Previously we only briefly touched on the writing in Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America (Northwestern University Press), a guidebook published for the benefit of visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, but it would be a shame not to use the infinite space here on the Bleader to post a sampling of the fascinating passages therein. As editors Paul Durica and Bill Savage note in their introduction, “The writer or writers brag about Chicago’s legitimate cultural attractions beyond the Fair with that superlative overconfidence that secretly insecure Chicagoans specialize in.” This guidebook would make an 1892 Rachel Shteir‘s head explode.
On the city’s theaters: “The Chicago Opera House is situated on the South side of Washington Street, between Clark and La Salle Streets, and is invariably thronged throughout the hot weather. Mr. Henderson [director of the Opera House David Henderson] manages to group upon his stage as choice a galaxy of feminine loveliness as is to be found in any climate, and the costuming (or rather the lack of it) is doubtless as gratifying to the performance as it is to the spectators, being constructed on the hot weather plan; light and airy. It is no uncommon sight to see a party of honest country folks appearing, grip sacks in hand at the doors of the Chicago Opera House, having come straight from the train to the theater to witness the show, the fame of which had penetrated to their homes in the country; and which, after their return, they would rather die than let their families and the church folks know they had seen.”
