The Electric Theatre and Cafe at the Fair. It's an Isaiah West Taber photo from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection that appears on the Open SF History Project site. Thanks to Jack Tillmany for finding it in the collection. The California State Library also has a version of the photo.
Another I.W. Taber shot. Thanks to Bob Ristelhueber for locating this one in the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
The interior of the Japanese Theatre. Yes, that's a guy hanging upside down above the stage. It's an I.W. Taber photo from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection appearing on the Open SF History Project website. Also on the site see a photo of the main gate of the Japanese Village and another stage view.
The Persian Palace Theatre at the Fair. It's a photo appearing on the Open SF History Project website. Thanks to Lily Castello for spotting it for a post on the BAHT Facebook page.
A wider view of the Persian Palace on Cairo Street. It's a B.W. Kilburn photo from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection appearing on the open SF History Project website. The California State Library has a view with several performers in front of the left side of the facade, their #001393191
The Open SF History Project has an I.W. Taber view of performers onstage as well as a Taber photo of another group of performers including Little Egypt. The Little Egypt shot also appears in California State Library set #001473378
of 7 Cairo Street photos which also has a facade view we don't see in
the Open SF History Project collection. The CSL has that set labeled
"Oriental Village."
The panorama "Kilauea, the Burning Volcano" was exhibited at the Fair. This shot of the building was taken by I.W. Taber. Thanks to panorama researcher Gene Meier for locating it. He notes that the Kilauea Cyclorama Co. was incorporated with $83,000 of stock. The painting had earlier been exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
More information: See the Wikipedia article about the Fair. The Open SF History Project site has over 300 photos of the Fair in their Photo Gallery: Midwinter Fair 1894. One of the photos is a view of Polynesian performers onstage.
More panoramas: An early panorama exhibition was the painting "Paradise Lost" shown at the Eureka Theatre in 1865, accomplished by having it or rollers so it slowly moved across the stage. A Tent Panorama on Market St. at City Hall Ave. exhibited "The Battle of Gettysburg" in 1886. The Panorama Building
at 10th and Market exhibited "The Storming of Missionary Ridge"
beginning in 1887 and then a different version of "The Battle of Gettysburg." A building at Mason and Eddy opened in 1884 with
"The Battle of Waterloo," was later used as a music hall, and then
rebuilt as the Tivoli Opera House. And we had another panorama that
was converted into a theatre. The building at 8th and Market that had
exhibited the "Battle of Manila Bay" panorama was rebuilt to become the Central Theatre in 1900.
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Gene Meier
ReplyDeleteThe KILAUEA VOLCANO cyclorama that was featured at The World Columbian Exposition in 1893 was removed to San Francisco to appear in The Mid Winter Fair