Viv Trafalgar: Ladies, Gentlemen, Miss Serafina (who is abroad, but still with us in spirit) and I are pleased to welcome you to the September Aether Salon
Jedburgh30 Dagger: Come on in Baron, we're just starting
Viv Trafalgar: Exhibitionism!
Sheryl Skytower: yay!
Victor1st Mornington claps
Viv Trafalgar: A close look at the history and mysteries of Victorian Exhibitions. I am so pleased to be able to say that this is our tenth salon!
Ghilayne Andrew applauds.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: applauds
Linus Lacombe waves clandestinely to Ms Widdershins as the salon goes underway
support the salon: Thanks KlausWulfenbach
Viv Trafalgar: We think you will find it enlightening and shocking, and then you will fall over dead when you see the craft.
Keithen Darkfold claps
Ahnyanka Delphin cheers from backstage.
Obedience Mactavish claps
Viv Trafalgar: But that's later. First, I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining us today.
KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Hm, redesign.
Viv Trafalgar: As many of you know, the Aether Salon meets to discuss steam and Victorian topics on the third Sunday of each month, in Palisades, New Babbage. We have had ten Salons since last October - each one spectacular and exciting - all thanks to our speakers and the amazing Babbage community. Next month we will mark our one-year anniversary with (we hope) all of our speakers emeritii in attendance, as well as a brilliant topic. We hope you will join us. We sincerely appreciate the support we receive from everyone in the community, and we humbly thank you all.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: Woohoo!
Viv Trafalgar: Many fine people have contributed to today’s salon:
Rhianon Jameson applauds.
Viv Trafalgar: we are grateful to Miss Ceejay Writer, Miss Jedburgh Dagger, Miss Ghilayne Andrews, Miss Breezy Carver, Mr. Rafael Fabre, Canolli Capalini of Capalini Fine Furnishings for the chairs and the craft (dead I tell you, it will knock you dead). Please hold your questions until the end, and as a courtesy to all, please turn off everything that feeds the lag: all HUDs, scripts, AOs and so on. Please no weapons, bombs, or biting, without at least a modicum of wit accompanying. Mark your calendars for upcoming salons: Whimsy! in October, Furnishings! in November, and a field trip to Steelhead in December. We're keeping a log of things “overheard at the salon” on http://aethersalon.blogspot.com just in case you're looking for a good laugh. Please join the Aether Salon group and receive notifications of future salon events, click the lower right hand corner of the large brown sign by the entrance. As a reminder, all tip jar donations go directly to the speakers. Be shocked and amazed as I introduce our speakers today. They are Miss Breezy Carver and Mr Aeolus Cleanslate. (please hold your applause until i am finished) Lady SeaBreeze, Breezy Carver arrived in New Babbage in April of 2008 and after careful observation of the locals, desired to give back to the city in that way she knows best, fabulous events, well planned and marketed, and complete with her special signature style that always welcomes and includes all.
no name Jimmy salutes the Baron from across the room.
Viv Trafalgar: Her passionate heart is what we love her for.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: Hello sir
Viv Trafalgar: Her saucy wit always inspires.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: The Salon is just starting
Viv Trafalgar: Each month since August 2008, Breezy's Piermont Landing has shown the grid that Industry Marches On, it also dances, and has a great deal of class and panache. That's 13 Balls and an election party, folks. That takes a lot of doing! Breezy's formal Balls and build contests are the place to be for residents of the steamlands, and indeed, many of us are recovering from last night's event at present, so please DO STOP THAT RACKET. ahem.
Alexander Daffyd smiles warmly and bows his head to Jeb
Rhianon Jameson smiles at that.
Viv Trafalgar: Breezy can be found in any number of her gorgeous residences in New Babbage: Piermont Landing & The Mark Twain Study, Wheatstone Waterways; Paul Sweedlepipe School, Wheatstone Waterways; The Lotus in the Vernian Sea.
Kat Montpark laughs.
Viv Trafalgar: She is co-owner of Ruby’s New Babbage Canals and Steelhead Port, New Babbage’s Ambassador to Steelhead, and was New Babbage's Relay For Life Team Captain 2009 - and did an absolutely spectacular job, coordinating both an Exhibition Hall build and the stunning Mars build, as well as leading the Babbage team to raise L$723,462 for RFL.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: if you would like a chair, please ask Jasper, there to your right
Viv Trafalgar: Details on Mr Cleanslate prior to his arrival in Babbage last year are hazy, although there have been stubborn rumors.
Beq Janus claps
Viv Trafalgar: . Two rumors he would like me to officially deny include the suggestion that he spent two years in the maximum security prison at Scrofulous Point (it was far less), and that he spent time performing under the stage name “Kandee” (completely mis-spelled). He has admitted to having spent far too long earning an undergraduate degree in history, however, concentrating in 19th century topics. Since his arrival in Babbage, Cleanslate has squandered his energy on a variety of projects without really mastering the skills necessary to excel in any of them. He is currently being treated (clandestinely) by several noted Babbage surgeons for “generalist’s disease,” which he assures us is not necessarily contagious.
no name Jimmy chuckles.
Viv Trafalgar: Aside from his current position as Maceholder in the Tenk administration, Cleanslate has contributed several builds to the Babbage landscape (including the controversial streetcar system and City Hall), assisted in the formation of the City Militia, runs the Hotel Excelsior in Babbage Square, and coordinated last January’s Airship Regatta over the Vernian Sea.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: YAY!
Viv Trafalgar: His recent involvement with the City’s Relay For Life campsite build brought him into intimate contact with today’s subject matter, and like many topics he comes across proceeded to monopolize his attention for far too long. Miss Breezy will begin with a sharply focussed commentary on a certain notorious worlds' fair. Mr Cleanslate will then clean up, with an amazing perspective on exhibitions and worlds fairs, and their impact on the world. Without further ado, I give you Miss Breezy Carver, who will be followed by Mr. Aeolus Cleanslate.
Sheryl Skytower: *mumbles* I thought there'd be naked men, being exhibitionism and all...
Viv Trafalgar: Thank you and welcome all!
Jimmy Branagh applauds.
Victor1st Mornington claps
Kat Montpark: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
Sheryl Skytower: yay!
Viv Trafalgar: (oh there was one already...)
Rhianon Jameson applauds
Marion Questi applauds
Keithen Darkfold claps
Ochazuke Ying applauds
Mathilda Islay: applaud
Alexander Daffyd applauds
Obedience Mactavish claps
Saffia Widdershins applauds
Charlemagne Allen: do we need voice for this?
Linus Lacombe: Intends fully to remain clothed at all times regarless of some exhibitionists
Breezy Carver: Grins Well thank YOU Viv for that wonderful intro (( was wondering who are those two folks grins )) I want well we all wish to thank YOU for coming .. as I do Love a good fair *smiles*
Breezy Carver: THE GREAT WHITE CITY
Ladies and Gentlemen I ask you to sit back and enjoy as I am about to share .. A behind the scenes look and just a tip of the folk lore and gossip behind The Great White City … More than any world’s fair before or since, the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893 had a lasting effect on its visitors, the taste of the times, and the lusty community that brought it forth !!!
Redgrrl Llewellyn: discreetly waves bye to Kat from the stage]
Breezy Carver: When the plans for the World’s Columbian Exposition were spread before him, banker Lynian J. Gage greeted them with disbelief. “Oh, gentlemen,” he said, “this is a dream. You have my good wishes. I hope the dream can be realized.”
The occasion—one of the sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens called “the greatest meeting of artists since the fifteenth century” The First Meeting was a day-long session in the architectural offices of Daniel Burnham early in 1891. Though the idea of a fair to mark the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ lauding had been stirring in the minds of Chicagoans for a number of years, it had not taken practical form until 1889. New York, Washington, and St. Louis mused similar ambitions, but Chicago’s bid of ten million dollars (that was later doubled from other sources) had settled the matter.
Breezy Carver: (( just like RFL on sl *smiles* ))
Breezy Carver: Note the coruption of the day as bids were backed with cash (( grins )) With Burnham’s famous slogan—“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood”—with Burnham himself as chief of construction, and with Frederick Law Olmsted (and his partner Charles S. Codman of Boston) engaged to lay out the grounds, a tract ol Chicago s swamp and sand was to become—as it was first and best known—a “Great White City.”
Breezy Carver: The Fair was projected on an enormous scale. When Compared London’s Crystal Palace had covered over twenty acres, and Philadelphia’s Centennial over two hundred, Chicago dwarfed them with over six hundred. Its vistas of ivory colonnades against the blue of sky and lake stretched the imaginations of Americans unused to such magnificence. “It’s too much for my mind,” said one visitor. “It fills you up with more ideas than you’ve got room for.”
Viv Trafalgar: /makes a note for the quotation
Breezy Carver: Undoubtedly the uniform whiteness added to an effect of unreality and other-worldliness in this period when streets of alabaster and gales of pearl were familiar hymn-book images. In any event, the words “vision,” “dream,” and “enchantment” are frequently used in contemporary descriptions. Even |Truslow Adams refers to the Fair as “a vision of beauty which has rarely been equalled … compared with it the Paris Exposition of 1900 was an inchoate jumble of incongruous monstrosities,”
Breezy Carver: grins now please make note of these stats for there will not be a Quizz latte but more the interest on just how Large the scale
Viv Trafalgar: ::chuckles::
no name Jimmy chuckles.
Breezy Carver: almost forty years afterward Lloyd Lewis could write that it “still forces the belief that … it was the most wonderful thing of its time. It became the ruling passion of statesmen as well as architects, of religionists as well as artisans, of merchants, painters, engineers, musicians, soldiers, orators, and dukes. … Destiny brought to this young city an explosion of idealism, produced a miracle and then ordered the miracle to disappear.
Hummm sound familiar … grins …
Breezy Carver: There is certainly evidence that to the public—the many millions who rambled through its miles of parks and gardens, drifted along its lagoons, or from the top of the Ferris Wheel watched the lighted prisms of the great fountain in the Court of Honor—the Chicago Fair was overwhelming, an impression that is only confirmed by Henry James’s sarcastic reference: “They say one should sell all one has and mortgage one’s soul to go there, it is esteemed stich a revelation of beauty. People burst into tears, cast away all sin and baseness, and grow religious under its influence.”
Breezy Carver: A preliminary dedication and parade were held on October 21, 1891, but the winter that followed produced an unprecedented scries of blizzards, alternating with arctic cold, which made construction a nightmare. Men worked bundled up like mummies; picks rang uselessly against the iron ground; and almost an acre of skylights fell under the weight of snow. Delivery of engines, boilers, and parts was delayed. The chief of mechanical construction resigned in despair.
Breezy Carver: In other words they had nothing but .. challenge after challenge YEt they still Made History and put forth the great show ON Earth especially in cities that had competed for the Fair, gleefully reported that nothing would be ready for the opening in May, that accommodations would be poor and extortion general. The railroads showed no interest and made only token rate reductions. But Chicago, stubborn as ever, managed a near miracle, transforming the slushy scrub-oak wastes along its lake shore into landscaped parks and islands where lagoons mirrored the white palaces above them.
