ABSTRACT
Amid the poverty and degradation caused by the advance of the Industrial Revolution in the first half of the nineteenth century there were also great advances in science, technology and education, and a rising middle class. ‘The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations’ opened in London on 1 May 1851. The Great Exhibition epitomised the economic progress, democracy and social civilisation. The exhibits came from 28 nations that contributed to global solidarity. At its centre it showcased the British Empire’s achievements. The tickets to the Exhibition ranged in price and the price restricted the number of people attending the exhibition on that particular day. There were one shilling, five shilling, one pound and three guinea days. However, for the first few weeks the price did not go below five shillings, and The Times reported that the Great Exhibition was ‘in the hands of the wealthy and the gentry and noble birth’. 1 The first one shilling day was on 26 May and was extremely controversial. Henry Mayhew described the reservations and the success of the one shilling days:
For many days before the ‘shilling people’ were admitted to the building, the great topic of conversation was the probable behaviour of the people. Would they come sober? Will they destroy the things? Will they want to cut their initials, or scratch their names on the pains of the glass lighthouse? But they have surpassed in decorum in the hopes of their well-wishers. The fact is, the Great Exhibition is to them more of a school than a show. The working man has often little book learning, but of such knowledge as constitutes the education of life. [ … ] If we really desire the improvement of our social state, (and surely we are far from perfection yet,) we must add ourselves to the elevation of the people and it is because the Great Exhibition is fitted to become a special instrument towards this end, that it forms one of the most remarkable and hopeful characteristics of our time. 2
