls, most famously, "Little Egypt," who did the hootchy-cootchy dance!
Irish Village and Blarney Castle replica on the Midway
German Village on the Midway
The Midway also had the Libby Glass Works, Hagenbeck's Animal Show, the Ice Railway & toboggan slide, an International Beauty Show, a Captive Balloon, and Eadweard Muybridge's Zoöpraxographical Hall (early motion picture animal studies).
Captive Balloon ride on the Midway Plaisance
But the most impressive exhibit was erected to rival the Eiffel Tower that was built in Paris for it's 1889 World's Fair. A contest was held, and George W. Ferris was given the honor of constructing his giant Wheel. It was 250 ft. in diameter and contained 36 bus-sized cars that could hold 60 people each! Two revolutions lasted 20 minutes and cost 50 cents. Boy, would I love to have ridden that very first Ferris Wheel!
Ferris Wheel on the Midway Plaisance
Base of the Ferris Wheel
Riding the Ferris Wheel
Things introduced to the public at the Columbian Exposition were:
Soda pop, hamburgers, Juicy Fruit Gum, Cracker Jacks, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Quaker Oats, Cream of Wheat, Shredded Wheat, Aunt Jemima syrup, elongated coins, picture postcards, the Pledge of Allegiance, Columbus Day, and Scott Joplin's ragtime music! Dvorack composed his New World Symphony in honor of the Fair. And L. Frank Baum was so impressed with the Fair, he based Oz on it!
Ruins of The White City
Here are some great links I came across while researching the Columbian Exposition of 1893:
FREE Digital books from the time of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. A fantastic source for original material!
ERBzine —Nice collection of images from the Columbian Exposition
Idea, Experience, Aftermath —an excellent overview
some Photos
more Photos
UCLA digitally simulated tour of the World's Columbian Exposition fairgrounds! Rough outline, but they've made progress. View updates on UCLA's site here. I think this project is fascinating!
For more on Muybridge's work, click here.
Labels: Architecture, Chicago, History