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Click here for: "A glance at the past, a glimpse of the future!"

A Celebration of A Tonic to the Nation: 50 years from 1951 to 2001

CLICK: FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN' 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTABLES FROM THE ROYAL MAIL.

This website supports MG Rover : www.rover.co.uk and www.mgcars.co.uk

We recommend "The Oasis Guest House", Falmouth, Cornwall for a 'Best of British' holiday: 'phone Joan Barnett on (01326) 311457 and mention this web site. (Quality b. & b., en-suite bedrooms, private parking, open all year round.)

If you can give a retired greyhound a good 'Midlands' home, then you should try: http://www.greyhoundtrust.co.uk/

50 years ago this very week (in chronological order of their opening):

Stratford-on-Avon Arts Festival continues. 1851 Centenary Exhibition at the V. & A., South Kensington continues. Festival Pleasure Gardens at Battersea continue. Exhibition of Architecture, Lansbury continues. South Bank Exhibition, Waterloo continues. Science Exhibition continues at the Science Museum, South Kensington. Books Exhibition continues at the V. & A., South Kensington. Industrial Power Exhibition, Glasgow continues. Ulster Farm & Factory Exhibition, Belfast continues. 'Living Traditions' Exhibition, Edinburgh continues. Brighton Arts Festival continues. Canterbury Arts Festival continues. Liverpool Arts Festival continues. Pageant of Wales continues at Cardiff. Cambridge Arts Festival continues. Aberdeen Arts Festival continues. Festival Ship "Campania" continues at Cardiff. 3.8.51: 18th Century Books Exhibition opens at Edinburgh 4.8.51: Land Travelling Exhibition opens at Bingley Hall, Birmingham (present day multi-cultural West Midlands 'capital'!)

1951= over 10,000,000 paid admissions to 6 exhibitions in only 5 months :

Architecture Exhibition, Lansbury/Poplar (London) : 86,646

Industrial Power Exhibition, Glasgow : 282,039

Science Exhibition, South Kensington (London) : 213,744

South Bank Exhibition, Waterloo (London) : 8,455,863*

* visitors from London = 36.5%, outside London= 56%, overseas = 7.5%

Land Travelling Exhibition: 462,289 (the most popular was Leeds)

Festival Ship "Campania": 889,792 (the most popular was Newcastle)

& the Festival Pleasure Gardens, Battersea (London) : 8,031,000**

** visitors from London = 76.0%, outside London = 22%,overseas = 2.0%

Ulster Farm & Factory Exhibition, Belfast: 156,760

'Living Traditions' Exhibition, Edinburgh: 135,000

Exhibition of Books, South Kensington (London): 63,162

- not counting all the local celebrations in other cities, towns and villages!

Martin Packer at 41 Lyall Gardens, Rubery, Birmingham, B45 9YW, England: 0121 453 8245 or martin@packer34.freeserve.co.uk

"I HOPE THAT IN EMPHASISING OUR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT YOU WILL STRESS NO LESS SHARPLY OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE FUTURE. THEN THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951 MAY PROVE TO BE NOT SIMPLY AN END IN ITSELF, BUT A BEGINNING OF MANY GOOD THINGS."

(H.R.H. PRINCESS ELIZABETH, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS ADDRESSING THE FIRST MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN IN MAY 1948.)

• CLICK HERE FOR SEVEN MORE EXAMPLES OF THE WORK OF ABRAM GAMES

"MDCCCLI CIVIUM INDUSTRIA FLORET CIVITAS MCMLI"

("1851 By the industry of its people the State flourishes 1951")

First published for the Festival of Britain Society 24.4.99;

please email: martin@packer34.freeserve.co.uk for more details.

• CLICK HERE FOR MARTIN PACKER'S FOR SALE PAGE

• Lansbury Festival: www.eastendlife.com/lansbury/festival.htm for information on forthcoming Festival related events in September

• THREE 'FESTIVAL' FILMS IN ONE VIDEO FOR SALE: £14.20!

• YB26 A Tonic To The Nation. This video contains three films commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain "Brief City" (COI, b. & w., 18 minutes) and "London in Festival Year" (COI, colour, 9 minutes) covering the capital's centrepiece of the 1951 Festival of Britain - the main Exhibition site on the South Bank of the River Thames. "Family Portrait" (COI, b. & w., 24 minutes); the last film directed by Humphrey Jennings, employing everything from Beachy Head, Household Cavalry, Penicillin, Captain Cook, to the throb of industry in his best post war film.