Breezy Carver: To counteract eastern propaganda, an unexpected bit of luck turned up in the form of a spring meeting of the National Editorial Association in Chicago. The association’s members made their own inspection and circulated their conclusion that “rumors of the incomplete state of the Fair were much exaggerated, and rumors of extortion unfounded.” The Fair opened on May 1, with the presidential blessings of Grover Cleveland. “As by a touch,” he said in his address, “the machinery that gives life to this vast Exposition is now set in motion, so … let our hopes and aspirations awaken forces which in all time to come shall influence the welfare, the dignity, and the freedom of mankind.” The orchestra burst into the Hallelujah Chorus, electric fountains leaped skyward, cannons boomed, flags flew to mastheads, and the crowds went wild.
At the main gate of the Fair, The Electrical Building was especially attractive to a generation in which that still-mysterious force occupied in popular imagination the place held today by atomic power. The central station for the Fair was three times as powerful as those serving the rest of Chicago. “We hover about the beautiful terrible stranger, but we do not shake hands. His glance is blinding, his voice deafening, his touch is death.” People wondered whether the new force was “merely a dangerous toy or a new power brought to its knees in the service of man.”
Viv Trafalgar: I want a Hallelujah Chorus
Breezy Carver: Foreign buildings, too, were notable both for size and craftsmanship. The Emperor of Japan had sent his own workmen to erect the exquisite little structures known as Phoenix House (which survived until destroyed by fire during World War 11). The Siamese Pavilion was a jewel box, glittering with tiny mirrors and purple-and-crimson glass. The German Building was a lowering 150 feet of turrets, gables, dormers, and variegated tiles, costing $250,000. At Brazil’s huge and hospitable quarters free coffee was served daily. France’s contribution was a replica of the Great Hall at Versailles, and Spain duplicated the Lace Exchange at Valencia. At Victoria House, the British center, hours were short and visitors were hurried through the roped-olf exhibits as though by a firm English “nanny,” a situation probably resulting from recent American tariff increases and acute commercial rivalry.
Ghilayne Andrew smiles at Mayor Peterson as he arrives.
Perryn Peterson returns the smile warmly
Breezy Carver: “Even more important than the discovery of Columbus” said Mrs. Potter Palmer, social leader of Chicago and chairman of the Fair’s Board of Lady Managers, “is the fact that the General Government has just discovered woman,” and she noted in passing that Columbus’ voyage would not have been possible but for Isabella. Her board had taken its job seriously.
Rhianon Jameson laughs
Breezy Carver: (grins) At first, most of the foreign commissioners would say only that women in their countries “did not participate in public efforts of this sort.” But the undaunted ladies wrote directly to Europe and elsewhere in the world, and they were rewarded by warm responses from artists, writers, and leading women, titled and title-less. Queen Victoria herself approved the venture, “with its special efforts for women,” though confessing herself unenlluisiastic about fairs in general.
Ahnyanka Delphin lets out a muffled chuckle.
Viv Trafalgar chortles
Breezy Carver: Queen Margherita of Italy and the Empress of Japan agreed to help. The Queen of Siam, evidently no less progressive than the King, sent a special envoy “to find what educational and industrial opportunities were open to women, so that Siam may adopt such measures as will elevate the condition of her women.” The Infanta Eulalia of Spain actually came to the Fair in person and seemed to like it very much, though she fended off local party-givers. And the ladies also had their own Woman’s Building at the Fair, designed by young Sophia Hayden,
Linus Lacombe: she was probably just mad because she didn't do well at the ring toss booth
Viv Trafalgar: !hah!
no name Jimmy laughs.
Breezy Carver: architectural graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Of classic simplicity, its principal ornament a delicate frieze of blue-green and white, it was described by one tired elderly visitor as “so light, it takes the weight off my feet just to look at it.” Beside it was the Children’s Building—housing a toy collection, a library, and a nursery—where trained attendants cared for infants and small children while their parents visited the Fair. Older children could read, listen to stories, or watch lantern slides.
Breezy Carver: The recreational area of the Fair, the Midway Plaisance, featured the famous Little Egypt, who introduced to the scandalized Midwest the danse du ventre. Her costume, by today’s standards, had the “covered-up” look. U’iih Mowing trousers fastened at lier ankles, heavy velvet jacket and well-scarved midriff, she possessed, according to Charles Dudley Warner, “inordinately thick ankles and large, voluptuous leet.” Newspapers agreed that the dance was interesting “until it became monotonous.” The Midway itself was a billowing babel of dust, drums, donkeys, camels, and noise. Cries of the “Whoopcrs-in” and the donkey-boys—"Look owet! Allah good—boom-boom!” drowned out the muezzin on his balcony. Among the Persian sword dancers, the Dahomey villagers, the Chinese and Algerian theaters, wandered the public, timid or titillated, in a kind of daze.
Breezy Carver: grins are YOU all dazed yet *smiles*
Ghilayne Andrew wobbles. "Wow."
Rhianon Jameson: Dazzled, perhaps. :)
Jimmy Branagh: It's good, Miss Breezy!
Edward Pearse: Yes but that's just early morning kicking in :-)
Alexander Daffyd chuckles
Rhianon Jameson: Mr. Cleanslate did a quick disappearing act - he didn't want to follow you!
Linus Lacombe: My eyes are glassed over from the grape juice, not the fantastic lecture, Ms Carter.
Breezy Carver: Grins then we shall look over our shoulders for a moment as I know mention .. another part of the .. of .. Fair
Viv Trafalgar looks
Sheryl Skytower: *snorgles*
Viv Trafalgar: what is over on that divan... or whom...?
Breezy Carver: "Like the man-eating tigers of the tropical jungle, whose appetites for blood have once been aroused, I roamed about this world seeking whom I could destroy" H.H. Holmes" this is a direct quote from another builder at the fair
Ghilayne Andrew blinks, finally noticing the pictures high up on the wall!
Breezy Carver: only he was a different kind of builder He is what our nation has come to .. note .. Perhaps America's First Serial Killer ..
Rhianon Jameson gasps
Breezy Carver: (( i am sure no one is taking notes )) grins
Viv Trafalgar: ::gasps
Sheryl Skytower: eep!
Breezy Carver: D.O.B. : May 16, 1860 - D.O.D. : May 7, 1896 - Murderers committed: ?
"Dr. Holmes, for unexplained reasons, seems to have been forgotten by many true crime enthusiasts. At the same time he was committing his crimes, "Jack the Ripper" was terrorizing London. Many people do not realize that Holmes was Americas first documented Serial Killer. There are several different accounts of Holmes's activities, not the least of which is the doctor's own confession written in 1896. While doing my research for this archive I have discovered many, many different versions of the story. Some even claim the Doctor is responsible for over 200 murders, but I have found no evidence to back up any of these statements.
Viv Trafalgar: ((oh you bet your sweet bustle I am. and posting them too))
Linus Lacombe looks around puzzled at his backside and notices the lack of a bustle
Breezy Carver: Nobody can seem to agree on what actually took place. What I have written here is what I hope to be one of the most accurate accounts. Dr. Holmes was born Herman Webster Mudgett on May 16, 1860, in Gilmantown, New Hampshire. Holmes Was often beat regularly by his drunken father, and the local neighborhood bullies. At an early age he was fascinated by all aspects of surgery. He would often capture stray animals and perform strange and crude experiments on them. Herman graduated high school at the age of 16, married Clara Loveringat, at the age of 18, and graduated medical school at the University of Michigan, located in Ann Arbor in 1884 at the age of 24. While studying medicine at the University of Michigan, He would steal corpses, render them unrecognizable with acid, and then collect on the life insurance policies he had previously taken out under fictitious names. Herman got away with several of these frauds before a nightwatchman caught him removing a female corpse, hence he was kicked out of the university for "unusual activities".
Herman moved to the Chicago suburb of Englewood, Ill, in 1886,
Charlemagne Allen: don't go to medical school.. it means you're a psycho.. ;)
Rhianon Jameson: I would hope that was unusual, even for university!
Ghilayne Andrew: I hope none of them were his wife!
Breezy Carver: after abandoning his wife and committing a variety of felonies, even defrauding one of his own in-laws. He was know as a swindler, and decided it was time for a new lease on life and took on the alias: Henry Howard Holmes, AKA: "DR H.H. Holmes". In 1888 Holmes was hired as a chemist at a popular Chicago area drugstore located in the suburb of Englewood.
Sheryl Skytower: well, the corpse thing probably was....
Edward Pearse: Not at the time, no
KlausWulfenbach Outlander: That would be odd even at TPU.
Ordinal Malaprop: Depends quite what one was doing with the corpse.
Breezy Carver: AND then ... and then .. In 1890 the proprietress of the drugstore, an elderly widow, mysteriously disappeared. Holmes quickly took over the business, and began selling patent medicines of his own invention by mail order, including fake "cures" for alcoholism. Holmes eventually amassed a nice fortune. Holmes soon wed Myrta Z. Belknap, without even bothering to divorce his first wife. Myrta soon bare foot and pregnant, left him within a year, and moved in with her parents. In 1888, Holmes bought a vacant lot across from his pharmacy business and began to build a "hotel". During construction Holmes changed contractors several times and shuffled the workers around frequently so that no one was ever able to get a clear idea of the floor plan or what the building, was for.
Viv Trafalgar: goodness!
Sheryl Skytower: quite the entrepraneur...
Edward Pearse: Resurrection trade was a thriving busines (and I'm not talking about zombie makers)
Linus Lacombe: With that business under his belt, least he could have done was giver her some shoes
Breezy Carver: Most of the rooms had gas vents that could let off lethal or sleep inducing gases, the vents could only be controlled from a closet in Holmes's bedroom. Many of the rooms were soundproof and could not be unlocked from inside. It was a three-story building with shops on the first floor and a bizarre labyrinth of windowless rooms, false floors, secret passages,
Breezy Carver: grins @ Edward
Sheryl Skytower: good grief!
Rhianon Jameson: Fiend!
Ordinal Malaprop: Oh! I was reading about this chap, it is a terrific story
Obedience Mactavish: oh my
Breezy Carver: trapdoors, a well equipped surgery area as well as several instruments of torture, such as an "elasticity determinator," a contraption he claimed could stretch experimental subjects to twice their normal length. Those who viewed it said it appeared to be a medieval torture rack. A few rooms were lined with asbestos, and the place was filled with doors that opened to brick walls, stairways to nowhere, an elevator without a shaft and a shaft without an elevator. There was an airtight and soundproof vault, human-sized greased chutes leading from the living quarters to the cellar. The bedrooms had peepholes and were equipped with asphyxiating gas pipes connected to a control panel in Dr. Holmes' closet. Holmes was nothing if not thorough. Upon completion of the "castle", Holmes soon tapped into a city water line in his cellar
Kimika Ying: *cringes with the thought*
Sheryl Skytower: oh, great.. now someone's going to build in in NB, just you watch....
Charlemagne Allen: that sounds better than the average Holiday inn... ;)
Edward Pearse: Wau
Linus Lacombe: who was the archect for this...house?
Breezy Carver: mixed the water with vanilla, and sold it for 5 cents a glass as an elixir called Linden Grove Mineral Water. He was eventually caught but no charges were ever filed. On another occasion he purchased a huge safe on credit, then moved it into his castle, he built a room around it with only a tiny exit. When creditors
Breezy Carver: HE WAS SIR @@, he did it all himself
Charlemagne Allen: LInden Grove?
Edward Pearse: Got to admire the home handyman ingenuity :-)
Breezy Carver: eventually came to haul it away, humorously they couldn't get it out.
