Inspired by this week's Sepia Saturday I have decided to re-post this blog post from 2010 ...
Over the few years that I've been collecting vintage postcards I have found a variety of different cards from the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The exhibition was held in the White City area to the west of central London, and had something in the region of 8 million visitors. Most of the buildings which made up the exhibition are long gone and during my research I was dismayed to find that the last remaining buildings were demolished and replaced by a shopping centre.
My favourite card is probably the first one, the bird's-eye view, as it gives a fantastic impression of the size and scale of the event 100 years on. The Flip-Flap card comes a close second, primarily for the crowd admiring it in wonder.
I notice from my reasearch that other attractions included an Irish village and a Sengalese village, amongst many others, so I'll be keeping an eye open for postcards of those.
Over the few years that I've been collecting vintage postcards I have found a variety of different cards from the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The exhibition was held in the White City area to the west of central London, and had something in the region of 8 million visitors. Most of the buildings which made up the exhibition are long gone and during my research I was dismayed to find that the last remaining buildings were demolished and replaced by a shopping centre.
My favourite card is probably the first one, the bird's-eye view, as it gives a fantastic impression of the size and scale of the event 100 years on. The Flip-Flap card comes a close second, primarily for the crowd admiring it in wonder.
I notice from my reasearch that other attractions included an Irish village and a Sengalese village, amongst many others, so I'll be keeping an eye open for postcards of those.
Bird's-eye View, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Raphael Tuck, series number 3524
In Elite Gardens, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Valentine
Fine Art Palace, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Valentine
Court of Honour Illuminated, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Raphael Tuck, series number 3524
Palace of British Applied Arts, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Bonnett and Schum
Flip-Flap, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Valentine
Western Lagoon, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by Valentine
French East Africa Palace, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, published by ValentineAs always, 100's more vintage postcards can be found on my vintage postcards web site
Related books on amazon.com ...
Related books on amazon.co.uk ...
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Nice collection! I hope you find some more out there. My favorite is the "Western Lagoon". I need one of those lagoons around my house. I wonder if it would improve my property value.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing these again. I missed them the first time.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this exhibition at all.
The Birds-eye view really gives a good idea of what it looked like. I think the flip-flap is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteWell I likethe flip-flap too, but just what is a flip-flap?
ReplyDeleteLove these postcards.
ReplyDeleteI confess I'd never even heard of the exhibition until today. What a shame none of those beautiful buildings remain.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating. What a wonderful collection of postcards that you have regarding the exhibition. That place was huge, like a small city or Disney World or something. So, is the Flip Flap a ride like the hammer? It looks way scary. Well, I love your Sepia Saturday post, great job!
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
The flip-flap looks terrifying!
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful and remind me of a post I did a few years ago about the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Only one building exists from the SF exposition, the Palace of Fine Arts. I would certainly like to go back in time and visit each.
ReplyDeleteYou can see images here of the SF fair and might be surprised how similar they look:
http://tatteredandlostephemera.blogspot.com/2009/02/oh-what-time-we-had-at-fair.html
A great selection of images. There were so many national and international exhibitions and expositions : but I suppose that any which co-incided with the great postcard craze would be bound to be well-photographed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a superb collection! I think my favorite is the one done at night; I have a soft spot for illuminated scenes. Were the buildings constructed specifically for the exhibition? As I said in my own post, there's something inherently tragic about buildings which no longer exist. Wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteNice cards. I've bought a few old postcards of the flip-flap, an extraordinary device. It looks terrifying.
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteWhere do I find a list of contributors to this 1908 exposition? An ancestor of mine was a partner in a firm of saddle and harness makers F Oldaker and Co, based in London. My ancestor who died in 1893 was the head of the Paris branch, which was sold to Hermes in 1895
@Simon - sorry, I did a quick google search but nothing I'm afraid.
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