• HOW TO ORDER: This excellent video is available on VHS PAL format only. Send a cheque for £14.20 per tape made payable to "Beulah" to : Beulah, 18-20 St. Dunstan's Road, London SE25 6EU or make a Mastercard or Visa credit card payment on line through the "Beulah" web site on: http://www.eavb.co.uk/video/index.html#YB26

• FILMS AND THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN: GERALD BARRY'S ARTICLE ("SIGHT & SOUND" 1951)

  12 IMAGES FROM FESTIVAL FILMS WITH FUNNY CAPTIONS!

• THE REST OF THIS SITE'S CONTENTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• Where did the Festival scientific/artistic material go to afterwards?

• Try the Victorian Web : www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/technology/packer/merryweather.html

• FESTIVAL PLEASURE GARDENS, BATTERSEA: EIGHT IMAGES FROM "COUNTRY LIFE" ARTICLE 15 JUNE 1951

• COST OF ADMISSION AND THE OPENING TIMES AND DATES FOR ALL FESTIVAL EXHIBITIONS!

• AN AUCTION OF FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN SOUVENIRS IN PENZANCE ON JANUARY 27TH 2000

• "WEDGWOOD" AT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN: THE 'OLD LONDON VIEWS' COLLECTORS PLATES

• THE 'FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN' BUS (WHICH WAS THE BEST EXHIBIT IN THE MILLENNIUM DOME!)

• A BRIEF GUIDE TO COLLECTING ALL FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN OFFICIAL PRINTED PUBLICATIONS

• "KEEPSAKES OF 1951" : 13 x PHOTOGRAPHS OF RARE 1951 FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN SOUVENIRS!

• FESTIVAL ADS.: "DAILY MAIL" ,"ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS","PICTURE POST", "PUNCH"

• LIST OF 38 FESTIVAL CENTRES FOR 55 PRINCIPAL EVENTS : ALL THE DATES AND THE PLACES

• ADVERTISEMENTS FOR FESTIVAL CENTRES FROM "THE TIMES", "DAILY MAIL" AND "I.L.N."

• FRONT COVERS OF THE MAJOR FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN EXHIBITION GUIDE-CATALOGUES

• FRONT COVERS OF THE OTHER FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN EXHIBITION GUIDE-CATALOGUES

• THE B.B.C. AT THE FESTIVAL:"THE RADIO TIMES" AND "THE LISTENER" FRONT COVERS,1951

• FULL COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION, LONDON IN 1951

• BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION, LONDON IN 1951

• MORE BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LONDON'S SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION, 1951

• VARIOUS COLOUR AND BLACK & WHITE POSTERS FROM THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN, 1951

• "ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS", "PICTURE POST", "ILLUSTRATED", "THE SPHERE" MAGAZINES

• THE GREATER LONDON FUND FOR THE BLIND FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 'STAMPS' (not for sale)

• the following two pages are not currently available; 1951 Festival postcard images available on application.

• 46 PICTURE POSTCARDS FROM THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN'S SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION

• EVEN MORE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN COLLECTABLES - FULL COLOUR IMAGES OF MEMORABILIA

• Due to web space constraint, the following six pages now carry advertising from "freewebspace.com":

• FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN JIG-SAW'S : COLOUR BOX COVERS FROM "EFROC"/"TOWER PRESS"

• ROWLAND EMETT: "THE FAR TOTTERING & OYSTERCREEK RAILWAY", BATTERSEA 1951

• ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, LONDON IN 1951: TWO B. & W. IMAGES AND A COLOUR PICTURE

• VARIOUS GUINNESS FESTIVAL CLOCK IMAGES FROM THE FESTIVAL PLEASURE GARDENS

• "MILLER'S COLLECTABLES" ON FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN MEMORABILIA FROM 1996 TO DATE

• RECORDED MUSIC & SPEECH FROM THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN: FOUR RECORD LABELS.

