The Chicago World’s Fair Exhibit at the Field Museum

There are a lot of great things about living a few hours from Chicago. It’s a quick drive for great activities, sports and shopping.

So, when the Field Museum was looking for bloggers to check out the new Chicago World’s Fair Exhibit, I was totally in. I went to the museum as a kid and have lots of fond memories of visiting, but I haven’t been in years. I thought it could be a fun day trip with my mini me.

So we loaded up the car and set our sights to the Windy City. Which was truly windy. It turned out to be a great rainy day in the city. (Check out my kid with his hands in the air below.)

And we were lucky enough to have our friends Stephanie and Miles along for the ride.

Miles and Henry are total bffs. It’s adorable. They loved playing with SUE the T-Rex.

The Field Museum was born out of the 1893 World’s Fair – many of the original collections are formed by objects that were  displayed at the Fair. As we were told, the museum truly belongs to the people and the history of Chicago. Really cool, right?

This new exhibition open the vaults to share lots more items from the 1883 Chicago World’s Fair.

Before we arrived, I downloaded The Field Museum Tours mobile app and we followed it throughout the museum. It was really fun to find the QR codes and learn more about those items. We particularly loved the first QR code in the lobby – it was a 360 panorama of what the Chicago World’s Fair looked like in 1893.

 

Isn’t that amazing? Does anyone else wish they lived in Chicago in 1883?

Anyhoo, it was sort of like a treasure hunt because many of the parts of the World’s Fair exhibits are integrated in permanent displays. We made our way through much of the museum finding the QR codes and learning more. And what the scientists knew in 1883 was quite different than what they know now.

My toddler slept through almost everything. One of the security guards did make a good point – we were going through the exhibits with all the dead animals. What can I expect? 😉

The animal displays were our favorite parts! The way they were staged was nothing short of amazing!

And don’t get me started on the elephants – the boys were obsessed!

In case you are interested in making the trip – here are a few other details about the Chicago World’s Fair Exhibition. You don’t want to miss it!

About the Chicago World’s Fair Exhibition

Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair takes visitors back to 1893, to the World’s Columbian Exposition—one of the greatest events in the history of Chicago and the U.S. The exhibition will show today’s Museum visitors what visitors to the Fair saw 120 years ago.

What visitors see

• Fair memorabilia, such as one of the financial ledgers and tickets.
• Peruvian mummies, and 3D printed replicas of figurines found inside one of the mummy bundles.
• Instruments from the gamelan played at the Javanese village on the Fair’s Midway.
• Large-scale murals and atmospheric projections that will take visitors into the Fair’s grounds.
• Two digital interactives allowing visitors to explore and engage with the earliest Museum’s collections through new technologies.

And thanks to Stephanie and Miles – they made our trip extra fun.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.