Tour de force

John and Arlene Angerame are a tour de force, at least when it comes to Chicago.

“We have been doing tours for 7 or 8 years,” said John.

The Sun City couple leads historical and literature-based excursions around Chicago. Most recently, they held a “Devil in the White City” tour based on the book by Erik Larsson. The book tells the tale of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the exploits of serial murderer Dr. Henry H. Holmes.

Arlene explained the philosophy behind their tours.

“We enjoy not only the tours, but meeting people who go on these tours. Some of the residents would not be able to do these tours if these charter trips were not offered,” said Arlene.

The couple has led a variety of types of tours.

“The world’s fair of 1893 has been a favorite of mine,” John said.

This tour began with a stop at the new Chicago Architecture Center and a slide presentation featuring period photographs of the Fair and the prominent characters of that period.

Kathleen Carpenter, a docent at the center, joined the group on the bus and led the group to locations and buildings that fairgoers would have experienced.

“The docent was awesome,” said tour participant Judy Deering. “She was very informative and so knowledgeable about the book and the city. I saw spots here in Chicago that I did not know about or just read about and never would have seen.”

The tour has inspired others to do some of their own adventuring.

Judy and Noel Hannon got motivated by the tour to explore more about the World’s Fair.

Judy said, “I saw that they offer a ‘see and taste’ tour of the World’s Fair that could be interesting especially if they have brownies.”

Bertha Palmer, a very influential figure for the World’s Fair, wanted a dessert that would be included in the lunchboxes and be easy to eat. The brownie that was served at the Columbian Exposition World Fair in 1893 was created in the Palmer House kitchen.

Judy continued, “I did not realize the magnitude of the venue of the buildings of the fair. To think that the Museum of Science and Industry was one of the smaller buildings.”

Sue and Jim Coltman also joined the tour because of an interest in the Chicago World’s fair.

“It was great to see the landscape of the fair and learn more facts about that time in Chicago’s History,” said Jim.

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