During the Great Chicago World Fair in 1893, (the entrance to which was only a few blocks from Holmes's establishment), when the city filled with visitors, Holmes would rent rooms and/or lure girls and young ladies to his "castle" where he would attempt to seduce
Rhianon Jameson nods at Mr. Pearse.
Charlemagne Allen: i see a connection there.. is his son named Philip?
Sheryl Skytower: now there's a shocker...
Breezy Carver: them before drugging them. They were then popped into one of the empty shafts that ran through the building. The hapless girls would come round only to find themselves trapped behind a glass panel in an airtight death chamber into which Holmes would pump the lethal gas. Afterwards the body would be sent down a chute to the basement which contained vats of acid and lime and, in the center of the room, a dissecting table. Mudgett would cut up the corpses, removing particular organs which took his fancy and dispose of the remains in the vats. After killing them, Holmes would sometimes sell the bleached skeletons to medical universities. In 1894 Holmes wed Georgiana Yoke, again not bothering to divorce his previous wife. His charm and good looks wooed countless women, and enhanced his talents as a schemer.
Sheryl Skytower: *shivers* too close to Halloween...
Ordinal Malaprop: If any further indication were needed that the Victorians did it all first, well.
Edward Pearse: Heh
Breezy Carver: Only one man knew the truth of what was going on in the "castle", Herman Pitezel, Holmes lackey and accomplice. A weak man, Pitezel was easily controlled by Holmes. Despite his cleverness though Holmes was going broke. He knew his Chicago gig was almost up. In desperation, Holmes murdered two visiting Texan sisters and, rather than quietly dispose of their remains, he set fire to there house in an attempt to get the insurance money. The insurance company refused to pay and the police began an investigation into the blaze. Strangely, the police work was not pursued vigorously enough to produce any evidence of Holmes bloody activities; but the killer did not know this, and so he fled. Now there is Much more on Mr Holmes
KlausWulfenbach Outlander knows of too many Sparks with these sorts of habits
Elilka Sieyes: More??!
Breezy Carver: oh Pardon Dr
Edward Pearse grins
Breezy Carver: indeed
Viv Trafalgar: haha
Breezy Carver: but back at the fair
Sheryl Skytower: *hides under table*
t1g3y Oh feels a bit faint
Linus Lacombe: Perhaps he never died but just ended up in Beetleburg
Breezy Carver: We had the Midway
no name Jimmy chuckles.
Breezy Carver: where he stalked
KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Hmm.
Ghilayne Andrew: Makes the crumbly Holiday Inn down the road look positively hospitable.
Breezy Carver: full of life and people .. then there were the Ladies - the Women of the Midway !
Alexander Daffyd grins
Breezy Carver: The Columbian Exposition was notable for its impressive architecture and large international attendance. Of particular importance was the Women's Pavilion. The first of its kind to have been designed by a female architect, it revealed much about the social plight of women at that time, and the need for further progress in the movement for equal rights. While its existence did not trigger significant changes for the Women's Movement, this pavilion was certainly a promising first step that would set a precedent for women's involvement in later years.
Breezy Carver: All aspects of women's involvement in the Chicago fair were overseen by the Board of Lady Managers. This governing body, the first of its kind, had authority over all the decisions regarding the Women's Pavilion. It was headed by Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago, and composed of a diverse group of women from all over the United States.
Viv Trafalgar: how very cool. I didn't know that.
Breezy Carver: and territory as well as nine from Chicago. Invitations were extended to women across the world for their participation. Delegations from England, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, Algeria, Siam and Japan all participated in the planning ,and particularly the interior decoration. Many of these organizers belonged to the upper-class or even aristocracy of their societies. The first women's pavilion had been erected in 1876 in Philadelphia. The previous year, women had been given their own section in the main fair building, but at the last minute this decision was revoked. Instead, women were told if they wanted a display, it would have to be in their own building and from their own funding. They did collect enough funds for construction of the pavilion, but Mrs. E.D. Gillespie, President of the Women's Executive Committee said that, "..weary and longing for rest, we never thought of employing a woman architect...."
Breezy Carver: Even among women themselves, it was generally thought that there were few reliable female architects and indeed there were few women in the field at the time. Those that were in the field also received little public acknowledgement. At this Philadelphia fair, November 7th was chosen was "women's day",
Kimika Ying: To tired to think of that?
Breezy Carver: based on the assumption that the women should take advantage of the fair while the men were casting their ballots. This angered the suffragettes, who proceeded to boycott the fair. The women's pavilion placed "...particular emphasis on those activities generally acknowledged to be within the women's sphere" with little information in the areas of science and discovery.
Sheryl Skytower: like, how to bake cake... (nibbles away on a slice)
Breezy Carver: Most of the art work done by women was nowhere to be found in the women's pavilion, but instead was in the main Fine Arts building. While the Board of Lady Managers was supposed to have "general charge and management of all interests of women in connection with the Exposition", they were denied a say in the selection of the actual architect. This decision instead was made by a board of men. In order to select the architect, work was examined from fourteen distinguished women in the field. It is noted that none of these applicants was over the age of twenty-five. The woman who was chosen was Sophia Hayden, who had just graduated from the School of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
facade set on the lagoon. It is rather idealistic as no other buildings can be seen in the background. People can be seen as they strolled around the waterside watching a lone dingy. Detail on the building itself has been simplified while the trees and shrubbery on the edges of the lagoon and the sun reflecting off the water are vividly rendered. This image also makes the building appear a little larger than it actually was. However, since the larger
Linus Lacombe waves at Little Egypt Junior on the stage
Viv Trafalgar: oh goodness
Ahnyanka Delphin winks over at Mr. Lancombe.
Saffia Widdershins laughs
Rhianon Jameson: The Salon is fascinating! :)
Breezy Carver: surrounding buildings are missing, the scale is left more to the imagination. The Women's pavilion was located just north of the Horticulture building, with its eastern front facing a man-made lagoon. The scene was picturesque, with a terrace extending to the tip of the waterline. The building which measured 388 by 199 feet and cost nearly
Sheryl Skytower: *snorgles*
Breezy Carver: (( ladies and gentlemen i give two Prime examples of Midway at its best to my Left your right (( grins )) ))
Jimmy Branagh: /Jimmy stares
Rhianon Jameson laughs.
Breezy Carver: 150,000 dollars, was "Grecian" in character, with decorative elements such as terraces, porticos and colonnades derived from Antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. On the ground level, a landing and stairway led up from the lagoon to a terrace six feet above the water. Upon ascending another staircase, one would enter the pavilion,
Elina Koskinen: Oh my.
Sheryl Skytower: won't someone think of the children!
KlausWulfenbach Outlander thinks of Herr Branagh and covers his eyes
no name Then, Jimmy grins wide ...
Linus Lacombe gives the children ice cream money then returns his eyes to the stage
Breezy Carver: gives Jimmy big cotton candy !!
Breezy Carver: set back about 108 feet from the water. The first terrace contained lovely flora ??? low shrubs and flowerbeds ??? that transported one immediately to a villa in the Italian countryside. The first story was set ten feet from the ground line, with a wide staircase rising to the central pavilion. There were a triple arched entrance and open colonnade on the second story.
Viv Trafalgar: ::covers jimmy's eyes::
Jimmy Branagh: ((hehe))
Breezy Carver: at No other time had woman had such a fine place in the working Many History!
Breezy Carver: At the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 a Dress Reform Congress was held. Among the fruits of this revival of an earlier Cause were the Rainy-Day Clubs forthwith organized in many cities, and the popularization of the "Rainy-Day Skirt." This novel garment, completely Clearing the ground, was regarded as very practical in sloppy weather. The alterations in women's behavior, however, were at that time more subtle than sensational. And, though sloppy weather continued to appear, this shortened skirt might have disappeared altogether in favor of the standard length had it not been for the development in women's behavior largely occasioned by the bicycle.
Rhianon Jameson recoils
Breezy Carver: In 1893, at the Egyptian Theater on the World's Columbian Exposition Midway in Chicago, Raqs dancers performed for the first time in the United States. Sol Bloom presented a show titled "The Algerian Dancers of Morocco", which included Spyropoulos, though she was neither Egyptian nor Algerian, but Syrian. Spyropoulos was billed as Fatima, but because of her size, she had been called "Little Egypt" as a backstage nickname. Spyropoulos stole the show, and popularized this form of dancing, which came to be referred to as the "Hoochee-Coochee"
Linus Lacombe: First bare ankles...then gin from a bottle!
t1g3y Oh realizes she has been subtly mimicking the gyrations on stage & stops, glancing to see if she had been noticed.
Rhianon Jameson discretely nips at gin from her flask.
Charlemagne Allen: hoochee-coocheee sounds a tad bit infantile
Ahnyanka Delphin winks over at you as she playfully flicks her gossamer skirt, lifting it just enough to show a flash of ankle before sashaying into a leisurely turn.
Breezy Carver: Ladies and Gentlemen I give YOU .. grins Little Egypt a hand please *smiles*
KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
no name Jimm nibbles at the cotton candy, eyes bugged out.
Edward Pearse claps
Perryn Peterson: Applause!!
t1g3y Oh claps politely
Jimmy Branagh applauds.
Obedience Mactavish notes the thick ankles and applaudes politely
Breezy Carver: or the "shimmy and shake". At that time the word "bellydance" had not yet entered the American vocabulary, as Spyropoulos was the first in the U.S. to demonstrate the "danse du ventre" (literally "dance of the belly") first seen by the French during Napoleon's incursions into Egypt at the end of the eighteenth century.
Rhianon Jameson averts her eyes and applauds.
Linus Lacombe: /daubs at his forehead with a hanky, flabbergasted by the exposed ankles on stage
Ghilayne Andrew applauds.
Charlemagne Allen: oooh lovely visuals
KlausWulfenbach Outlander: (I thought Jummy's eyes were covered by two people.)
Alexander Daffyd aplauds
Victor1st Mornington applauds
Sheryl Skytower: yay!
Viv Trafalgar: ((apparently Jimmy is wilely))
Breezy Carver: okay the word "hootchy-kootchy" generally means an erotic suggestive dance and is often erroneously conflated with the group of dances originating in the Middle East that we now call bellydance. Subsequently, several women dancers adopted the name of Little Egypt and toured the United States performing some variation of this dance, until the name became somewhat synonymous with exotic dancers, and often associated with the Dance of the Seven Veils.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: applauds
Beq Janus claps
Breezy Carver: Spyropoulos then claimed to be the original Little Egypt from the Chicago Fair. Recognized as the true Little Egypt, she always disliked being confused with Ashea Wabe, after Wabe's performance at the Seeley banquet. Spyropoulos danced as Little Egypt at the 1933 Century of Progress in Chicago at the age of 62.
Charlemagne Allen: napoleon had good taste... ;)
Edward Pearse thinks there far more than just ankles being exposed on the stage
t1g3y Oh suggest a larger cotton candy for Jimmy
Linus Lacombe: Yay Spyropoulos!
Ahnyanka Delphin's eyes seem to sparkle as they look directly into yours from above her veil. You almost don't notice the increased motion of her hips due to the steady gaze.
