Souvenir Items Made for the 1886 Exhibition

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

54855

Title

Collection of souvenir items made for the 1886 International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art

Description

These items were made to be sold as souvenirs for the 1886 International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art held on the Meadows in Edinburgh. A souvenir plate, mug, beaker, silk book mark and wooden box with images of the campus of the exhibition can all be seen. The exhibition included a scale reconstruction of the Old Town of Edinburgh, complete with the gate of the Netherbow Port. Behind is an official souvenir booklet. Also included are two season tickets to the exhibition (one for children) and a black and white photograph of the reconstructed Netherbow Port.

Date

1886

Location

Museum of Edinburgh

Exhibitions showcasing progress in industry, science, art and design were held all over Britain, Europe and beyond in the Victorian period.

In 1886, the International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art was held on the Meadows in Edinburgh. Thirty thousand people turned up on the opening day alone to see over twenty thousand exhibits illustrating the 'material progress of the age'. The exhibition was housed in enormous buildings constructed on the Meadows complete with imposing domed entrance way. One of the most popular attractions of the Exhibition was a reconstruction of an old Edinburgh street consisting of buildings which existed in Edinburgh during the 17th Century, but had been demolished by 1886.

It was hoped that the exhibition buildings would remain, but they had to be demolished due to a law forbidding building on the parkland. Today, there are a few remaining signs of the exhibition including the Prince Albert Sundial and Masons' Memorial Pillars at the Meadows' west end.

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Related subjects

Events > Festivals

Places > Edinburgh areas > Marchmont

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Rooms and spaces > Objects > Mugs

Rooms and spaces > Objects > Plates

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Souvenir items made for the 1886 Exhibition