Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

 

Members Evening

 

LPS member Jean Osborne

 

"Exhibitions"

 

Jean gave us a fascinating display of "Exhibitions" material, all of which was non philatelic, at this meeting. 

She started, with cards & other ephemera, of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was the brainchild of Prince Albert, & held, of course, at the Crystal Palace. Further material followed from the International Exhibition of 1862. The opening of Earls Court as an exhibition centre saw many which included the Royal Naval (1891), Gardens (1892), and some very pretty material from the Italian Exhibition of 1904. The Albert Hall also featured with a Fisheries Exhibition (1883), where, apparently, concerns were raised regarding fish stocks!, an Inventors Exhibition (1885) which showed Christmas, & New Year, cards; a Fire Exhibition (1903) and an Austrian Exhibition (1906). Towns featured with material from exhibitions given by Cork (1902), Bradford (1904), Dublin (1907), Nottingham & Bristol (1914) and the North East Coast (1929) and a Confectioners Exhibition. Scotland wasn't excluded with Glasgow (1901 & 1911), and Edinburgh (1908) featuring labels (written in as many as 4 languages) & cards (some comic).

Her second round started with material from the White City, London. Built, on budget, and in only 15 months it contained some 40 pavilions with lakes & canals spread over a 40 acre site. White City was also the site of the 1908 London Olympic Games. The first exhibition to feature was the Franco-British (1908) which had the largest number of labels produced of any exhibition (before or since). Postcards promoting the "Entente Cordialle" also featured. The Japan-British Exhibition (1910) came next, again with postcards and labels some of which featured "Madame Butterfly". The final White City exhibition featured was the Anglo American (1914). The White City site has now been demolished and redeveloped. The final site for Jean's exhibitions material was Wembley and in particular the British Empire Exhibition of 1924/5. "Lion", Scout Jamboree & the Queen's Dolls House labels featured, along with promotional labels from many well known companies (Jacobs, Jameson's Irish Whiskey, Cunard & Courtaulds as well as Lloyds Bank and Waterlow Printers).

 

Sheila Sinclair accorded Jean a very warm vote of thanks on an excellent display.