Towards the exit of the House a digital reconstruction of the Exhibition was on display. This one is from YouTube:-
There was also a small cabinet containing some memorabilia from the Exhibition:-
The memorabilia in the picture are: a toasting fork, a bronze model of the Tower of Empire (Tait’s Tower,) a metal badge in the shape of the Tower, the official Guide to the Exhibition, a glass dish on which there is a season ticket for the Exhibition, the book entitled The Empire Exhibition Fifty Years On and a Birrell’s chocolate box. Presumably the structural engineering company whose plaque is also present had a stand at the Exhibition.
I haven’t done one of these posts featuring postcards from the Empire Exhibition 1938 in a while. The tower was officially known as The Tower of Empire but was dubbed Tait’s Tower after its architect.
A colourised photo of The North Cascade and Tower by Night at the Empire Exhibition 1938:-
Black and White Photo Postcard, North Cascade and Tower:-
A Fountain and Tait’s Tower, Empire Exhibition 1938, with Palace of Engineering:-
Brilliant coloured postcards of the South Cascade and Tower by Night at the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938. The A697 code number on the left hand one tells me it is an Art Drawn card by Brian Gerald. The more muted one on the right is to all intents and purposes identical though it is missing the UnionJack on the Tower’s flgapole. Despite its different code number it was also produced by the same postcard company, Valentine’s. I suppose it may have faded over time but on the other hand it may have been printed this way. My copy of it claims to be a real photograph.
Stunning stuff, whatever.
The Tower of Empire (Tait’s Tower) was certainly impressive. More so at night, judging by these.
Another Brian Gerald Art-drawn postcard from the Empire Exhibition Scotland 1938. Pavilions for South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Canada on left with Palace of Engineering at far end:-
Valentine’s sepia postcard of the Dominions and Colonial Avenues at the Empire Exhibition Scotland 1938 featuring fountains, Australian Pavilion and Palace of Engineering:-
Reverse view. Another Valentine’s postcard. Australia and Canada Pavilions to near right, Palace of Industries at far end:-
Valentine’s sepia postcard of Canada Pavilion plus Palace of Engineering at far end. Tower of Empire in background left:-
I haven’t posted one of these for a long while now.
A Brian Gerald art-drawn postcard of buildings and floral displays at the Empire Exhibition Scotland, held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Palace of Engineering to right, Garden Club in centre, below Tait’s Tower:-
Another colourised postcard of Thomas Tait’s Tower of Empire by night, at the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938. (See a previous one here.) This shows off well the illumination of the upper canopies plus has the Moon in the background.
A nice contrast of old and new at the Empire Exhibition, Scotland, 1938 via another Brian Gerald drawn postcard.
The Clachan was a “traditional” Highland village. Like everything else at the 1938 Empire Exhibition it was in the shadow of Tait’s Tower of Empire.
When an Empire Exhibition in Glasgow was first suggested Glaswegians immediately asked that a clachan be one of the exhibits. This is because a previous clachan was one of the great successes at the Scottish National Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow in 1911.
The jigsaw – made by Waddington’s – shows one of the Scotland Pavilions (there were two of these sited opposite each other on Scottish Avenue,) the Tower of Empire, United Kingdom Pavilion and the Canadian Pavilion plus a troop of charging horse.
The box this one came in was a bit tatty but still striking with the lion rampant logo and Tower of Empire.
There is another Waddington’s jigsaw of the Exhibition featuring a closer view of the Tower of Empire with aeroplanes in the sky overhead and this time with a marching band of bagpipers approaching the foreground. I have that in a cupboard somewhere.