Breezy Carver: but there is more *smiles* Corsets were big business. At World Fairs in Philadelphia in 1873 and Chicago in 1893 there were special rooms devoted to corset innovations, concepts that promised faultless figures, grace and even health. Even in pregnancy, special corsets were worn. Corsets where perhaps the Most Popular Display The Ladies and The Fair Took Corset and the Ladies that modeled them and wore the to a whole never level Doors were opened that had never been a jar before and the world of women's fashion as we knew it was no longer the same
Edward Pearse: And women complain we never look them in the eyes.
Charlemagne Allen: oh corset was big business
Breezy Carver: There also were "bum pads" tied around the waist to add girth to the derriere, and bust enhancers, garments that could be stuffed with cloth and attached at the cleavage to create the monobosom. Chemises, corset covers, drawers, petticoats and stockings completed the underwear suite, all of which was expected to match the woman's outer dress.
Rhianon Jameson doubts you are at this moment.
Linus Lacombe: Did they have a fainting couch innovation exhibit too?
Breezy Carver: Ditching the corset was not an option for any woman who wanted to be accepted in genteel Victorian society. Of course Men had it easier, wearing wool union suits in winter, and silk
Breezy Carver: (( Yes they did ask Miss Canolli next time ))
Viv Trafalgar: ((Furnishings in November yes!))
Redgrrl Llewellyn: (((OOOER! loves me some furnishings!))
Breezy Carver: WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO, 1893
If the Centennial marked the emergence of the United States as an economic power, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 marked the country's coming of age as a political and industrial power. It represented the change from a predominately agricultural America concerned with domestic problems to a modern urban and industrial nation involved in world economy and politics. For the Exposition, Chicago built an entire new city--"The White City"-- larger, more elaborate, and more truly international in scope than any previous fair. The White City represented an unprecedented collaboration of artists, architects, engineers, sculptors, painters, and landscape architects who joined forces to create a single work - an ideal model city. Lauded as an American Venice, the White City was composed of a "Court of Honor" of classically styled white buildings with columns and gilded domes linked to the other parts of the grounds by a series of lagoons and canals. Leading national architectural firms including Richard Morris Hunt, McKim, Mead, and White, and Louis Sullivan designed the major buildings. Well-known sculptors such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French were involved in the architectural decoration.
Ordinal Malaprop: These days, we have civilised Diets instead of barbaric Corsets.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: yay Krupp
Breezy Carver: There were 65,000 exhibits displayed at the fair, showcasing every conceivable product from a 1,500 pound chocolate Venus de Milo to a 46-foot cannon by Krupp, the German munitions manufacturer. Among the many products introduced at the fair were Cracker Jacks, Aunt Jemima Syrup, Cream of Wheat, Pabst Beer, and Juicy Fruit gum. The Fair also introduced picture postcards to the American public, as well as two mainstays of the late-twentieth century diet--carbonated soda and hamburgers.
Sheryl Skytower: nom nom nom...
Redgrrl Llewellyn: ((tummy grumbles))
Charlemagne Allen: that explains the diets/corsets
Edward Pearse: Heh
Charlemagne Allen: soda and burgers
Linus Lacombe: Beer and a burger was born there...fascinating~
Linus Lacombe titters
Breezy Carver: While the public may have been awestruck by the grandeur of the architecture and impressed by the array of consumer products, what kept them at the fair was the Midway Plaisance, a commercially-sponsored self-contained amusement area. It featured popular entertainment such as German beer halls, the original Ferris Wheel, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and exotic dancers.
The Fair was immensely popular, drawing over twenty-seven million visitors from around the world during its six-month run. Visitors included Frederick Douglass, Jane Addams, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Scott Joplin, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Adams, and L. Frank Baum, who would go on to transform the White City into the Emerald City of Oz. Although the products, inventions, and amusements were what visitors remembered most about the event, its long-term legacy was in the interplay of consumerism, technology, and entertainment. The corporate-designed amusements and mix of product with entertainment led directly to the late twentieth-century fascination with the late twentieth-century fascination with Disneyland and McDonald Happy Meals.
Viv Trafalgar: oh wow. HUH.
Charlemagne Allen: that all makes sense now...
Ochazuke Ying: There's a twentieth century now?
Breezy Carver: this is a mecca to all around the world there was never anything like nor will be again I thank YOU for your time and Now please thank My lovely Ladies of the Midway
Ordinal Malaprop: Well, it is all a continuum.
Rhianon Jameson: Time travel is so confusing.
Perryn Peterson: Applause!!
Viv Trafalgar: ::applauds wildly
Rhianon Jameson applauds.
Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
Elilka Sieyes applauds enthusiastically
Ordinal Malaprop: One led to the other less than one was the same as the other.
Perryn Peterson: Huzzzah!!
Ordinal Malaprop claps
Alexander Daffyd applauds
Edward Pearse claps politely
Canolli Capalini applauds
Ochazuke Ying applauds and bows.
Breezy Carver: and I hand the stage to dear Mr Cleanslate *smiles*
Sheryl Skytower: yay!
Ochazuke Ying takes a humble bow
Victor1st Mornington applaudes
Viv Trafalgar: Awesome Breezy!!
Jedburgh30 Dagger: woohoo
Breezy Carver: aww thank YOU *smiles*
Saffia Widdershins applauds
Charlemagne Allen claps
Viv Trafalgar: Thank you Red and Ahnya!
Ghilayne Andrew applauds!
Talisa Shriner: /smiles applauding
PJ Trenton golf claps
KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
Obedience Mactavish applaudes!
Linus Lacombe applauds dear Mr Cleanslate
Viv Trafalgar: Folks please hold your questions for Breezy until the end - i know you have many
Ahnyanka Delphin winks and bobs a curtsy.
Viv Trafalgar: what an outstanding presentation!
Wes Franklin claps
Sheryl Skytower: is there going to be any men dancing... *hopeful look*
Viv Trafalgar: Next up, is the honorable and venerable Mr. Cleanslate...
Viv Trafalgar: hmm
Viv Trafalgar: who might dance?
Edward Pearse laughs at the dwaggin
Charlemagne Allen: so we're starting off with a clean slate?
Linus Lacombe: Perhaps Mr Cleanslate...he is already up thre
Sheryl Skytower: I need some beef.... cake...
Charlemagne Allen: /drum roll
Breezy Carver: nudges AE *smiles* whispers wake up
Aeolus Cleanslate waves!
Breezy Carver: oh good *smiles*
Ahnyanka Delphin slinks off stage with a wink over her shoulder.
Ghilayne Andrew applauds for Mr. Cleanslate.
Charlemagne Allen: eek... sorry, camming
Redgrrl Llewellyn: [smiles, winks saucily and leaves the setage]
Redgrrl Llewellyn: or stage even
Aeolus Cleanslate: hi everyone! that was amazing...
Viv Trafalgar: Mr. Cleanslate - we await your wisdom!
KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Heh, no more distraction, eh?
Aeolus Cleanslate: I want to give her another round of applause...
Obedience Mactavish smiles
Jasper Kiergarten: anyone needing a chair, IM me
Saffia Widdershins applauds
Obedience Mactavish: That was fascinating, truly.
Victor1st Mornington applauds
Aeolus Cleanslate: now - if you'll reorient your attention a bit - I'll just mosey over to the other side of the Salon...
Obedience Mactavish claps again for Lady Breezy
Viv Trafalgar shifts carefully in her seat
Aeolus Cleanslate: I've been meaning to try this - please give me a sec to swap in my machine...
Alexander Daffyd stands up and stretches his legs a bit
Viv Trafalgar: folks Mr. Cleanslate will speak, we will have questions for both speakers, and then i will lay out the craft
Viv Trafalgar: I cannot tell you what a phenomenal start to the season this is
Aeolus Cleanslate: aha - there we go
Rhianon Jameson marvels at the technological wonder
Aeolus Cleanslate: thank you all so much -
Jasper Kiergarten: wrings hands greedily over the craft...
Ghilayne Andrew raises her hand. "Could you raise it some more, Mr. Cleanslate?"
Ghilayne Andrew: Perfect, sir.
Aeolus Cleanslate: today I'll be attempting to illustrate my remarks with the newfangled "kinoscope" device
Wes Franklin looks at the intresting invention with curiosity.
Aeolus Cleanslate: for more information, please tap the poster to my right
Elina Koskinen: Interesting...
Aeolus Cleanslate: In Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine (required steampunk reading, by the way, for those who have not yet had the pleasure), the kinoscope (shortened from "kinetic-scope," meaning "mechanical instrument for viewing") was a kind of cinema screen made from a 2D matrix of rotating prisms. Each laquered wooden prism had a different colour on each face, and they spun to switch to different colors, making each one a sort of mechanical "pixel." When viewed as a whole the result was a physical passive-matrix display (like a moving painting or the screen of Amazon's Kindle) rather than the active-matrix light-emitting devices on a laptop. In the novel, analytical Engines many generations beyond Babbage's original design drove the display of these screens, and programmers (referred to as 'clackers' from the sound the prisms make when they rotate) used punchcard technology (derived from common jacquard loom technology of the time) to instruct the prisms when to turn and what to display. Sets of punchcards encoded in such a way were the CDs of the day.
Dante Moreau: hello!
Aeolus Cleanslate: Such kinoscopes were used as background illustrations behind popular lecturers to enliven what could otherwise be rather dry presentations.
t1g3y Oh attempts to listen faster
Aeolus Cleanslate: hopefully we won't need it *grin*
Talisa Shriner: chuckles
Aeolus Cleanslate: okay so here we go with the main event -
Ordinal Malaprop nods
Aeolus Cleanslate: After the recent Relay For Life build, I was privileged enough to absorb some of the research and lore of the 19th century World’s Fairs.
Aeolus Cleanslate: it's a wonderful area - As many of you know, the Fairs were all the rage in the latter half of the century. There were many dozens of them. But a few caught the zeitgeist, as it were, and really set the tone for the age. And as we will see (and Breezy has shown), cast cultural reverberations down through the centuries to the present day. I thought that I would touch a bit on the most prominent few, providing a bit of context, some history, and an emphasis on noteworthy structures (my personal favorite) and happenings, as well as a bit of a comment on their longer term impact *ahem*
Ordinal Malaprop: Please do!
Aeolus Cleanslate: So we’ll go chronologically – the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, the 1889 Exposition Universale in Paris,
Charlemagne Allen is all ears
Aeolus Cleanslate: a brief bit on the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, and if we have time, the 1900 Exhibition in Paris- which set the stage for the 20th century
Elina Koskinen: Ooh.
Aeolus Cleanslate: Before 1851, fairs were relatively small, and national in focus – sponsored by the nations and designed to promote national interests exclusively.
Wes Franklin: Wow
Aeolus Cleanslate: But the 1844 Paris fair caught the eye of a Briton named Henry Cole, who resolved to do more
Rhianon Jameson watches and thinks that moving pictures will never catch on.
Aeolus Cleanslate: Cole was a character - he (arguably) invented the postage stamp, christmas cards, and industrial objects under a pseudonym (to insulate his elite status from more prosaic pursuits). but it was The involvement of Prince Albert brought unimpeachable prestige to what might otherwise have been an overlooked project of the new capitalists. Without him funds for the fair would not have been raised. The 1851 Great Exhibtiion arguably set the standard for future fairs, and all that followed were compared to it
Linus Lacombe: Did they let him out of his can to help with the fair?
