Snapshots of the Past

World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill. May 1, 1893 (opening ceremonies): The Button" [telegraph transmitter?] on flag covered table in front of crowd" – Vintage Wall Art

World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill. May 1, 1893 (opening ceremonies): The Button" [telegraph transmitter?] on flag covered table in front of crowd" — historic photograph
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill. May 1, 1893 (opening ceremonies): The Button" [telegraph transmitter?] on flag covered table in front of crowd". Historic photograph from the World's Fairs collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill. May 1, 1893 (opening ceremonies): The Button" [telegraph transmitter?] on flag covered table in front of crowd", preserved in this historic photograph. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill. May 1, 1893 (opening ceremonies): The Button" [telegraph transmitter?] on flag covered table in front of crowd"

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Here the focus is a telegraph key, or "button," on a table draped in flags, set before a crowd at the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition on May 1, 1893. The day's ceremony centered on a signal sent from Washington, where President Grover Cleveland pressed a button that carried electrically to Chicago and set the fair's machinery running. The exposition, which ran through October and marked the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage, drew millions of visitors to the White City on the lakefront. The caption card's identification of the device is unverified, so the object's exact role in the ceremony is worth checking against other sources.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notesc1893.
SubjectsPhoto copyrighted by C.D. Arnold. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Telegraph; Exhibitions--Illinois; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,686 × 1,362 px · prints to 6 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-128137

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