Today, based on archaeological research from the 1960s, scholars believe that Vikings came to America 500 years before Christopher Columbus did. But that wasn’t the case in 1893. Many people doubted that Vikings could have reached North America, until an exhibit from Norway at the fair removed those doubts.
The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago was held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in America in 1492. (The fair started the following year, 1893, to allow for an additional year of preparations.) The official name of the fair was the “World’s Columbian Exposition” in honor of Columbus. Columbus was represented in many ways, including a large statue in front of the Administration building. (You can see this statue very small on the front of the box.)
Administration Building, East Entrance
In 1880, a 9th-century Viking ship was discovered in a burial mound in Norway. For display at the fair, Norwegian shipowners built an exact replica of the ship in Norway. A crew of 11 sailed the ship from Norway to Chicago. They arrived on July 12, 1893 (two months after the opening of the fair) after a four-week journey. The replica ship was a popular exhibit for the rest of the fair.
The Viking by Charles Graham. The Chicago Tribune Art Supplements, 1893.
You can see the original ship (the one excavated in 1880) on display at The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. The replica ship remained in the United States, and today you can visit it in Geneva, Illinois. (It is only available on very limited days and times, so check the schedule before you go: Visit The Viking Ship. The first date of this year, April 16, is coming up.)
I recently found all the talks from a 2013 conference on C.S. Lewis. The conference was titled, “C.S. Lewis, Romantic Rationalist,” and the first keynote talk (by John Piper) discussed exactly what they meant by “romantic rationalist.” I highly recommend this talk, and I have been enjoying many of the others as well.
I do not answer the question [“Where is the fun for the players?”] well on my designs. … So … I watch people playing it. I watch them very carefully. I don’t necessarily listen to what they say … but I watch like a hawk. And almost every design I’ve had, the answer will come from that experience. You watch people smile, you see when they’re struggling, when they furrow their brows, when they’re having a hard time.
While the fair created many business opportunities, those opportunities did not always end up being successful for everyone involved. We can see that looking at how two early motion picture devices intersected with the history of the fair.
Zoopraxigraphical Hall — Kinetoscope
Zoopraxiscope
Eadweard Muybridge was an eccentric British scientist and a pioneer in photography. He was famous in his day for his large collection of photographs of Yosemite Valley in California, and he is still known today for his work in animal locomotion. He invented the zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures, that he used during his lectures. While he was preparing for a trip to Asia, the fair’s Fine Arts Commission invited him give his lectures on the Midway.
Muybridge Lectured on Animal Motion on the Midway
He spent $6,000 for the building, which he named Zoopraxigraphical Hall. He charged admission and sold his books and other merchandise. Film historians consider this the first commercial movie theater, the first place where audiences paid admission to see motion pictures. Unfortunately, his scientific lectures could not compete with all the other fun and entertaining attractions on the Midway. He made only a tiny profit ($213.43) for the entire fair.
You can watch some of his short films online in this article from the Telegraph: The world’s first films.
Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison saw the zoopraxiscope and discussed it with Muybridge in 1888. Edison did not believe projected motion pictures could be commercially viable but was apparently inspired to start work on an individual viewing device that he called a kinetoscope. Edison assigned his employee William Dickinson to work on it. (They worked with George Eastman, founder of Kodak, to develop the 35mm filmstrip for use with the kinetoscope.) They displayed a working prototype in 1891.
Thomas Edison – Kinetoscope
Edison had big plans for the kinetoscope at the World’s Fair in 1893. He planned to produce a number of them and have them prominently on display. Production delays and a nervous breakdown by Dickinson delayed that debut: they were not ready for May 1, 1893. Instead, Edison debuted the first kinetoscope in Brooklyn on May 9. Historians disagree on whether or not the kinetoscope appeared at the fair at all (reports in Scientific American seem to indicate that one kinetoscope was part of Edison’s phonograph exhibit), but it definitely wasn’t the large attraction Edison hoped to have ready.
Kinetoscope Parlor in Boston
The kinetoscope finally had a wide release in 1894. Kinetoscope parlors operated in New York, San Francisco, Paris, London, and other cities. However, its popularity soon waned as more and more people worked on projecting motion pictures for wider audiences. By 1896, Edison had focused his attention on projected motion pictures. He eventually re-purposed the name “kinetoscope” and applied it to his projection technology.