• BRITISH CARS AT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951: THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION DISPLAY

• 1851 - 1951 : AN ARTICLE FROM THE "AUSTIN OWNER" MAGAZINE ON THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN

• BRITISH MOTORCYCLE ADVERTISEMENTS FROM THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION DISPLAY

• 1951 "TRIUMPH" MOTORCYCLE BROCHURES: "THE BEST MOTORCYCLE IN THE WORLD"

• 1951 AUSTIN, MG, MORRIS, RILEY, ROVER , STANDARD, TRIUMPH, AND WOLSELEY CARS

• 'BEST OF BRITISH' CARS, CLICK ON: www.rover.co.uk or www.mgcars.co.uk FOR THEIR 2001 CARS!

• CARS AT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951: SELECTED CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISEMENTS

• CARS AT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951: STANDARD AND TRIUMPH ADVERTISING (in colour)

• CARS AT THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN 1951: STANDARD AND TRIUMPH ADVERTISING (black & white)

• CARS AND TYRES AT THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION : PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY "DUNLOP" *

• * including the 403 mph "Railton Mobil Special", the world land speed record holder from 1947 to 1964!

• NUFFIELD PRODUCTS: A CAVALCADE OF MOTORING HISTORY (FROM "PUNCH MAGAZINE")

• "DESIGN IN THE FESTIVAL - ILLUSTRATED REVIEW OF BRITISH GOODS": IN TRANSPORT

• A "BEDFORD" LORRY AT THE SOUTH BANK : PHOTOGRAPHS FROM "VAUXHALL HERITAGE"

• "STANDARD CAR REVIEW" INCORPORATING "TRIUMPH NEWS": SOME SELECTED ARTICLES

CLICK ON THE ABOVE PICTURE FOR A TOUR OF THE SOUTH BANK'S DOME OF DISCOVERY*

(* nearly 100 feet high, 365 feet across, 24 tubular steel supports, 232 tons tons of aluminium/133 tons of steel!)

• Reference material on General Lord Ismay, Herbert Morrison, Gerald Barry, Hugh Casson, Laurie Lee etc: the media and students are more than welcome to use any of this reference material, but it should be credited to the authors. In case anyone wonders why I do NOT include Michael Frayn's 'classic' "Festival" from the 5s Penguin book "Age of Austerity 1945 - 1951" published in 1963: this has been (mis)quoted so many times by different commentators on the Festival of Britain, its so-called 'Herbivores' and 'Carnivores' have become cliches, but if you really want to read it, then please send me a large S.A.E. with a cheque payment for £1.00 to cover the photocopying of 12 x A4 pages.

• For research purposes, I recommend "Ephemeral vistas: The Expositions Universelles, Great Exhibitions, and World's Fairs, 1851 - 1939" by Paul Greenhalgh (Manchester University Press, 1988): 'phone no. 0161 273 5539

• Also recommended "Building A Better Tomorrow: Architecture in the 1950's" by Robert Elwall, R.I.B.A. and Wiley-Academy, 2000) @ £24.95 : 'phone no. (01243) 779777 or cs-books@wiley.co.uk or see www.wiley.co.uk

• Also recommended "Arts and Cultures The History of the 50 Years of the Arts Council of Great Britain" by Andrew Sinclair (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1995) for Chapter 3: "Few, but Roses" on the Festival of Britain's Arts Festivals.

• Strongly recommended "Hugh Casson A Biography" by Jose Manser (Viking, 2000) for Chapter 6 on the F.o.B.

• http://www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/1851/packer1.html

  CLICK ABOVE FOR MY AWFUL ARTICLE ON THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN IN BIRMINGHAM!

• "PROJECTING THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN" BY PAUL WRIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL OFFICE (1951)

• ARCHITECTURE/INDUSTRIAL DESIGN: QUOTATIONS FROM CAMBRIDGE GUIDE TO THE ARTS

• GENERAL LORD ISMAY 'S FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN MEMORIES (FROM HIS PUBLISHED MEMOIRS)

• "HERBERT MORRISON, PORTRAIT OF A POLITICIAN" FROM THE 1973 BIOGRAPHY OF HIM

• GERALD BARRY'S "THE FESTIVAL COMES TO BIRTH" (FROM 'BRITAIN TODAY' MAY 1951)

• see: www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/barry.htm for more information on Sir Gerald Barry (1898 - 1968)

• HUGH CASSON'S ARTICLES FROM "DAILY MAIL",1951/"COUNTRY LIFE", NOVEMBER 11, 1976

• SUSAN HOLMES' PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF THE 1951 SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION

• "THE GREAT EXHIBITIONS" BY JOHN ALLWOOD (1977) : HIS COMMENTS ON THE FESTIVAL.

