1893 Chicago Worlds Fair--Daily Attendance For August, 150,000!!!

From the Chicago "The Inter Ocean" supplement showing a white elephant depicting the World's Fair with the Statue of the Republic. The caption writes, "1891 and 1893-- the question and the answer. Judge, Jan. 19, 1891-- What will Chicago do with its White Elephant? Typical Chicago, Aug. 27, 1893-- This is what I have done with it."

The term 'White Elephant' stems from a story from Thailand. Siam's kings would make gifts of elephants to courtiers who had become obnoxious. The point was that the courtier would be financially ruined in order to maintain the animal, as the cost of upkeep was higher than the use or value of the animal at the time.

The Statue of the Republic, the symbol of the Chicago World's Fair, was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, and stood 65 feet tall. Unfortunately, it lit on fire in 1896 and was destroyed. Today, there is a replica of the sculpture in Jackson Park built in 1918 in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Exposition.

A halftone print of a young Syrian man, Nojep Faresse, and a young American girl, Alice Ranney, who apparently fell in love at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and became engaged. The happy couple is shown with Miss Ranney, in Syrian dress, seated on a camel.

A halftone print of a scene in Cairo Street. One of the attractions of Cairo Street was the wedding procession in which the bride, astride a camel, was preceded by the camel-mounted drummer pictured here.

A halftone print of Bedouins with the Wild West Show.

A halftone print of the Ostriches at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair. There were twenty-three full-grown Californian ostriches on the northern side of the Midway Plaisance.