What We Saw at Madame World's Fair - Elizabeth Gordon

The Court of the Universe

Dear Cousins:

While we were in the Court of the Universe, father thought we had better have another lesson on sculpture.

He considers that the fountains of The Rising Sun and Descending Night are the very finest things at the Fair, and he has traveled abroad and is a good judge. They are the work of Adolph A. Weinman. Father wants us to put in the names of sculptors and artists not because he expects us to remember them just now, but because big brother will want to know.

The very big groups on the triumphal arches attracted our attention, and we asked about them and what they were supposed to mean. Everything about the Fair has some meaning, but we do not expect to get it all. The group with the elephant and the Oriental gentlemen represents Eastern civilization on the way to meet Western civilization, which is represented by the group on the other arch - that with the prairie schooner drawn by oxen, and the figure of the Alaskan woman.

The Spirit of the East marching to meet The Spirit of the West is meant to typify the meeting of the world's families now that the Canal has been completed.

The groups are the work of A. Stirling Calder, Leo Lentelli, and Frederick C. R. Roth.

Father liked very much the "Hopes of the Future" and "The Mother of Tomorrow," two of Mr. Calder's best things, in the group.

We liked, especially after the lights were on, the figures representing stars, of which so many are used in the avenue leading north.

Mr. Robert I. Aitken has four good figures in this court, and in the evening when the lights were on and the vapor was rising from the urns it looked like a story out of the Arabian Nights.

The flowers are lovely, and you never for a moment feel away from home, because all the courts are so homey-feeling, just like one's own garden.

Father said after awhile that he thought it would be well for us to see something that we could really understand, and so he took us over to see Edith Woodman Burroughs' dear little figure of "Youth" which she has made for a fountain. We just loved it, it looks so girly, and we were also much interested in the Fountain of Eldorado by Mrs. Whitney, because we have read the story about Ponce de Leon.

It would be nice to be a sculptor if one were a boy, unless one could be an aviator.

Your loving cousins,

Jane and Ellen.

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The Court of the Universe Dear Cousins: While we were in the Court of the Universe, father thought we had better have another lesson on sculpture. He considers that the fountains of The Rising Sun and Descending Night are the very finest things at the Fair, and he has traveled abroad and is a good judge. They are the work of Adolph A. Weinman. Father wants us to put in the names of sculptors and artists not because he expects us to remember them just now, but because big brother will want to know. The very big groups on the triumphal arches attracted our attention, and we asked about them and what they were supposed to mean. Everything about the Fair has some meaning, but we do not expect to get it all. The group with the elephant and the Oriental gentlemen represents Eastern civilization on the way to meet Western civilization, which is represented by the group on the other arch - that with the prairie schooner drawn by oxen, and the figure of the Alaskan woman. The Spirit of the East marching to meet The Spirit of the West is meant to typify the meeting of the world's families now that the Canal has been completed. The groups are the work of A. Stirling Calder, Leo Lentelli, and Frederick C. R. Roth. Father liked very much the "Hopes of the Future" and "The Mother of Tomorrow," two of Mr. Calder's best things, in the group. We liked, especially after the lights were on, the figures representing stars, of which so many are used in the avenue leading north. Mr. Robert I. Aitken has four good figures in this court, and in the evening when the lights were on and the vapor was rising from the urns it looked like a story out of the Arabian Nights. The flowers are lovely, and you never for a moment feel away from home, because all the courts are so homey-feeling, just like one's own garden. Father said after awhile that he thought it would be well for us to see something that we could really understand, and so he took us over to see Edith Woodman Burroughs' dear little figure of "Youth" which she has made for a fountain. We just loved it, it looks so girly, and we were also much interested in the Fountain of Eldorado by Mrs. Whitney, because we have read the story about Ponce de Leon. It would be nice to be a sculptor if one were a boy, unless one could be an aviator. Your loving cousins, Jane and Ellen.