Fair Weather

Fair Weather is a 2001 historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The author is award-winning children’s novelist Richard Peck, known for his incorporation of historical settings and events. Fair Weather follows 13-year-old Rosie Beckett, her two siblings, and her grandfather as they journey from their rural Illinois farm to the bustling city of Chicago, at the invitation of Rosie’s Aunt Euterpe. Through Rosie’s eyes over the course of a week, readers experience the wonders and innovations of the World’s Columbian Exposition, which contrast sharply with her simple country life. The novel is filled with vivid descriptions of historical figures and inventions, the dynamic and chaotic atmosphere of the fair, and numerous comic misadventures. As the novel progresses, Rosie matures and gains experience, and Aunt Euterpe’s life is forever changed.

Once the family experiences the fair (from Chapter 6), the book is punctuated occasionally with historical images from 1893. These are woven into the novel as postcard images, with corresponding messages written from Rosie to her parents.

This guide uses the 2001 hardcover edition by Dial Books for Young Readers. Citations are to page numbers in this edition.

Plot Summary

It is summer 1893. In rural Christian County, Illinois, 13-year-old Rosie Beckett and her seven-year-old brother, Buster, discuss their older sister, Lottie. At 17, Lottie is being courted by a hired hand, Everett, of whom their mother is wary. Rosie, who is freckled, red-haired, and spunky, wonders if anyone will ever want to marry her.

Granddad Fuller returns from town with a letter from the children’s aunt, Aunt Euterpe Fuller Fleischacker, who lives in Chicago. Euterpe writes about the World’s Columbian Exposition, a fair to honor the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America. With some condescension, Euterpe invites Mama and the children to visit at her expense to see the fair. She encloses four train tickets, specifically excluding her father, Granddad. In bed that night, the sisters talk over the invitation and wonder if Mama will accept.

The next morning, Mama asks Granddad to take her and the children to town in the wagon. She gives Granddad a letter to mail. At the dry goods store, she informs the clerk that the children need clothes for the “Columbian Exposition at Chicago,” and they realize they will be going to the fair.

The night before they are to leave for Chicago, Rosie is frightened, wishing she could stay home. Mama comes into the girls’ bedroom and announces that she isn’t going with them. She has sent her ticket back to Euterpe. The children board their train, and Granddad also sneaks on. He explains he has taken Mama’s ticket for himself instead of mailing it back.

In Chicago, Granddad heads to the baggage car. The children see Aunt Euterpe, dressed all in black. Granddad appears with his dog, Tip, and Aunt Euterpe greets him listlessly. As they drive to Euterpe’s house, she points out the home of the Potter Palmers, explaining that Mrs. Potter Palmer is the “President of the Board of Lady Managers for the fair” (57). Seeing Aunt Euterpe’s home, the children realize that their aunt is rich.

Granddad criticizes the food served to them by Aunt Euterpe’s cook. He says that he is going to the fair to eat. The children and Euterpe go with him. Rosie is stunned by the effect of the fair’s electric lighting, its grand pavilions, and exciting spectacles. After they eat, Grandpa points out a theater playing a Lillian Russell film. Euterpe expresses her shock: Russell is a divorcée, wears make-up, and was barred from an exclusive ladies’ society club.

The next morning, the girls wake early, scrub the kitchen, and make a breakfast of pancakes. The cook appears and complains loudly to Aunt Euterpe. When Lottie says the kitchen was filthy, the cook leaves. Euterpe wonders if she should move into a hotel, as she cannot cook for herself. She reveals that, because she was formerly Mr. Fleischacker’s secretary, people gossiped about their marriage. Friends of his first wife cut her off socially, and she still receives no social calls, even after his death. Rosie realizes that her aunt has invited the family to Chicago because she is lonely.

At the fair, Rosie, Lottie, and Aunt Euterpe see various sights in the Women’s Building and hear a lecture about women’s suffrage. They go to the Turkish Pavilion, and Aunt Euterpe is nervous to see Mrs. Potter Palmer with other luminaries of Chicago society. Rosie impulsively tells Mrs. Palmer what a grand city she has. Mrs. Palmer nods, and Rosie points to her aunt and says she would like to introduce them.

Granddad appears, shouting that he has lost Buster. Rosie is mortified. They search and find him listening to a lecture on filmmaking. In the carriage home, Lottie asks what Rosie was thinking. Rosie says she thought that if Mrs. Palmer and Aunt Euterpe were introduced, they might visit each other. Euterpe pats her hand but says she will now have to go live in a hotel in another city.

Lottie and Rosie make breakfast: They have taken over the kitchen. Aunt Euterpe offers to take the girls clothes shopping, and Lottie makes a deal: They will accept the new clothes if Aunt Euterpe buys some for herself that are not black. Afterward, the family goes to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. Granddad insists on taking his dog, Tip. Tip breaks free in excitement and chases the act in the arena. When Granddad fetches his dog, Buffalo Bill turns around to greet him by name. Euterpe explains that her father was in the Civil War with Buffalo Bill. The family meets Buffalo Bill Cody, who sweeps off his hat and kisses Aunt Euterpe’s hand. He offers Euterpe and the girls the use of his box seats. 

In Cody’s box sits the most beautiful woman they have ever seen. She smiles and nods, but Rosie has learned a “hard lesson”: You are not supposed to speak to anyone to whom you haven’t been introduced. The woman and Aunt Euterpe chat, however, before the show ends and Buffalo Bill rides to their box. He introduces the stranger to the crowd as “the toast of America—Miss Lillian Russell!” (118). Granddad comes to the box, and Russell offers him her hand. He introduces her to Aunt Euterpe. Russell hesitates, aware of her reputation and the cruelty of Chicago’s matrons. Euterpe, however, rises to the occasion by saying that “Miss Russell” honors the city with her presence.

The family visits the fair every day. One day they come home to a visiting card from Mrs. Danforth Evans, the wife of a dean at the University of Chicago. They have all been invited to a musical evening at her home the next day. At the event, Mrs. Evans says she thought it was time she met Aunt Euterpe. She introduces them to her husband, the dean, and then to a handsome young man. This is Lottie’s boyfriend, Everett. He is a college student who had taken the job in Christian County as a summer vacation experience. Lottie has known all along she would be sure to see Everett in Chicago.

On their last night, the family rides on the Ferris wheel. Rosie believes that the fair and all the world belongs to her.

Lottie and Everett marry the next summer and live in Chicago. Rosie goes to live with them so she can go to high school there. Aunt Euterpe sells her house, moves into a nice hotel, and is welcomed into society. Buster goes out east to find work in the motion pictures, eventually becoming a famous producer of Hollywood Westerns. 

Peck’s author’s note describes how the fair closed on October 30, 1893, after Chicago’s mayor was assassinated. The author describes the lasting influence of the fair, including architecture, artistic creations, new foods and innovative products.