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Chicago, grande roue (film)

  • Catalogue Number: 338
  • Type: Film
  • Length: 1 minute

Chicago, grande roue is a one minute, silent movie by French filmmakers, the Lumiere Brothers. The camera is set on the southwest corner of W Wrightwood Avenue, looking northeast across N Clark Street at George Ferris's Chicago Wheel originally built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The enormous Ferris Wheel was 264 feet tall (80.4 metres), fitted with 36 gondolas able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160. - AsNotedIn

It is impossible for the non-mechanical mind to understand how such a Brobdingnag continues to keep itself erect, it has no visible means of support - none that appear adequate. The spokes look like cobwebs; they are after the fashion of those on the newest make of bicycles.
Julian Hawthorne




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Timeline

Y/M/D Association Description Place Locale Food Event
1893/03/18 Forged in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company, the 89,320 pound axle for the Ferris Wheel arrives in Chicago. The largest hollow forging in the world, it is 45.5 feet long and 33 inches in diameter.
1893/04/00 George Westinghouse Supplier A Westinghouse air brake is installed to control the Ferris Wheel which is driven by 1000 hp reversible engine. A second 1000 hp engine is held in reserve. Invention of the Air Brake
1893/06/00 Julian Hawthorne Visitor Workmen remove the falsework that supports his wheel. "It is impossible for the non-mechanical mind to understand how such a Brobdingnag continues to keep itself erect." - Julian Hawthorne Midway Plaisance Park, Chicago Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
1893/06/21 Bertha M Palmer Dignitary Mayor Harrison, Bertha Palmer and the entire Chicago city council, join George Ferris on the speaker's platform for the opening of the Ferris Wheel. Midway Plaisance Park, Chicago Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
1893/06/21 George W Ferris Engineer The Ferris' Wheel opens to the public on the Midway Plaisance at the Columbian Expo. The ride makes two revolutions in 20 minutes, the first to allow passenger egress and a second nine-minute non-stop rotation. The ticket price is 50 cents ($15 in 2021). Midway Plaisance Park, Chicago Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
1894/04/00 George W Ferris Owner In the Spring, George Ferris ceases operations of the Chicago Wheel. It will take 86 days and cost $14,833 (today $445,000) to have it dismantled and placed in storage. World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
1895/00/00 Charles T Yerkes Investor Charles Tyson Yerkes invest in George Ferris' "Ferris Wheel Park" located near the end of one of Yerkes' streetcar lines.
1895/00/00 William Dickson Boyce Activist Local resident, William D Boyce, files a Circuit Court action against the owners of the Ferris Wheel to have it removed. This legal action will fail.
1895/00/00 George W Ferris Engineer George Ferris assembles his Big Wheel at the 1200 block of N Clark St (today, 2600 block of N Clark St) and opens 'Ferris Wheel Park'. Investors sell bonds to landscape the grounds, build a restaurant, beer garden, bandshell and Vaudeville theater.
1896/00/00 Lumiere Brothers Director Lumiere Brothers shoot "Chicago, grande roue". A one minute film recording of the intersection of Wrightwood and Clark with the Ferris Wheel in the background.
1896/11/00 George W Ferris Engineer Struggling financially, the Ferris Wheel is seized by the Cook County Sheriff while Ferris Wheel Park remains open for business.
1896/11/22 George W Ferris Died George Ferris dies of typhoid fever at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1903/00/00 Chicago House Wrecking Company Owner The Chicago House Wrecking Company purchases the Chicago Ferris Wheel for $8,150 (about $245,800 in 2021).
1904/00/00 Chicago House Wrecking Company Owner The Chicago House Wrecking Company dismantles the Columbian Expo Ferris Wheel and transports it by rail to St Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition where the CHWC will earned about $215,000 (c $6,500,000 in 2021). Forest Park, STL
1904/07/00 George W Ferris Engineer George Ferris's Columbian Exposition Ferris Wheel is erected in St Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Forest Park, STL Louisiana Purchase Exposition
1906/05/11 Chicago House Wrecking Company Owner Unable to find buyers for the great Ferris Wheel, the Chicago House Wrecking Company dynamites the structure. The CHWC will sell the metal for scrap. Forest Park, STL

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Particulars for Chicago, grande roue (film):
Structure Ferris Wheel a large rotating upright wheel capable of carrying passenger
Art Type Film
Narrative Arts Silent Film




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