The Postcard
A postcard that was published by J. W. B. of London. The card was posted on Thursday the 13th. August 1925 to:
Mrs. Chapman,
21, Byron Avenue,
Margate,
Kent.
The pencilled message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Mrs. Chapman,
I hope to see you
tomorrow Friday about
12.
Yours Truly,
Miss Jacobs".
The Franco-British Exhibition
In 1900 the Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VII, went to the Paris Exhibition, and when he became King, suggested to his government that Great Britain should hold an exhibition with France which would help to promote the Entente Cordiale between the two countries which was signed in 1904.
The King's suggestion resulted in the Franco-British Exhibition, which was a large public fair held in 1908.
A site was found on farmland near Shepherds Bush, with work starting in early 1907. Over a hundred buildings were erected. At the height of construction 4,000 men by day and 2,000 men by night worked to get the Exhibition ready for the 14th. May 1908.
In 1906 Italy was due to host the Olympics, but had to cancel after Mount Vesuvius erupted and caused widespread damage around Naples.
Great Britain was then asked to stage the Games, and a Stadium was built into the exhibition site. The cost of building the Stadium was £75,000, and it stood until 1985. The Games were a great success, and Great Britain won 56 gold medals, with the US winning 23.
The area is still called White City, having acquired its name from the exhibition buildings which were all faced with white marble or painted white.
During the Exhibition members of the British Empire came and showed their countries produce and machinery. Visitors could visit Pavilions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Ceylon, with France, Algeria and its other colonies.
Great Britain and France had a pavilion showing Arts and Women's Work. There was a complete Irish Village, which had Irish Colleens working in it, and visitors could kiss the Blarney Stone.
The Exhibition covered an area of 140 acres (0.57 sq. km), including an artificial lake, surrounded by an immense network of white buildings in elaborate (often Oriental) styles. Over eight million visitors each paid one shilling (5p) to see the Exhibition.
One of the main attractions was the Flip Flap. It had two arms 150ft long with a carriage at the end which could carry up to 40 people at a time. It took three minutes and 20 seconds for the journey from one side to the other, and cost six pence.
Three songs were composed about the Flip Flap and could be heard in the London Music Halls. There was also a Scenic Mountain Railway, a Canadian Toboggan Run and a Spiral Ride, along with many other attractions.
The Exhibition was open from 11am until 11pm, Monday to Saturday from the 14th. May 1908 until the 31st. October 1908. In the bandstands around the exhibition, regimental bands played throughout the day.
Other exhibitions were held on the site in 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1914. In 1909 the exhibition site hosted the Imperial International Exhibition, and in 1910, the Japan-British Exhibition.
The Coronation Exhibition of 1911 was held in order to celebrate the coronation of King George V and Mary of Teck on the 22nd. June 1911.
The final two exhibitions to be held there were the Latin-British Exhibition (1912) and the Anglo-American Exhibition (1914), which was brought to a premature end by the outbreak of the Great War.
The stadium was used for greyhound racing from 1927 until 1984.
The Exhibition site is now occupied by the BBC Television Centre, opened in 1960, and the Westfield Shopping Centre, which opened in 2008. The BBC Television Centre was built on the site of the Stadium and the Court of Honour.
The last remaining buildings of the 1908 exhibition were demolished to make way for the Westfield development.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 13th. August 1925, a presidential decree in Turkey permitted women to wear hats and clothes of their choice for the first time, instead of being required to wear veils and sombre colours.
Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk used the same decree to divorce his wife, some six months after a scandalous affair arose from the suicide of one of Atatürk's mistresses.
