PART III: IN THE WHITE CITY
Opening Day
Twenty-three gleaming: For details of the Opening Day procession: Badger, xi, xii; Burg, 111; Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1893; Miller, 490; Muccigrosso, 78–80; Weimann, 141–46; The World’s Fair, 13–16, 253–63.
Burnham and Davis: The World’s Fair, 254.
the sun emerged: Ibid.
The farm offered omelets: Bloom, 137.
Bloom gave a nod: The World’s Fair, 255.
“When the fair opened: Starrett, 50.
Twenty women fainted: Burg, 111.
Reporters lucky enough: Ibid., 23.
“Then from the Pinta’s foretop: The World’s Fair, 257– 58.
Director-General Davis spoke: Ibid., 259.
Nearby stood a table: Weimann, 241.
A tall man: Miller, 490.
“As by a touch: Badger, xii.
At precisely 12:08: Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1893.
Jane Addams realized: Badger, xi; Miller, 490.
“The scene burst on me: Frank Collier to Burnham, May 1, 1893, Burnham Archives, Box 1, File 13.
The official history: For crowd estimates, see Badger, xii; Dedmon, 226; Weimann, 242.
On Tuesday, May 2: Weimann, 556.
On the night of Thursday: Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1893.
Next Chicago’s Chemical National Bank: Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1893.
Three days later: Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1893.
In Brunswick, Georgia: Ibid.
In Lincoln, Nebraska: Ibid.
Olmsted had yet to complete: Ulrich, 46–48.
General Electric alone: Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1893.
“I remain fairly well: Olmsted to John, May 15, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 22.
On June 5 worried depositors: Bogart and Mathews, 395.
The World’s Fair Hotel
The first guests began arriving: Boswell and Thompson write, “Every night the rooms on the two upper floors of the Castle were filled to overflowing. Holmes reluctantly accommodated a few men as paying guests, but catered primarily to women—preferably young and pretty ones of apparent means, whose homes were distant from Chicago and who had no one close to them who might make inquiry if they did not soon return. Many never went home. Many, indeed, never emerged from the castle, having once entered it” (87). Franke writes, “We do know that Holmes advertised his ‘hotel’ as a suitable lodging for visitors to the world’s fair; that no fewer than fifty persons, reported to the police as missing, were traced to the Castle; and that there their trail ended” (109). Schechter: “No one can say exactly how many fairgoers Holmes lured to the Castle between May and October 1893, though he appears to have filled the place to capacity on most nights” (56).
He found a place: Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895.
They first advertised: Ibid.
Holmes went alone: Ibid.
Holmes explained the move: That Holmes wanted Minnie as far from the hotel as reasonably possible seems certain, given his choice of an apartment on the North Side, though exactly what he told her about the move can’t be known. I propose one likely possibility.
Holmes and Minnie moved: Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895.
“seemed to be very attentive: Ibid.
That he often smelled: A barber who worked in Holmes’s building reported the many “queer” smells generated within. Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895. In Tribune, July 28, 1895, a police detective states, “We have always heard of Holmes’ castle as being the abode of bad odors.”
Prendergast
“I am a candidate: Chicago Record, December 16, 1893, McGoorty Papers.
“Night Is the Magician”
Only one child: Weimann, 352. For broader discussion of daycare at the fair, see Weimann, 254–333, 349–52.
Within the fair’s buildings: Burg, 206; Gladwell, 95; Miller, 494; Muccigrosso, 93, 163; Schlereth, 174, 220; Shaw, 28, 42, 49.
A popular guide: Burg, 199.
“a fearful hideous thing: Taylor, 9.
“Every one about us: Ibid., 7.
“She takes a few: Ibid., 22–23.
“My Country ’Tis of Thee: Ibid., 23.
“In which building: Dean, 335.
One male visitor: Ibid., 378.
Over the six months: Muccigrosso, 150; The World’s Fair, 851.
Often Cody upstaged: Carter, 372–73; Downey, 168–69
“A strikingly noticeable change: Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1893.
“No other scene: Pierce, As Others See Chicago, 352.
“an inexhaustible dream: Masters, 7.
“we insisted on sending: Untitled manuscript beginning: “To him who has taken part,” Burnham Archives, Box 59, File 37.
“Our hour on the lagoon: Dora Root to Burnham, undated, Burnham Archives, Box 3, File 63.
The fair alone: Hines, 117.
“As the light was fading: Polacheck, 40.
“unspeakable debris: Ingalls, 141.
“Night,” Ingalls wrote: Ibid.
“It was a common remark: Schuyler, 574.
Modus Operandi
And so it began: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895, August 1, 1895. In the Tribune, July 26, 1895, Chicago’s police chief states, “There is no telling how many people