• "CIDER WITH LAURIE" BY BARBARA HOOPER (1999) : LAURIE LEE'S FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN.

• "NOW THAT THE WAR IS OVER , A SOCIAL HISTORY OF BRITAIN 1945-51" BY PAUL ADDISON

• "THE NEW LOOK" BY HARRY HOPKINS (PUB. 1963) :A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE 1940's/1950's.

• "NEVER AGAIN: BRITAIN 1945 -1951" BY PETER HENNESSY (PUBLISHED IN 1992)

• "SYMBOLS FOR '51" TAKEN FROM 'TOWARDS THE MILLENNIUM' SERIES (PUBLISHED IN 1996)

• THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN: COMMENTARY BY JOHN KIRBY, SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY

• "GREAT EXHIBITIONS FROM CRYSTAL PALACE TO FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN" (CHANNEL 4, 1999)

• EXTRACT FROM "THE PEOPLE'S PEACE: BRITISH HISTORY SINCE 1945" BY KENNETH MORGAN

• 1939/1940 NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR & 1951 FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN: DESIGN BY PENNY SPARKE

• "FROM RATIONING TO ROCK, THE 1950s REVISITED" BY STUART HYLTON (SUTTON PUB. 1998)

• AN INFORMAL WHO'S WHO OF THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN FOR THE SIX MAIN EXHIBITIONS

• THE END! & CATALOGUE OF THE REMAINING PLANT/EQUIPMENT: SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION

• THE FESTIVAL PLEASURE GARDENS PAPER! : www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pub/html/thm/gardens.html

• THE GUINNESS FESTIVAL CLOCK 'ORIGINAL' WEB SITE: http://website.lineone.net/~tony344/

• or the Guinness Collectors Club/the Festival Clock: http://www.guinnesscollectorsclub.co.uk/guinness-festival.asp

• LINKS TO SOME OTHER GOOD WEB SITES RECOMMENDED BY ME FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS

• HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES: http://jwgibbs.cchem.berkeley.edu/nimrod AND

• http://jwgibbs.cchem.berkeley.edu/science1951/ FOR THE SCIENCE EXHIBITION, 1951 (CALIFORNIA!)

• FIVE LETTERS IN "THE TIMES" ON THE MILLENNIUM DOME: SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1999

• SEE MICHAEL LEAPMAN'S GREAT NEW BOOK "THE WORLD FOR A SHILLING (HOW THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 SHAPED A NATION ") PUB. BY "HEADLINE" APRIL 2001 FOR CHAPTER ELEVEN "THE LEGACY" FOR DEVASTING CRITICISM OF THE MILLENNIUM DOME, 2000 WHICH DID NOT SHAPE A NATION. IT SHOULD BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH "REGENERATION: THE STORY OF THE DOME" BY ADAM NICHOLSON (PUBLISHED BY "HARPERCOLLINS" IN 1999) AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY JUSTIFIABLY REMAINDERED!

• IF YOU WANT TO RECALL THE DOME, TRY http://jwgibbs.cchem.berkeley.edu/~pete/Millennium/

• CLICK HERE AND READ PATIENCE WHEATCROFT'S COMMENTS ON THE MILLENNIUM DOME:

  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,37-2001251356,00.html

  &

  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001251367,00.html

  Click on some essential reading from "The Guardian" :

  www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/britain/article/0,2763,482478,00.html

  www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/britain/article/0,2763,482463,00.html

  www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4176775,00.html

  www.icollector.com/judith/judith16.shtml

CLICK HERE FOR INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS: 1924 - 1951

CLICK HERE TO 'TOUR' THE SOUTH BANK EXHIBITION, 1951

CLICK HERE TO 'TOUR' ENGLAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, AND N.IRELAND IN 1951 - USING THE "ABOUT BRITAIN" GUIDES

This web site is dedicated to the treasured memories of P.D.S. Packer (22.7.11 to 18.4.81) and W.G.Palmer (23.12.22 to 20.1.99) by Martin, Christine, Robin and Rowena Packer.