Bertha Palmer requested a boxed-lunch brownie for women attending which 1893 Chicago fair?

Bertha Palmer requested a boxed-lunch brownie for women attending the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Palmer was a prominent Chicago socialite and chaired the exposition’s Board of Lady Managers. According to the familiar origin story, she asked the pastry staff of the Palmer House Hotel to create a dessert that was smaller than cake and practical to include in boxed lunches for women visiting the fair.

The resulting Palmer House Brownie was a rich chocolate confection made with walnuts and topped with an apricot glaze. The hotel still presents this dessert as a version of the original recipe. The name “brownie,” however, was not necessarily used for this particular dessert at the time; the historical record shows that the term became established more gradually.

The fair’s full name is important. The 1893 event is commonly called the Chicago World’s Fair, but its formal name was the World’s Columbian Exposition. It is often confused with the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in St. Louis.