Viv Trafalgar: /facepalm
Sheryl Skytower: *snorgles*
Aeolus Cleanslate: *rimshot for Linus
Aeolus Cleanslate: It was held in Regent’s Park in the heart of London, and had pavilions from other countries scattered all over. (there it is there in the middle .. *grin*) But of course the highlight was the Crystal Palace. Designed by Joseph Paxton (a greenhouse expert) + structural engineer Charles Fox; the build committee included IK Brunel (Icky, to his friends)
Edward Pearse: Not a bad little glass house
Aeolus Cleanslate: (me and Icky are like this...) The Palace was 1848 feet (about 563 metres) long by 454 feet (about 138 metres) wide, and went from plan to grand opening in nine months.
Elina Koskinen sets the weather to midday ...which helped
Aeolus Cleanslate: It was one of the largest structures ever built at that time and has been inspiring structural engineering ever since
Obedience Mactavish watches with fascination
Aeolus Cleanslate: today's atria and modern architecture are arguably direct descendants of the Palace. The original was never intended to be permanent but was so popular it was Moved to Sydenham (South London) afterward, but destroyed by fire in 1936
Charlemagne Allen: aww...
Edward Pearse: Which became known as Crystal Palace (as a suburb)
Aeolus Cleanslate: Some other noteworthy points about 1851 – over 13000 exhibits were featured; including the programmable heart of the British textile industry, the Jacquard loom; a revolutionary envelope machine, and dozens of other firsts
Ghilayne Andrew: fax machine?
Linus Lacombe: all the good stuff burns down...
Aeolus Cleanslate: Of particular interest to me was the digital fax machine, using telegraphy and dot-matrix technology. In 1851. Amazing.
Linus Lacombe: WOW...1851??
Aeolus Cleanslate: ya - totally, huh
Viv Trafalgar: do tell Mr. Cleanslate... i want to see a print out
Viv Trafalgar: i could have faxed my letter to.. oh nevermind
Beq Janus: sadly noone invetned thermal patper for it for another 80years
Aeolus Cleanslate: they had all the basic back then - it's weird that it never really materialized
Sheryl Skytower: fax me a check....
Viv Trafalgar: lol
Aeolus Cleanslate: Interms of its impact, the very idea of a fair of this sort worried people.
Charlemagne Allen: what was it called?
Rhianon Jameson: No one had anything worthwhile to fax. Not like nowadays...
Aeolus Cleanslate: heh
Edward Pearse: "Quick, this must be twittered...."
Linus Lacombe: Right...all the little "fax machine jokes" were not yet invented
Aeolus Cleanslate: Crowds were scary, of course – this was just a few years before Great Stink, and a few years after revolutions of 1848, which Britain had escaped
t1g3y Oh: it was foxed back then
Aeolus Cleanslate: The British deliberately stationed 10,000 soldiers in London during the Exhibition, just in case
Viv Trafalgar: hahaha
Aeolus Cleanslate: luckily admissions decreased as summer wore on and the wealthy left London
Aeolus Cleanslate: Marx loathed it, calling it “quintessential capitalist fetishism”
Aeolus Cleanslate: (which means it was awesome)
Viv Trafalgar: he said that about horses too i think
Rhianon Jameson: Harpo was the funny one, anyway.
Obedience Mactavish: fetishes can be nice
Jasper Kiergarten: lol
Linus Lacombe: I think he even said it about himself
Viv Trafalgar: Miss Jameson FTW
Aeolus Cleanslate: it was profitable - the surplus funding dozens of institutions that still exist and of course cemented Britain's reputation as the leading world imperial + industrial power.
Edward Pearse: *sighs at the mention of the V&A*
Aeolus Cleanslate grins at Mr Pearse
Aeolus Cleanslate: but perhaps most important was its cultural impact - arguably, it provided the British utilitarian response to the Luddites who were relatively powerful at the time and to Dickensian and clerical critics of the unmitigated evils of industrialism
Ordinal Malaprop: mm
Aeolus Cleanslate: the central question of the early industrial revolution was this: is this technology stuff a good idea and will it eventually destroy us?
Charlemagne Allen: yes and yes
Aeolus Cleanslate: ha
Aeolus Cleanslate: we now know it's impossible to go backwards, but at the time it was an open question
Sheryl Skytower: yes, no.... what was the question again
Aeolus Cleanslate: the Exhibition gave the answer: the fruits of the industrial revolution bring glory to the nation and should be used to benefit the common man. note - the common man
Ordinal Malaprop: mm again
Aeolus Cleanslate: from there to today's consumer culture and global economy - a straight line
Aeolus Cleanslate: okay - moving on! A generation later – the 1876 Exhibition in Philadelphia designed as a “coming out party” for the U.S. in the post-Civil War era. Held on 100th anniversary of signing of US Declaration of Independence, it presaged US industrial expansion and was the only fair where U.S. states (as well as countries) were invited to display
Linus Lacombe: Out of the closet or as a deb?
Jedburgh30 Dagger: deb
Aeolus Cleanslate: depends on your orientation ... *grin*
Rhianon Jameson: East, at the moment.
Linus Lacombe: hehe
Aeolus Cleanslate: a few architectural notes – the main exhibit hall was – again – the largest building in the world by area at the time, enclosing twenty-one and a half acres. It had a 75-foot high ceiling.
Alexander Daffyd chuckles
Aeolus Cleanslate: depends on your orientation ... *grin*
Rhianon Jameson: East, at the moment.
Linus Lacombe: hehe
Charlemagne Allen: cough cough penis extension
Linus Lacombe blinks
Aeolus Cleanslate: exhibits from the United States were placed in the center of the building and foreign exhibits were placed around the center based on the nation's distance from the United States
Viv Trafalgar: i love love love that hall
Aeolus Cleanslate: Japan was out in the back
Aeolus Cleanslate: kidding
Aeolus Cleanslate: but still, an interesting cultural point of American opinions of global predominance
Edward Pearse bites tongue
Aeolus Cleanslate: The Statue of Liberty was still a pipe dream at the time, and a decade or so from taking up station in New York Harbor. But the Hand and Torch were erected in Philadelphia and used as a way to raise funds. Visitors were charged 50 cents to climb to the top – about twenty feet – but receipts largely funded the completion of the statue. A great building I came across was the Horticultural hall – used for organic display from around the world – and a great example of a unique architectural form
Edward Pearse: 50 cents wouldn't have been cheap at the time either
Perryn Peterson: Half a day's wages for a skilled workman.
Alexander Daffyd nods
Viv Trafalgar: wow
Aeolus Cleanslate: it lasted almost a century, and would still be with us except for a damned hurricane
Aeolus Cleanslate: (I've got to come back and build a version of that one in SL - too cool...)
Aeolus Cleanslate: and soooo steampunk
Edward Pearse: Too bad al the colour faded from the picture
Perryn Peterson: ((Huzzzzah!))
Jimmy Branagh: ((20000 prims))
Aeolus Cleanslate laughs
Viv Trafalgar: oh very good idea Mr. CLeanslate
Perryn Peterson: ((Textures, people, textures.))
Aeolus Cleanslate: The Machinery Hall (a new innovation in Fair architecture) featured the the monumental Corliss Centennial Engine.
Aeolus Cleanslate: (one for Merryman to reproduce...)
Wolf Copperfield: oooh
Aeolus Cleanslate: It was so large it had to be dismantled after the Exhibition ended since no factory in the country required an engine of its size.
Victor1st Mornington: deckard and quinn already made it i think
Aeolus Cleanslate: George Pullman purchased the engine in 1880 to power his new railroad car factory then under construction - in Chicago
Viv Trafalgar: wonders at the idea of building an engine without a purpose
Edward Pearse: Just because
Aeolus Cleanslate: and in a nice historical irony, the fire at his plant in 1896 destroyed many of the buildings of the 1893 Fair ...
Viv Trafalgar: Pullman who built the train that was too large to run on any track
Linus Lacombe: They could...and had to show i off...like a concept car...
Aeolus Cleanslate: Other notes – America’s first steam engine - John Bull steam locomotive (1831) – made an appearance; as did Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, early typewriters, Heinz Ketchup and Hires Root Beer.
Viv Trafalgar: yay root beer
Elilka Sieyes hisses Bell ;)
Aeolus Cleanslate: there was also a fantastic steam monorail …
Charlemagne Allen: yay wasn't the John Bull a copy of the English trains?
Linus Lacombe: Is that before he too the nick name Ma, to become Ma Bell?
Aeolus Cleanslate: yes inde3ed - stolen directly, in fact
Edward Pearse: You'd think the name John Bull was a dead giveaway
Aeolus Cleanslate: the steam monorail - another project worth exploring and reproducing, I'm sure...
Alexander Daffyd chuckles
Rhianon Jameson: Indeed.
Ghilayne Andrew laughs!
Charlemagne Allen: (IP violations-- US did it and now China does it!) ;)
Ghilayne Andrew: Unsurprising about the Turkish exhibit.
Aeolus Cleanslate: "good engineers mimic - great engineers steal"
Victor1st Mornington chuckles at the turkish exhibit
Aeolus Cleanslate: The Turkish exhibit introduced marijuana to the US for the first time and was – quite understandably – the most popular exhibit at the Fair.
Charlemagne Allen dies laughing
Sheryl Skytower: *eats more cake*
Wolf Copperfield facepaws >.<
Edward Pearse: Which later explain the existence of corn dogs
Ghilayne Andrew: got the munchies, Miss Skytower?
Jana Wizenheim: aaah, holmes and watson
Linus Lacombe: And who made the first bong in the US...and was it in existance at the fair?
Viv Trafalgar: ahahaha
Aeolus Cleanslate: ... and probably how they got people to pay 50 cents to climb twenty feet in the air
Jana Wizenheim: hello
Sheryl Skytower: nom nom nom.... hmm?
Elina Koskinen: Yes?
Wolf Copperfield giggles.
Aeolus Cleanslate: In terms of impact, the fair Lost money, but stimulated Philadelphia’s depressed economy, which was a major undertaking. It was deliberately positioned to help heal Civil War sectional rifts, and much of the debate at the time was around whether Southerners should attend
Sheryl Skytower: stimulation is good...
Alexander Daffyd grins
Aeolus Cleanslate: A cool quote I found:
Aeolus Cleanslate: "At the very threshold an important question occurs that requires patient consider-ing — a question that is asked probably in the South thousands of times a day—“Shall we go to the Centennial?”
Linus Lacombe: Come to the north, Johnny Reb...there be pot here!
Aeolus Cleanslate: By this is meant really, “Shall the South patronize the International Exhibition?” With proper deference we would with emphasis respond — “By all means, whether or not your State has contributed money and material, let all go who can afford to do so, for it is our Centennial as well as the Centennial of the Northern people.”
Rhianon Jameson makes a discreet exit due to RL commitments, but applauds Mr. Cleanslate's presentation and is disappointed she could not stay for the remainder.
Aeolus Cleanslate: We are a part of the Union. This country is our country. Here we were born and reared, here we live, and here we must die. In the past we had our fierce antagonisms, our sorrows and disappointments; but it is now more than eleven years since the last Confederate gun was fired and the battleflag of the defeated hosts was furled. Let the dead past bury the dead. Let all bittermemories be forgotten.
