Great Exhibit Appealed to Victorian Sentiments

During Queen Victoria’s reign, Albert undertook a phenomenal achievement. Although exhibitions highlighting industry and science and technology were already available to the public, nothing like the World Fair of 1851 had yet been undertaken.

Ambitious and regarded as suitable work for a monarch to expend great levels of energy developing, the World Fair showcased the famed Crystal Palace exhibition hall which was ostensibly inspired by a noble’s topiary garden. During January of 1851, cart-horses were utilized to raise trusses for the central aisle of the steel and glass “Crystal Hive.” The exhibit got underway.

A quick link for statistics on the Great Exhibit can be found at http://www.earthstation9.com/index.html?1851_lon.htm

Due to the fact that the Exhibit was closed on the Sabbath, Sunday, only the wealthy and privileged were able to attend. (Commoners who worked six days a week were seldom allowed days off, except for Sundays.) Millions of attendees traveled mostly by railway from theoretically every country, since every nation was allowed to showcase their arts and industry.

Many Victorian era journals recorded the thrilling moments of attending the Great Exhibit, experiencing the wonders of the future on display. Whether drawn by nouveaux artists’ sculptures, on the one hand as the nobiliary Rothschild’s recorded of their experiences, or by the new technology on display, attendees were not disappointed.

Kristin-Marie