IN 1938, Glasgow hosted the Empire Exhibition, an ambitious and bold event which celebrated and showcased industry, engineering, art and culture.
Officially opened by King George VI on May 3, the number of visitors over the exhibition’s six month run exceeded all expectations with an estimated 12 million in total.
Promoted by the Scottish Development Council, the exhibition was a huge undertaking, co-ordinating displays from Canada, West and South Africa, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, of course, and many more.
‘See Scotland and see the world’ ran one of the exhibition’s slogans, and it was hoped it would feel like a rapid tour of the globe.
Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park was the venue for the 175 acre site, the biggest after the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
The park was transformed into a mix of grand avenues, magnificent pavilions, fountains, a 400ft lake and fairground rides. Approximately 10,000 people were employed to construct the building and 876 more to run it.
The exhibition was intended to boost a flagging economy and foster trade links and friendship between the peoples of the Commonwealth.
The photographs, adverts and guides from the Empire Exhibition, now held at Glasgow City Archives, display an optimism for the future that had been lacking in the 1930s across Europe. The prosperity of the nineteenth century when shipbuilding and other industries had flourished in Glasgow and abroad, had begun to decline after WW1.
The focus on unity was partly driven by the growing fear of another world war. The bright outlook promised by the exhibition was a much-needed morale boost.
Along with the Scottish pavilion, designed by Scottish architect Sir Basil Spence, there was a replica highland village ‘The Clachlan’, a Scottish Avenue dedicated to companies like Tennent’s, and a Post Office where visitors could post exhibition postcards.
Dominating the site was the art deco Tait’s Tower, which had two lifts taking visitors up to enjoy 300ft views of the whole exhibition and city. There was a cinema, concert hall, restaurants, an amusement park inspired by Coney Island Attractions.
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Despite the lofty objectives of the exhibition, war did come in 1939 and buildings like Tait’s Tower were later dismantled.
However, Glasgow’s Empire Exhibition is remembered with affection by many.
Its modernist architecture is still considered groundbreaking, and its Palace of Art continues as a sports and community centre, a legacy a of hopeful and optimistic event in troubled times.
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