Aeolus Cleanslate waves
Aeolus Cleanslate: the jury is out as to whether it worked
Aeolus Cleanslate: Moving forward to 1889 – the fair after which our RFL build was patterned. The French were arguably at their cultural and industrial high point. In many ways, 1889 was directly designed and perceived as an opportunity to display French cultural and material supremacy
Victor1st Mornington: ahhhhhh
Aeolus Cleanslate: ... in light of the perceived threat from the Kaiser’s Germany, France was 20 years away from having been beaten by Bismarck in 1870 and losing Alsace-Lorraine, and just five years away from the Dreyfus affair. This would have been a good time to be French. At the 1889 fair there were 28,000,000 visitors
Viv Trafalgar: aha
Aeolus Cleanslate: ... and 61,722 exhibitors, of which 55% were French.
Sheryl Skytower: hmmm.... the pastries.......
Breezy Carver: grins at the little dragon
Aeolus Cleanslate: the site was selected as part of urban renewal – large areas of Paris were torn down to build it. But of course it became one of the best-known areas of Paris. Of course the huge cultural signature of 1889 was the Tour Eiffel. Mr Gustav Eiffel’s design was selected out of 100 submitted. 300 prominent names (including Zola and many others) protested it before it was built: calling it “useless and monstrous”. Which it was
Charlemagne Allen: hey, airship mooring!
Viv Trafalgar: XD
Aeolus Cleanslate: but it was also awesome.
Alexander Daffyd chuckles
Aeolus Cleanslate: Interestingly – it was originally called “Le Tour 300 Metres,” but changed after the notoriety of its designer hit record heights. A bit of technical context here – the Tower is 1069 feet (320.75 meters) high, about **105 stories**. Let me repeat that - 105 stories. Remember, this was in 1889. (are your jaws dropping? mine is wide open). The World Trade Center was 110.
Breezy Carver: grins
Viv Trafalgar: that's amazing
Jimmy Branagh: Yeps
Breezy Carver: and nods
Aeolus Cleanslate: it was made of “purified” wrought iron (a term used to describe the alloy process used to get rid of impurities). It weighs 7300 metric tons…less than the air that surrounds it. The Tower sways six inches in the strongest winds ever recorded over Paris, but it was designed by Eiffel to sway 30 inches – in a classic engineering overdesign that explains why it is still here
Edward Pearse: And can now be seen as the establishing shot with the words Paris, France for any Hollywood movie set in France
Aeolus Cleanslate: it's a bit cliche now, but any site visit will remind you how remarkable is was. Incidentally – the “glass cage” elevators were designed by the American firm Otis, whose brand still decorates elevators today.
Aeolus Cleanslate nods knowingly to Mr Pearse
Sheryl Skytower: *coughcompensatingforsomething, ehcough*
Aeolus Cleanslate: okay I'm going to pick up the pace a bit - you're all very kind for hanging in there
Edward Pearse: Oh, I've been trying to find our when the archways on the first level were removed
Edward Pearse: No luck so far
Jana Wizenheim: you mentioned, that it was and still is a prefered sight for suiciders?
Aeolus Cleanslate: I’ll touch briefly on my favorite building from 1889 – the Galerie De Machines. In many ways the sister structure to the Tour Eiffel, but long forgotten. Indeed it is - and always will be romantic to smooch and die from. What better legacy for an architect?
Aeolus Cleanslate grins
Viv Trafalgar: which is much messier than kiss and tell
Charlemagne Allen: or live and let die... ;)
Aeolus Cleanslate: the Galerie de Machines was the inspiration for my contribution to the RFL site
Linus Lacombe: They should have filed "a kiss before dying" there then
Ghilayne Andrew: Somehow, jumping off someplace high just doesn't sound like the easiest way to suicide.
Aeolus Cleanslate: Again, it spanned the longest interior space in the world at the time, and was in its own way as much of an engineering feat as the Tower. Made of ‘prefabricated hinged arches’ cast from iron (steel was too expensive and slow), it could easily (and did) house airships indoors.
Breezy Carver: grins
Aeolus Cleanslate: The structure was used for the 1900 fair and destroyed by fire in 1910.
Aeolus Cleanslate sighs again
Charlemagne Allen: i knew airshps would come into this!
Charlemagne Allen: /rocks out
Aeolus Cleanslate: a couple of notes about 1889
Wolf Copperfield waits for pirates
Aeolus Cleanslate: there were naturally extensive French Colonial exhibits, including war materiel around the raging arms race that would eventually lead to WWI
Linus Lacombe: When did the first fire extinguisher appear at a world's fair
Edward Pearse: Someone should have invented a decent sprinkler system instead of bigger bloody buildings
Viv Trafalgar: spot on Edward
Aeolus Cleanslate: amen
Aeolus Cleanslate: another amazing bit - the Human Zoo was an exhibit of indigenous peoples in native dress and mimicked environments – by far the most popular exhibit at the Fair, and perhaps the least politically correct display I’ve ever heard of.
Linus Lacombe: Human Zoo? creepy
Aeolus Cleanslate: ya
Ochazuke Ying: Hmmm
Aeolus Cleanslate: I didn't include pictures for fear of disturbing our 21st century sensitivities
Breezy Carver: heh !
Edward Pearse: This was a time when Freakshows were common
Sheryl Skytower: *pouts* exhibitionism....
Aeolus Cleanslate: true that
Victor1st Mornington: very true edward
Jimmy Branagh: ((I like my 21st Century sensibilities disturbed))
Aeolus Cleanslate: a whole ugly side of our culture. More firsts - Claude Debussy first heard Javanese gamelan music at the 1889 fair, arguably the beginning of the Ambient genre. Heineken received the Grand Prix at the exposition (a Dam Good Bier),
Jedburgh30 Dagger: but did they play it on the elevators?
Linus Lacombe: Debussy fields?
Edward Pearse: /megrins
Aeolus Cleanslate: ((yes, on the tower - which is what drove so many suicides)
Aeolus Cleanslate grins
no name Jimmy chuckles.
Aeolus Cleanslate: and Buffalo Bill and American sharpshooter Annie Oakley performed for packed audiences
Alexander Daffyd chuckles loudly
Linus Lacombe: hehe!
Breezy Carver: of course it did !
Aeolus Cleanslate: I love the 1889 Fair - my favorite, I think
Aeolus Cleanslate: Even while 1889 was going on, Chicago was planning the 1893
Aeolus Cleanslate: so wonderfully highlighted by Breezy
Breezy Carver: *smiles*
Viv Trafalgar: really truly both of you are phenomenal
Aeolus Cleanslate: I’ll skip past a bit, pointing out that in grand Worlds Fair traditions, most buildings were designed to be temporary proved to be when they were damaged extensively by fire just a short time after the fair closed – during the seminal labor strike at the Pullman factory nearby. Good old Pullman. Great shot there
Elilka Sieyes: >.<
Aeolus Cleanslate: here's a map of the Midway -
Linus Lacombe: Well, at least now we can ride around in Pullman cars on any railro---oh---no those are gone too
Aeolus Cleanslate: heh
Aeolus Cleanslate: One noteworthy structure worth pointing out –
Edward Pearse: Save Ferris
Aeolus Cleanslate: The world’s first Ferris Wheel
Viv Trafalgar: oooh
Obedience Mactavish: The Ferris wheel... oh my
Obedience Mactavish: it was huge..
Viv Trafalgar: so I did name this salon correctly
Aeolus Cleanslate: inspired by the Eiffel Tower and deliberately designed to be the ‘distinctive structure’ for the 1893 fair
Alexander Daffyd: ((that's what she said))
Aeolus Cleanslate: Designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, either on the spur of the moment, over a dinner napkin, or designed years earlier, and just revealed. The jury is out on that historical point, but no matter - Ferris was 30 when he proposed it. So either way, fricking AWESOME.
Viv Trafalgar: very much so
Aeolus Cleanslate: No one had ever imagined doing something like this before
Viv Trafalgar: "you know, for kids!"
Alexander Daffyd nods
Aeolus Cleanslate laughs
Aeolus Cleanslate: It was designed and built in four months, powered entirely by steam.
Jimmy Branagh: yay!
Aeolus Cleanslate: There were 36 cars, each 24 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 10 feet high, weighing 26,000 pounds. Twisted wire chairs were provided for 38 of the 60 passengers, and a conductor was assigned to each car to help reassure the passengers, few of which had ever been more than a few dozen feet in the air. Remember: prior to this there had been no flight, balloons were new, and skyscrapers – even in Chicago - unusual. It freaked people out. Interestingly, Ferris died in 1896 at only 37 years old
Linus Lacombe: like the movie with the guy shooting into the camera...
Aeolus Cleanslate: the Wheel was reassembled for St Louis Exhibition in 1904, but dynamited in 1906 as an eyesore
Viv Trafalgar: what did he die of Mr. Cleanslate?
Jana Wizenheim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno (a vid from Franz reichelt on his last parachute test from the eiffel tower in 1912, enjoy it!)
Aeolus Cleanslate: good question - I'll have to look that up
Aeolus Cleanslate: A great quote from the time - “The wonder of two continents by reason of its cost, its dimensions, and its utter uselessness … Chicago was glad to get rid of it and St. Louis is said to have witnessed its destruction with satisfaction.”
Aeolus Cleanslate: another structure I wish I could have visited
Charlemagne Allen: people are unappreciative....
Aeolus Cleanslate: briefly - the World's Congress Auxiliary Bldg is now the Art Institute of Chicago… Some quick passing notes – the Palace of Fine Arts is still standing, and is now Chicago’s Museum of Fine Arts. And was featured in the movie Flatliners in the 80s, a point I love to make. *grin*
Linus Lacombe imagines the citizens of St Louis running about with pitchforks and torches, ready to tar and feather the Ferris Wheel and ride it out of town on a rail, but instead just kill it
Charlemagne Allen has been there...
Edward Pearse: Oooh I like that building
Aeolus Cleanslate: The World's Congress Auxiliary Bldg is now the Art Institute of Chicago… … and the Maine State Building was moved to Poland Spring resort after the fair – (the home, for us Americans, of Poland Spring water) *grins*
Aeolus Cleanslate: Other noteworthies - the John Bull locomotive returned - now 62 yrs old. And the electrotachyscope (aka Geissler tube) competed with zoopraxiscope … all early moving picture technologies. And of course, John Philip Sousa played daily, Cracker Jack, hamburgers, Hershey chocolate, Scott Joplin/ragtime, Hawaiian hula dancers all made firsts.
Wolf Copperfield hides
Aeolus Cleanslate: okay - two more minutes and I'll rush past 1900 and into the 20th
Alexander Daffyd: mmmmm hersheys
Aeolus Cleanslate: hang in there
Aeolus Cleanslate: the 1900 Exposition in Paris was arguably a retread of 1889 except punctuated by SO MANY 20th century technologies it's worth mentioning. Same location - same Eiffel Tower, except - the Palace of Electricty stole the show
Edward Pearse: When are we building that?
Charlemagne Allen: everyone must have been charged up to see that
Aeolus Cleanslate: and there were full - bore moving sidewalks installed throughout the entire fairgrounds
Sheryl Skytower: the roads must roll!
Linus Lacombe: bwhaha!
Charlemagne Allen: it was very current stuff...
Viv Trafalgar: oooh
Aeolus Cleanslate: unbelievable
Aeolus Cleanslate: all-weather, electrically powered
Alexander Daffyd: still waiting for those sidewalks!
