Some facts and figures
by
Fred Peskett
Doubtless you will have read many facts and figures associated with
the Great Exhibition of 1851, however, here is a few that you
probably have never seen before? The Refreshment Courts and the
toilet facilities!
The following has been extracted from The Reports of the Jurors published in 1852, some several thousand pages in three large volumes, I was lucky to find a set of these volumes some years ago in a secondhand book shop in Ryde, Isle-of-Wight. I paid seven pounds for the set, (they had been in the shop for many years, the owner was glad to see the back of them) and very near a hernia getting them back to the ferry and home to Portsmouth. The contents of the volumes, like themselves make very heavy reading, but no expense was spared in the details published, no matter how uninteresting.
The Commissioners for The Great Exhibition contracted the catering arrangements to Messrs. Schweppes who paid the Commission £5,500 for the privilege, by the end of the exhibition they made a profit of some £45,000. The records of the goods sold were very detailed, the Jurors included Schweppes lists in their report.
The amount of refreshments sold was as follows:-
Bread, quarterns 52,094 Savoury Patties 23,040 lbs
Bread, Cottage loaves 60,698 Italian cakes 11,797
Bread, French rolls 7,617 Biscuits 37,300 lbs
Pound cakes 68,428 Bath buns 934,691
3d cakes 36,950 Plain buns 870,027
Savoury cakes 20,415 Banbury cakes 34,070
Savoury pies 33,456 lbs Sausage rolls 28,046
Victoria biscuits 73,280 Mustard 1,120 lbs
Macaroons 1,500 lbs Jelly 2,400 quarts
Rich cakes 2,280 lbs Coffee 14,299 lbs
2d pastries 36,000 Tea 1,015 lbs
School cakes 4,800 Chocolate 4,836 lbs
Preserved fruits 4,840 lbs Milk 33,432 quarts
Pineapples 2,000 Cream 32,049 quarts
Pickles 1,046 gallons Schweppes soda water, lemonade,
Meat 113 tons and ginger beer 1,092,337 bottles
Potted meats / tongues 36,130 lbs Pear syrup 5,350 bottles
Hams 33 tons Rough Ice 363 tons
Potatoes 36 tons Salt 37 tons
No tobacco or alcoholic drinks were on sale at the exhibition. It is interesting to compare the amount of tea sold with that of coffee. Tea was still one of the most expensive products in the mid 1850's.
Location of the refreshment rooms,
A Western Court
B Transept
C Eastern Court
D Location of Post Box and Telegraph
Location of the Ante-rooms
L Ladies
G Gentlemen
Public Toilet facilities (noted in the guide as Ante-rooms) were something new for large gatherings in this country. The Great Exhibition building had some sixty nine toilets, thirty in the Transept, six for the Gentlemen and twenty four for the Ladies, the cost of use was 1d. In the Eastern Refreshment Room there were six for the Gentlemen and eleven for the Ladies the charge was ½d and in the Western Refreshment Room there were ten for the Gents and twelve for the Ladies, the charge was also ½d. In addition fifty four male urinals were provided in the Gentleman's Ante-rooms free of charge.
The cost of setting up and managing the toilets came to £1,600, and with the income from the use of the sixty nine toilets a profit of £1,769..18..6d was made. The records show that 827,820 persons made use of the facilities or 14 % of the total number of visitors over the five months duration of the exhibition. One wonders how the other 86 % managed? 532 lbs of soap and towels to the value of £281..4..8 were used during the exhibition. The toilets were maintained by six male and ten female attendants, overseen by one Superintendent (who received a "For Services" medal). Lavender Water was provided free in all the female washrooms. Lavender Water could also be obtained free from one of the fountains in the Eastern Nave.
There is one dubious postmark said to be from the Great Exhibition, but it is very doubtful. The Juror's Report seems to clarify the postal arrangements for the exhibition: "A “post” has been erected in the Transept, after the fashion used in Belgium, it is a hollow cylinder (tastefully decorated) and in imitation bronze. The post times are inscribed on a ticket on top of the “post”. On average 500 letters per day are dispatched and 300 received, the letter bags are registered and leave thrice a day at 11, 3 and 5. The Postmaster sends for the letter bags, which do not pass through any Branch Office".
I think that the above makes it clear that there never was an exhibition postmark, perhaps only the registration labels tied to the bags may be found one day?
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© Exhibition Study Group 2006