The Great Exhibition and the Crystal Palace

The opening ceremony took place on 1^st May 1851. A thousand carriages passed through the gates of Hyde Park, plus two and a half thousand cabs and other vehicles. There were over half a million spectators, filling Hyde Park and Green Park. Thirty thousand people who could afford season tickets were given privileged access into the Crystal Palace. Ambassadors from many nations stood in the centre, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Mayor of London, the aged Duke of Wellington and many dignitaries. It was reported that a Chinese man was amongst them dressed in traditional costume. No-one knew who he was but it was assumed he was important, perhaps even the Chinese emperor, so he was placed beside the Archbishop and the Duke of Wellington. (It later transpired that he was an imposter). A model frigate floated on the Serpentine to fire a salute, while the balloonist Charles Spencer was ready to ascend as soon as the exhibition began.

Victoria and Albert arrived for the opening accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal. A thousand-voice choir sang the National Anthem to the sound of a 4,700-pipe organ made by Henry Willis. Albert gave a report on the exhibits and prizes to be awarded and Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus was sung. Paxton and Fox then headed a tour of inspection. Victoria declared the exhibition open, repeated by Lord Bredalbane as Lord Steward. The salute was fired across the Serpentine.

William Makepeace Thackeray celebrated the Great Exhibition in his May-Day Ode of 1851:

From Mississippi and from Nile —
From Baltic, Ganges, Bosphorous,
In England’s ark assembled thus
Are friend and guest.
Look down the mighty sunlit aisle,
And see the sumptuous banquet set,
The brotherhood of nations met.
Around the feast!

And concluded:

Swell, organ, swell your trumpet blast,
March, Queen and Royal pageant, march
By splendid aisle and springing arch
Of this fair Hall:
And see! above the fabric vast,
God’s boundless Heaven is bending blue,
God’s peaceful sunlight’s beaming through,
And shines o’er all.

That night Victoria wrote: “This is one of the greatest and most glorious days of our lives, with which, to my great pride and joy, the name of my dearly beloved Albert is for ever associated!”. That week’s issue of the Illustrated London News, which described the opening, sold over 200,000 copies, more than double its normal circulation.

Unusually, it was an international event. Equal space was given over to exhibits from Britain and the colonies, which were housed at the western half of the Crystal Palace, and other countries in the eastern half. Each country was allowed to choose how they presented their exhibits. Organiser of the exhibits was Dr. John Lyon. From Europe, France was the largest foreign contributor. Other exhibitors included Russia, Belgium, Spain, Turkey and Greece. Various German and Italian states had exhibits because they had not yet formed as unified nations. Some South American countries, the United States, Egypt, Persia, Morocco, and Egypt also attended.

There were 100,000 exhibits, from over 15,000 contributors, stretching for more than ten miles of frontage. They included many inventions, pieces of engineering, and curiosities. The British half consisted mainly of machines and other inventions, while much of the foreign half of items of an artistic type. The most popular sections were the Machinery Courts. The official catalogue came in three volumes. The world’s largest diamond, the 186-carat Koh-i-Noor, (‘Mountain of Light’) was displayed in a special cage and later incorporated into the British Crown Jewels. Objects that were too large to fit inside the Crystal Palace were displayed on the outside. They included the statue of Richard I by Carlo Marochetti that now stands outside the Parliament building. Medals and prizes were awarded to those judged the best. The French composer Hector Berlioz was one of the judges for musical instruments and stayed in London for the duration of the exhibition.

In the middle of the central transept stood a great fountain. Prince Albert had seen a pair of candelabra at the showroom of Follett Osler on Oxford Street that had been ordered by the Egyptian leader for the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed at Mecca. It gave him the idea of commissioning the company to create the Crystal Fountain. It weighed four tons, stood 27 feet high, and was made of crystal glass. It was so evident to every visitor that it became the point of rendezvous for anyone wishing to meet friends, or for those separated from their party.

The exhibit from sanitary engineer George Jennings were his ‘Monkey Closets’ in the ‘Retiring Rooms’, the exhibition’s public toilets. Public toilets were such an innovation that they aroused great interest. Over 800,000 visitors relieved themselves during the course of the exhibition, each paying one penny for the privilege, creating the euphemism “to spend a penny”.