Talk:British Industries Fair

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Completely wrong, since 2006!

This article has been set up incorrectly since the first draft back in 2006. This is a bold statement here in 2024.

It can either be a minor article about the buildings where the Fair was held (in which case the title is wrong)

or

it can be a more substantial article about the British Industries Fair (in which case the text is wrong and the current article fails miserably).

This is one version of how the first line should read;

The British Industries Fair was an annual event held across multiple venues, typically Olympia (London) and Castle Bromwich (Birmingham)

Of course, I would actually pre-empt that by explaining when the Fair took place (1915 - 1957?), before elaborating on the various locations used.

For my first edit I shall simply set the record straight as far as the existing text stands, but the question remains; what is the actual core subject for this article?

WendlingCrusader (talk) 17:09, 7 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Venues

Whilst expanding this article, I am adding a list of venues. At this time I am unable to identify the exact location of the first Glasgow Fair (1917), as the Kelvin Hall wasn't available until 1918. Also unable to nail down the "London Docks" (1918 & '19) to any specific location, likewise The White City (1920s), as the earlier exhibition venue was in disrepair, and the former Olympic Stadium is only a possibility. More research may yield a result. WendlingCrusader (talk) 12:14, 10 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The only progress I have made is an article in The Spectator, 5th March, 1921, where they identify the location (of White City) as Shepherd's Bush, stating that there were "four miles of stands". Unfortunately that doesn't nail it down much.

Hansard, reporting on a House of Commons debate on the cost to the taxpayer of supporting the BIF (HC Deb 18 April 1932 vol 264 cc1233-5) made a comment about the "Cotton Textile Exhibition at the White City in 1931". This is in itself unrelated to the BIF, but confirms that White City (wherever that venue was located) was still holding exhibitions at that time.

Hansard reported a similar Parliamentary Question in Volume 152: debated on Monday 20 March 1922, where again the location was identified merely as Shepherd's Bush, with the number of visitors given as 49,998.

Breaking news; some artwork for the 1935 exhibition helpfully gives addresses for both London venues -

Olympia: Addison Road, Barons Court, West Kensington
White City: Shepherd's Bush, Wood Lane, Uxbridge Road

One final line of enquiry is to examine the artwork on the 1922 Cinderella Stamp to see if I can identify the main building in the drawing. But I'm fairly certain even if this yields a 'result', it would qualify as original research <laughs> WendlingCrusader (talk) 18:46, 10 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]