cbsnyber1
Hanging Out in the Dry Tortugas
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2008
- Messages
- 640
I just finished re-reading an interesting book “The Devil in the White City”, by Eric Larson. For those not familiar with this, it is an account of both the history of the Chicago World Fair of 1893 (the Columbian Exposition, in honor of Christopher Columbus), and the story of possibly the first American serial killer H.H. Holmes, who lived near the fair. It is fact based but reads like a novel, a great read IMHO.
The fair became known as the White City, because all the fair’s buildings (some massive; one was 32 acres under roof) were classical in design, built just for the fair, and all were painted white. At night they were illuminated with the very new incandescent light bulbs powered by the just as new AC electrical current, which was the beginning of mass use of these two in the country. The White City was described as “magical” to many who visited it.
In the book Larson includes an interesting fact: one of the carpenters hired for construction was Elias Disney. The fair work was very good to the Disney family, a financial boon, and Elias often told stories of the magical place to his children, who included Roy, who Elias initially wanted to name Columbus in honor of the fair, and his youngest son - Walt.
Larson speculates the White City may have been an inspiration years later for Walt’s Magic Kingdom. Who knows? It very well may have been a seed planted in young Walt’s mind that years later was the basis for the general idea behind the MK concept. But I find it interesting that the style of Main Street buildings (other than they are not all white), while turn-of-the-century and not classical in style, would not look out of place next to the White City (based on pics in the book and research online). It’s fun to speculate . . .
The White City, for the most part, has not survived – the buildings were not designed to be permanent structures, and many were destroyed by fire. One of the few to survive – the Palace of Fine Arts at the fair – was converted to a permanent structure and now houses the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
The fair became known as the White City, because all the fair’s buildings (some massive; one was 32 acres under roof) were classical in design, built just for the fair, and all were painted white. At night they were illuminated with the very new incandescent light bulbs powered by the just as new AC electrical current, which was the beginning of mass use of these two in the country. The White City was described as “magical” to many who visited it.
In the book Larson includes an interesting fact: one of the carpenters hired for construction was Elias Disney. The fair work was very good to the Disney family, a financial boon, and Elias often told stories of the magical place to his children, who included Roy, who Elias initially wanted to name Columbus in honor of the fair, and his youngest son - Walt.
Larson speculates the White City may have been an inspiration years later for Walt’s Magic Kingdom. Who knows? It very well may have been a seed planted in young Walt’s mind that years later was the basis for the general idea behind the MK concept. But I find it interesting that the style of Main Street buildings (other than they are not all white), while turn-of-the-century and not classical in style, would not look out of place next to the White City (based on pics in the book and research online). It’s fun to speculate . . .
The White City, for the most part, has not survived – the buildings were not designed to be permanent structures, and many were destroyed by fire. One of the few to survive – the Palace of Fine Arts at the fair – was converted to a permanent structure and now houses the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Excellent book!
)
. Seriously, can't breathe when I see underwater scenes on the screen
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