Wolf Copperfield: I would have hurt myself
Wolf Copperfield giggles.
Aeolus Cleanslate: really interesting about 1900 were the amazing motion pictures recorded there by Edison (who won the bid, by the way). The videos are all out there and digital, and worth watching. They made me tear up.
Aeolus Cleanslate sighs
Aeolus Cleanslate: and of course, not to be outdone,
Linus Lacombe: ((those old movies always do that to me...they seem so innocent of what is coming down the pike))
Aeolus Cleanslate: the French decided to beat the Americans at their own game. The cars for the French version were so large, they were removed and used as homes for French families in the region devastated in World War I
Jimmy Branagh: WHoa!
Viv Trafalgar: wow
Wolf Copperfield: o.o
Aeolus Cleanslate: another one I wish I could have seen, demolished in 1937 to build a mall
Sheryl Skytower: ooh... that'd be a nice build! *snorgles*
Aeolus Cleanslate: ...
Wolf Copperfield: typical french
Breezy Carver: grins
Breezy Carver: now now
Wolf Copperfield giggles.
Wolf Copperfield: what? we all know a mall beets a 100 meter feris wheel
Aeolus Cleanslate: the centrepiece of the Palais D'Optique was the largest refracting telescope ever built
Elina Koskinen: at least it didn't burn down...
Breezy Carver: we might do a fair again wiff them someday laughs ..
Aeolus Cleanslate: immense, and open to the public
Aeolus Cleanslate: noteworthy from 1900 -Talking films, escalators,
Linus Lacombe: Too bad they didn't just put the stores in the ferris wheeel cars...first ever ferris mall
Aeolus Cleanslate: Rudolf Diesel exhibited his diesel engine, running on peanut oil.
Ghilayne Andrew: that would be wonderful good fun
Wolf Copperfield: now THAT would have been interesting
Aeolus Cleanslate: the Human Zoo made another appearance - again hugely popular
Ghilayne Andrew: Linus... now there's an idea....
Aeolus Cleanslate: Campbell's Soup was awarded a gold medal (an image of which still appears on its label). So - fifty years have gone by, almost exactly. Fairs are a common occurrence, more or less but then another event creeps in - the Olympic Games. Iin 1900, a sideshow to the fair, even more so in 1904 in St Louis. Fairs were increasingly used as propaganda
Edward Pearse: Unlike the Olympics....
Linus Lacombe: lol @ mr Pearse
Aeolus Cleanslate: and after WWI, the idea of industrial and military and imperial might became decidedly passe. The Olympics were kinder and gentler, by comparison
Aeolus Cleanslate: and slowly eclipsed their more materialistic forebears
Charlemagne Allen: everything's relative....
Aeolus Cleanslate: while providing a forum for the same nationalist/competitive ideas. Of course by the mid-20th century the same could be said about the Olympics, but they are arguably the legacy of the Fairs - as is Epcot. Not only was it inspired by the format of the Worlds Fairs dating back to 1851. Its architecture was directly related. As Fairs became showcases for national supremacy, they also suggested how nations would be *in the future*. And Disney took that sucker home
Viv Trafalgar: hah
Viv Trafalgar: oh dear
Elilka Sieyes gets earwormed just looking at it.
Aeolus Cleanslate: folks - thanks so much for your attention!
Jimmy Branagh applauds.
Perryn Peterson: Applause!!
Elilka Sieyes applauds
Sheryl Skytower: yay!
Alexander Daffyd applauds
Wolf Copperfield: YAY!
Linus Lacombe: /PP
Elina Koskinen: Hurrah!
Jimmy Branagh: Yay!
Viv Trafalgar: ok before you start peppering the speakers with your questions
Beq Janus applauds
Charlemagne Allen applauds
Victor1st Mornington applauds
Perryn Peterson: Huzzzzzah!
Obedience Mactavish applaudes loudly
Edward Pearse applauds
Viv Trafalgar: and your applause
PJ Trenton: ''*·.¸ APPLAUSE ¸.·*``
Aeolus Cleanslate: I'm amazed you all stuck with me! thanks again!
Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
Saffia Widdershins: Thank you Mr Clenslate! That was fascinating!
Obedience Mactavish: Oh that was wonderful, thank you so much
Annechen Lowey: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
Jimmy Branagh: Great job speakers!
Viv Trafalgar gets rolled over by the applause
Jana Wizenheim: braaavo
Viv Trafalgar: I have a few announcements!
Linus Lacombe helps Ms Trafalger up from the ground
Viv Trafalgar: and then we will have questions
Edward Pearse hates being hit with the clap
Ghilayne Andrew cheers Mr. Cleanslate enthusiastically!
Viv Trafalgar: First, thank you so very much Mr. Cleanslate and Ms Carver - you are phenomenal speakers and guests. Thank you to everyone here for being a fantastic audience! Please remember that the speakers jar goes directly to the speakers, and also beside the stage you will find The Carousel of 1893. This wonderful Carousel is a music box complete with the Death March theme created by New Bababge’s very own Canolli Capalini.
Perryn Peterson: HUZZAH!
Beq Janus: May I add that you can support the Salon itself by contributing at the sign at the door here
Viv Trafalgar: Commissioned by Breezy Carver To remind all of the wonders of The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition Midway in Chicago. We hope you enjoy it for years to come ………….
Sheryl Skytower: *snorgles*
Victor1st Mornington: ohhhhhhh :)
Aeolus Cleanslate applauds
Linus Lacombe: fatTASTic!
Viv Trafalgar: please do pick up your copy of this phenomenal craft
Viv Trafalgar: now. back to our speakers
Viv Trafalgar: who has questions?
Edward Pearse: Copy of what?
Aeolus Cleanslate: ((gorgeous, Miss Capalini))
Edward Pearse: Ah down there
Viv Trafalgar: just beside the exhibitionism poster to the left of the stage
Wolf Copperfield: it is beautiful
Viv Trafalgar: it is exquisite
Breezy Carver: and it plays the death march
Sheryl Skytower: huzzah!
Saffia Widdershins: wonderful!
Edward Pearse: Yes I haz a question
Breezy Carver: so you all dont forget Dr Holmes
Breezy Carver: grins
Viv Trafalgar: Please Mr. Pearse
Linus Lacombe: :-)
no name Jimmy chuckles.
Viv Trafalgar: (yes i have a few regardingDr Holmes))
Breezy Carver: who knows . i wasnt able to say what happen to him
Edward Pearse: Mr. C, when was the last of the Fairs held?
Breezy Carver: perhaps he is on his way
Breezy Carver: to babbage !!
Viv Trafalgar: meep!
Breezy Carver: grins
Aeolus Cleanslate: well technically they're still going on
Breezy Carver: indeed !
Aeolus Cleanslate: there is an international body that makes them "official"
Edward Pearse: Are they still called World Fairs?
Edward Pearse: Ah
Breezy Carver: (( you will all have to read the book ))
Sheryl Skytower: we do need a build of his "Castle" for Hallowween somewhere...
Aeolus Cleanslate: they are - if they're official
Elina Koskinen: Excuse me, bed time for this Holmes ;)
Aeolus Cleanslate: but in many ways they lost their cultural importance after 1968
Elina Koskinen: Thanks all, and goodnight!
Aeolus Cleanslate waves
Edward Pearse: Ta ta
Jimmy Branagh: Noight sir!
Jana Wizenheim: bye holmesie
Viv Trafalgar: Good night sir!
Viv Trafalgar: Why do you think things trended big at exhibitions Mr. Cleanslate?
Alexander Daffyd nods politly to those leaving
Aeolus Cleanslate: apparently Brisbane may get the 2020 fair... *grin*
Wolf Copperfield: oooh
Edward Pearse: Ahhhhh
Jana Wizenheim: you know about franz reichelt?
Jasper Kiergarten: apologies if I've plowed into anyone
Edward Pearse now remembers "Expo '88"
Aeolus Cleanslate nods - and London 2000
Charlemagne Allen: i was wondering about the 1851 fax machine...
Obedience Mactavish: Perhaps it hadsometing to do with the national pride issues Miss Trafalger?
Viv Trafalgar: ok too many questions
Viv Trafalgar: Miss Andrew will you keep track?
Viv Trafalgar: I have Miss Wizenheim, Miss Allen, and whom else?
Ghilayne Andrew: Miss Mactavish
Viv Trafalgar: Exactly
Obedience Mactavish smiles
Viv Trafalgar: and then i have 10,000 more questions
Viv Trafalgar: Miss Wizenheim - please
Jana Wizenheim: you know about franz reichelt?
PJ Trenton: Hello Miss Underwood
Viv Trafalgar looks at Mr. Cleanslate and Miss Carver for an answer
Linus Lacombe: I would like to be added to the question list too if possible
Aeolus Cleanslate: I'm sorry I don't
Viv Trafalgar: Certainly Mr. Lacombe
Wolf Copperfield: well, i must be going..
Jana Wizenheim: he made a parachute test from the eiffel tower in 1912
Ghilayne Andrew nods to Mr. Lacombe.
Breezy Carver: oh sorry
Elegia Underwood bows to Mr Trenton.
Breezy Carver: what was the question grins
Wolf Copperfield: Good day, and wonderful presentation!
Sheryl Skytower: "nite, all - great session and my adorations to the speakers!!!
Viv Trafalgar: Like base jumpers do Miss Wizenheim?
Linus Lacombe: From me?
Breezy Carver: ya *smiles*
Viv Trafalgar: Night Sheryl - thank you for coming
Sheryl Skytower: *grabs piece of cake on the way out* :)
Jimmy Branagh: Night Miss Sheryl!
Jana Wizenheim: the funny thing is, there still exists a video footage
Sheryl Skytower: nom nom nom..... good night, all!
Viv Trafalgar: Miss Wizenheim, then Miss Allen, then Miss Obedience, then Mr. Lacombe
Breezy Carver: Yes there is a good deal
Edward Pearse: Night night Dwaggins
Linus Lacombe: Ah...I am wondering if there has been any consideration given to a Steamlands exposition..
Charlemagne Allen: i need to run
Ghilayne Andrew: Your question after Miss Mactivish, Mr. Lacombe.
Linus Lacombe: ops
Breezy Carver: i will post a bunch on my blog grins *smiles*
Charlemagne Allen: wonderful lecture Mr. Cleanslae and Mrs. Carver
Viv Trafalgar: yes please both of you post on your blogs your gorgeous slides -
Viv Trafalgar: and what are the link addresses?
Aeolus Cleanslate: erm, I haven't posted mine yet
Viv Trafalgar: :D
Viv Trafalgar: well please let us know
Aeolus Cleanslate: should I do JPGs or powerpoint?
Aeolus Cleanslate: or both?
Ghilayne Andrew: do you know where we might see the footage Miss Wizenheim
Viv Trafalgar: we will post them with the transcript at http://aethersalon.blogspot.com
Breezy Carver: grins well .. thats something that always can be Proposed although New Babbage just did a nice one and may plan .. do something local in 2010 looks at Mr Cleanslate
Viv Trafalgar: in the next few days
Jana Wizenheim: one moment
Obedience Mactavish: Both please Mr. Cleanslate, that was an amazing presentation
Aeolus Cleanslate: I think a Steamlands Fair would be awesome
Breezy Carver: grins
Aeolus Cleanslate: thank you Miss Mactavish - and congratulations
Aeolus Cleanslate smiles
Obedience Mactavish: Sir, of all the Fairs, which in your opinion was the most impressive? And thank you.
