The Golden Lady

Mother Goose and her daring companion left the “Wooded Island” with all of its many wonders and began the search for “The Golden Lady”. This statue proved to be an elusive one to locate, despite the fact that we actually had an address for it. We wandered endlessly throughout the Jackson Park area and then out of the park and into some sketchy neighborhoods, all in vain. We walked and walked until the rubbery feet of Mother Goose could barely keep slapping the pavement.

Now please be patient and quiet as we consider the background of this statue.

The statue of The Republic was the work of Daniel Chester French. During the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, it stood in the middle of the beautiful Grand Basin and the Court of Honor, facing the rising sun. She was sixty-five feet tall, towering over the gondolas and ships and people who floated about the basin and strolled the court.

She was astonishing and breathtaking in gold plating.

A famous view of the Court of Honor, the statue of The Republic and the Grand Basin. Mother Goose was not there…

Of course, after the fair was over, The White City was burned to the ground. I imagine the statue would have collapsed into the water and crumbled to mud in due course. But here’s the good news! The same sculptor remembered how he made the original statue of the Republic, and in 1918 he rebuilt her on a smaller scale (24 feet instead of 65 feet), covered her in gold again and set her up in Jackson Park, very near to where the original might have stood.

And finally Mother Goose and Husband Goose found her!

And took many pictures of her! (maybe more than you’d ever want or need to see…)

Gleaming in the setting sun, The Republic stands.

She stands much taller than this old goose.

Her back to me, she continues looking eastward, ever eastward, into the future.

The Golden Lady is a sight for sore eyes! Daniel Chester French completed this work to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fair and also the centennial of statehood for Illinois.

Of course, it’s difficult to imagine that it took us nearly an hour to find The Golden Lady. We are just gooses, after all…

I hope this trip back in time to The White City has been interesting to you, dear readers.

Please come back tomorrow for more of the adventures of Mother Goose on her summer vacation. You won’t want to miss the wombat…

Goose-like Serenity in the Japanese Garden

The designers and builders of the Columbia Exposition of 1893 in Chicago had some disagreements along the way. Passionate mastermind of the fair, Daniel Burnham, worked closely with several architects to create a brilliant celebration of culture and invention. The chief landscape designer for the fair, Frederick Law Olmsted, had his own vision for the “Wooded Island” — he wanted to keep the area undeveloped. Others were of another mind and wanted to put something out there besides trees and flowers. Eventually they reached a compromise with the inclusion of a Japanese-styled garden.

One hundred and nineteen years have passed since the World Columbian Exposition, and the Japanese Garden is not quite the same as it was back then, but oh my gooseness, we found such peace and serenity there. Please come with us on a tour of the Osaka Garden!

There is a very good description of the history of the Japanese garden here, and also here’s an old photo from the fair.

The Japanese Hoo-den and tea house from the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago 1893. Mother Goose was not there…

It’s a quiet place in the midst of a big noisy city…

Waterfalls are an essential ingredient to a garden. Mother Goose dipped her rubbery feet in the cool, refreshing water.

Reflecting pools and rocks are also very calming.

A lovely and peaceful view. The young lady in blue was celebrating her Quinceañera with friends and photographers.

Mother Goose touches history! An original lantern from the 1893 Japanese Pavilion.

Mother Goose can only imagine the wonder on the faces of the people who visited this place so long ago. I was very surprised that they have renovated this area into such a serene place — this restoration is unique in our area, and Mother Goose will certainly return to meditate on the secrets of the universe.

We wandered through the rest of the island remarking on the great variety of birds and butterflies around us. Then we realized that we were actually in a delightful bird and butterfly refuge! Imagine our surprise and merriment!

A Monarch Butterfly.

A smallish butterfly.

Were we thrilled at the colony of birds living in this old snag of a furry tree? YES!

And then Mother Goose and Husband Goose went searching for an elusive statue… Please come back tomorrow for the next event in our White City adventure!

Looking for The White City

Those of us who live near the great city of Chicago are bombarded daily with the reports of violent crime. With the hot summer we’ve been experiencing, it seems that the crime numbers are rising as surely as the temperature records. It’s surely a sad time for the city.

The Chicago summer of 1893 was also hot and violent. Temperatures and passions were blistering and blazing out of control. But still miracles were happening in the city — planners and builders, geniuses and scammers were all working together to create something so GREAT, so AWESOME that the world would stop and pay attention to this blustering city with big shoulders.

The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was a spectacular display of architecture and grandiosity in a city known for meat packing, great fires and stinking waters. Built in the middle of a swampy area just south of the city in what is now Jackson Park, it was a full-scale city built within a year of its original conception.

It was known as The White City. Built of gleaming white plaster over wooden frames, the contrast with the black, smoky buildings of Chicago was breathtaking. Millions of visitors came from around the globe to view the amazing exhibits — the busiest day of the fair was Chicago Day on October 9th when 716,881 men, women and children came through the gates. It was a record-breaking outdoor attendance day!

Of course, books have been written and websites have been built extolling the virtues and the problems of the great world fair. Mother Goose has barely poked her beak into the mountains of information and research to be consumed. But one thing is for sure — Mother Goose just had to go and see for herself this place of wonder and magic, even though (with the exception of the Palace of Fine Arts which is now the Museum of Science and Industry) it was all burned to the ground shortly after the fair closed.

The Palace of Fine Arts as it looked in The White City 1893.

The Palace of Fine Arts at the north end of the Great Lagoon which is now the Museum of Science and Industry. With a high rise behind it which was surely not there in 1893…

Mother Goose and Husband Goose pulled into the parking lot in Jackson Park just south of the lagoon. Many people were enjoying picnics, soccer games and some relaxed fishing. Of course, Mother Goose immediately ran flapping across the bridge to stand upon the “wooded island”. This place was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to be a place of green and peaceful meditation in the midst of the craziness and “whiteness” of the surrounding buildings. His intent was for people to look across the lagoons and find soothing comfort in the shades of green and the colors of the mostly natural flowers.

The Wooded Island as it looked in 1893. By the way, Mother Goose was NOT there…

If a visitor today sees a large tree on the “wooded island”, it was presumably planted there for the eyes of the fair goers. Mother Goose found plenty of these majestic beauties. Please pretend that you are on the island with Mother Goose!

Everybody knows how tall my Husband Goose stands. Strangely enough, he is dwarfed by this giant Oak Tree on the “Wooded Island”.

Looking up and wondering about the life of this same Oak Tree.

An ancient Grandmother Willow Tree on the “Wooded Island”.

Another gnarled old Oak Tree.

There was so much to see, and the eyes of Mother Goose were indeed soothed by the sights of these trees. Please come back tomorrow when our exploration of the “Wooded Island” continues. There are some amazing surprises coming…