So here’s my plan: I want to stop feeling guilty for needing time to reply [to email]. I want to stop apologizing for the delay. I want to have days where I don’t email but instead just work on my own stuff. I don’t want to stress about what you’re thinking or feeling. You’ll be okay, and if you’re not, we’ll talk about it, right? Since, as Dr. Herring’s research shows, you’re more likely to be supportive and pepper me with emoticons.
My friend Eduardo Baraf has been making games for his entire career. He recently posted a video that’s part philosophy, part motivational speech about making games. I’ve only been doing this seriously for about four years, but what he said really resonated with me. Here’s my commentary on what stood out to me from the video.
Think Of Yourself As An Artist
You can think about making games (like making other forms of entertainment) as both a business endeavor and as an artistic endeavor. On the one hand, game makers are designing products to sell in the marketplace. On the other hand, they are creating experiences that will nourish the souls of those who experience them — as well as their own souls through the process of creating them. I see Eduardo’s advice as a call to all of us to focus on the artistic side of making games:
“Being a creator — being somebody who puts their heart and soul into a product and brings it to others — is incredible. The rewards are huge, and it is so quickly dwarfs the effort. You hear how they’re playing it and enjoying it, that’s a memory that’s now a part of their lives. There is so much joy that you can get and feel from the experience of others playing your game, from the joy that they’re having.”
“Making a game takes time, commitment, and effort. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s the journey, it’s the adventure. It’s the learning, exploring the design, who you’re working with, getting to know your teammates. It’s really important that you enjoy the moments of it. Games are entertainment, which is a hit-driven business. It’s really easy to have something that misses for no good reason. If you get so caught up in the end, you’re working hard, you’re working hard, and you don’t enjoy the travels, and then it’s gone.”
Making games will grow you as a person and bring joy to other people’s lives. It’s certainly wonderful when you can also make money doing those things, but never lose sight of the artistic nature of what you are doing.
Be Introspective
He calls out some really important questions to ask yourself as you make games:
Skill – What is it that you are good at?
Satisfaction – What is it that brings you joy in life?
Objective – What are you trying to accomplish?
It’s fine if you don’t know the answers when you start. I certainly didn’t. (You can read a little about my own journey so far in my post “How I Became A Board Game Publisher.”) In many ways, I’m still exploring all of these:
“You might not know, and making games is a way to learn. You might not know until your third game or your fourth game or your tenth game. Be introspective as you make games and figure it out.”
As far as your objective goes, remember that you don’t have to have the same objective as everyone else. There are lots of ways to find personal satisfaction making games:
“Creating something doesn’t have to be about making a product or making money.”
Don’t sell yourself short, of course: if you want to start a business or sell your game to a publisher, then by all means work towards that. But you don’t have to take other people’s objectives and apply them to yourself: it’s perfectly fine to find your path.
Making Games Is A Lifelong Discipline
Inherent in this idea of introspection is the notion that making games can be a lifelong discipline. Eduardo doesn’t emphasize this point much, but he does mention his experience at the beginning:
“I’ve been making games my entire career. 15+ years. Independent, for companies. Video games, card games, board games. Dozens and dozens of products.”
Each project is a journey, yes, but being a game maker can be a much larger journey if you want it to be.
When I first started, I had a short-term objective to make a game and run a Kickstarter campaign. (Looking back, I would say I was primarily interested in moving a couple items from my bucket list to my resume back then.) That was a perfectly reasonable objective, and I wouldn’t fault anyone who gets that far and decides to move on to other types of creative work. But I fell in love with making games, with the challenge it brings me and with the joy it brings to other people, and my objective has now shifted to something much longer-term: my goal now is to study, practice, and make relationships that will help me get better and better at making games.
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Eduardo emphasizes these points a little differently, and he covers other points I didn’t include in this post. I highly recommend you check out the full video: So You Want To Make A Game
I continued my series on cash flow, profit, and distribution for my Foxtrot Games blog by looking at how a successful Kickstarter campaign factors in to the 5× multiplier.
I have learned many of these same lessons by studying the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien that Trevor McMaken did:
1. Art Is A Lifelong Discipline
2. Inspiration Can Come at Anytime
3. Your Art Might Not Be Your Job
4. Practicing Art Means Setting Priorities
5. Artists Need Collaborative Friends
6. Our Art Reflects Our Faith
7. Art Can Start in the Home
Yesterday, I discovered this cool painting from the 1893 World’s Fair! It captures the spirit and atmosphere I’ve imagined on the Midway. (I can’t tell if it was painted in 1893 or not.)