Jasper Kiergarten: excellent presentations, both oy you!
Obedience Mactavish smiles
Breezy Carver: well After Mr Cleanslate gets charge of the Sceince and .. umm .. steam build
Breezy Carver: SUre *smiles*
Beq Janus: !hug Jed
Jana Wizenheim: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno
Aeolus Cleanslate: well I'm partial to 1851, Miss Mactavish, but I think 1851 would have to take the cake
Beq gives Jedburgh30 a big hug.
Edward Pearse: There was a steampunk inventors Exhibition held a few years back but nothing recently
Aeolus Cleanslate: sorry - I'm partial to 1889
Obedience Mactavish: And why is that?
Ghilayne Andrew: 'Miss Wizenheim is searching for footage, Miss Allen, Miss Mactavish, Mr. Lacombe.
Jana Wizenheim: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno
Jimmy Branagh: Oy've got to runn too, all. Thanks very much Miss Breezy an' Mr. Cleanslate, an' Miss Viv faw sponserin' it an' awl!
Breezy Carver: grins i am a 1893 gal myself
Jimmy Branagh: Night now!
Aeolus Cleanslate: well I think 1851 was so far ahead of its time -
no name Jim waves
Breezy Carver: the most scandles really the chicago way
Aeolus Cleanslate: technologically and culturally
Obedience Mactavish: ah, with things like the fax machine
Viv Trafalgar: Night Jimmy!
Aeolus Cleanslate: and the Palace itself
Ghilayne Andrew: Thank you, Miss Wizenheim!
Jana Wizenheim: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt
Aeolus Cleanslate: a huge leap forward
Viv Trafalgar: oh perfect!
Aeolus Cleanslate: but they all have their moments and charms, no doubt
Jana Wizenheim: a short info on wiki, too
Breezy Carver: each one was really when you think of time and years
Aeolus Cleanslate: I think the way they fit in with history is fascinating
Breezy Carver: agreed
Aeolus Cleanslate: in context, each one is amazing
Breezy Carver: we are junkies on the topics
Obedience Mactavish smiles, 'You move me to learn more sir. That in itself is really wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your passion.
Aeolus Cleanslate: and worth time traveling back to - should I get the chance
Breezy Carver: topics can you all tell *smiles*
Ghilayne Andrew smiles. "Your question, Miss Allen?"
Jana Wizenheim: the footage is really short - but amazing
Obedience Mactavish: And you as well Miss Breezy
Breezy Carver: i think thats what makse them special
Breezy Carver: that they are short
Breezy Carver: leaves you wanting more
Breezy Carver: stays with YOU
Breezy Carver: haunts YOU *smiles*
Breezy Carver: each build calls you to look deeper
Obedience Mactavish: You are correct
Ghilayne Andrew looks around for Miss Allen.
Breezy Carver: great marketing
Breezy Carver: gm should try it
Obedience Mactavish: I found many interesting things in the whole presentation.
Viv Trafalgar: I think she's gone
Aeolus Cleanslate: fax machine
Obedience Mactavish: besides that
Obedience Mactavish smiles
Obedience Mactavish: the sheer amount of effort put into something they knew would not last
Viv Trafalgar: hmmm
Breezy Carver: you know i think Mr Cleanslate would agree concure rather its a wonderful topic sort of YOU cant put it down
Aeolus Cleanslate: true
Ghilayne Andrew nods. "Mr. Lancome was after Miss Mactavish
Obedience Mactavish: but the ripple of all of them still trickle down to us today. I for one love Hersy's chocloate!
Obedience Mactavish: oh my, do excuse me.
Obedience Mactavish smiles and falls silent
Aeolus Cleanslate grins
Viv Trafalgar: chuckles, not at all Miss McTavish
Viv Trafalgar: you are quite fine
Ghilayne Andrew: If he is yet present?
Linus Lacombe: I fear I blurted out my question...or comment rather...out of turn...but it was well taken. :-) Thank you
Viv Trafalgar: other questions?
Elilka Sieyes: I have an entirely trivial one...
Viv Trafalgar: I wonder how much research has been done about this other Holmes - the Chicago Holmes - piles of it?
Breezy Carver: grins they are still looking into him. To this day truth! I think he is an over sight. Too many dont even know about him. He was secret for decades.
Jasper Kiergarten: facinating character, indeed
Edward Pearse: I'm sure the aetherweb could answer that Mr. Holmes :-)
Jasper Kiergarten: so able to charm, true to a serial killer
Breezy Carver: he has his own site
Obedience Mactavish: One has to wonder about the female serial killers
Jana Wizenheim: what was his name?
Breezy Carver: hhholmes.com
Breezy Carver: that was not his real name
Viv Trafalgar worries a bit at Miss Mactavish
Edward Pearse: Heh. Apparently turned up in an episode of Supernatural :-)
Breezy Carver: i have his real name if YOU would like
Linus Lacombe: I would love to look Holmes up in a census...see who was living with and around him in the various censuses
Obedience Mactavish smiles blandly, and winks at Miss Trafalgar.
Viv Trafalgar grins somewhat uncomfortably
Ghilayne Andrew smiles. "Dr. Watson, your question was next?"
Jedburgh30 Dagger looks stern
Elilka Sieyes: Ah, it is entirely trivial, and does no justice to these masterful presentations but....
Elilka Sieyes: A medal...for soup?
Aeolus Cleanslate: haha!
Linus Lacombe: :-)
Perryn Peterson: Aye, and for chocolate as well...
Jedburgh30 Dagger: it's what made Pabst "blue ribbon"
Ghilayne Andrew: ok... now the chocolate I can get behind.
Aeolus Cleanslate: remember, before refrigeration, the idea of exported *prepared* food was extremely odd. Most canned goods were poor, and spoiled rapidly. Better than raw food, but not by much
Edward Pearse: Soup in a tin that you didn't have to make from scratch would have been rare
Aeolus Cleanslate: exactly. So *any* food of any quality in a can was remarkable
Ghilayne Andrew: that didn't kill you
Aeolus Cleanslate: and for its day, Campbell's wasn't terrible. The brand was premium until fairly recently, actually
Linus Lacombe: So it was not so much the quality of the soup but rather the novelty of living to tell about it after consuming it...
Aeolus Cleanslate laughs - exactly
Obedience Mactavish: it still isn't bad, who doesn't like tomato soup?
Edward Pearse: I've got a lovely book from the 1890s telling you how to tell whether the meat you had was still able to be used and how to scrape off the blue bits
Linus Lacombe does NOT like tomato soup
Aeolus Cleanslate: !! you're all extremely kind
Jana Wizenheim: warhol liked it
Elilka Sieyes grins "Thank you, I did wonder at it!"
Keithen Darkfold HATES tomatoe soup aswel
Aeolus Cleanslate: folks - this has been wonderful, but I'm afraid I must make my departure...
Ghilayne Andrew nods to Miss Darkfold.
Edward Pearse quite likes pumpkin soup
Aeolus Cleanslate: RL calls
Jasper Kiergarten: good day Aeo
Aeolus Cleanslate: thanks again!
Linus Lacombe: Thank you for the fine presentation...both presenters!
Jana Wizenheim: bye
Keithen Darkfold: oh my pumpkin soup?
Breezy Carver: AE thank YOU soo much
Jasper Kiergarten: great presentaitions, both of you!
Breezy Carver: grins at YOU
Keithen Darkfold: yes very well shown!
Viv Trafalgar: Huge applause mr cleanslate!
Aeolus Cleanslate: excellent work - everyone. Breezy - it was an honor to share the stage
Elilka Sieyes applauds the pair.
Keithen Darkfold claps
Aeolus Cleanslate waves
Ghilayne Andrew: Thank you both... that was a fascinating presentation... and many thanks to Viv who arranges all this so the rest of us can enjoy.
Jedburgh30 Dagger: applauds
Obedience Mactavish claps
Ghilayne Andrew applauds!
Perryn Peterson: Huzzah once more !!
Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
Obedience Mactavish: Thank you both so much
Saffia Widdershins applauds
Viv Trafalgar: Are there any more questions for Miss Carver?
KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
Viv Trafalgar: I will notify on the new babbage ning when the transcript is availalbe
Ghilayne Andrew: With pictures, I hope?
Viv Trafalgar: and please do not miss next month's salon
Viv Trafalgar: yes i hope so!
Viv Trafalgar: Next month ...
Ghilayne Andrew: and Miss Wizenheim's video clip
Viv Trafalgar: i shouldn't say now
Ghilayne Andrew: it's amazing
Viv Trafalgar: I should say in a few days, maybe... weeks
Ghilayne Andrew: oh, just tease us a little, Viv.
Viv Trafalgar: oh yes
Viv Trafalgar: mhm
Viv Trafalgar: this was a stunning salon and i'm happy to just bask in it a bit
Viv Trafalgar: it was a wonderful finish to our first year
Elilka Sieyes grins
Jedburgh30 Dagger: woohoo
Saffia Widdershins: That was fascibating
Viv Trafalgar: and the next salon will be our first anniversary salon
Edward Pearse: A whole year
Viv Trafalgar: the topic will be Whimsy!
Ghilayne Andrew beams!
Viv Trafalgar: and the speakers
Viv Trafalgar: ... well what do you think Breezy, should I tell them?
Ghilayne Andrew: YES!
Breezy Carver: yes
Ghilayne Andrew laughs and blushes slightly.
Viv Trafalgar: aw. you sure?
Breezy Carver: YES
Viv Trafalgar: it's hard on them to have to follow you and Mr. Cleanslate
Breezy Carver: makes faces
Victor1st Mornington chuckles
Viv Trafalgar: The speakers for Next month's salon will be Dame Ordinal Malaprop and Miss Hyasynth Tiramisu.
Breezy Carver: plays with the music box
Viv Trafalgar: :D
Breezy Carver: grins
Ghilayne Andrew: ooooooooo
Ghilayne Andrew: ok.
Viv Trafalgar: And we will recognize all of our speakers from this year at the start of the event
Edward Pearse: That's got to be the most spritely funeral march I've ever heard
Breezy Carver: Awww
Viv Trafalgar: with a special treat
Breezy Carver: thats great sensation .. Big smile
Ghilayne Andrew laughs at Mr. Pearse and nods.
Obedience Mactavish: Thank you all again.
Linus Lacombe: It is perhaps for a wicked witch?
Edward Pearse: Well I must be off. Thanks again for a wonderful Salon
Breezy Carver: aww
Viv Trafalgar: Thank you so much for coming! Edward good to see you this side of daylight
Edward Pearse grins
Ghilayne Andrew smiles and nods. "It was delightful seeing you again, Mr. Pearse. I must be heading along home, as well."
Edward Pearse: This morning rubbish will kill me
Victor1st Mornington: i must be off as well folks :) work calls at the studio in clockhaven :)
Keithen Darkfold: Aswell as me, the clinic calls!
Keithen Darkfold: Very good presentation!
Jasper Kiergarten: thank you Breezy, that was most informative
Jasper Kiergarten: I'm a fan of the 93 fair myself :)
Linus Lacombe: What a sweet little carousel!
Viv Trafalgar: it's stunning
Linus Lacombe: Thank you all who played a part in the event for a wonderful set of lectures!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment