Trade fairs have a long history dating back to the late mediaeval European merchant capitalism era. Modern trade shows continue this tradition. During this time, farmers and artisans travelled to towns for trade shows to sell and display their goods.
Now, the global trade show industry generates an estimated $50.6bn annually. In this blog, you will learn the brief history of trade shows through a detailed discussion.
This short history shows how trade shows have changed over time, from local markets to international events where businesses from all over the world meet.
It talks about the different kinds of trade shows, such as industrial expos, consumer fairs, and tech events. It also talks about the first world fairs, the invention of electric lighting, and the rise of digital technology, which are all important events in the history of trade shows.
With its concise and engaging style, “A Brief History of Trade Shows” is an ideal resource for anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating aspect of commerce and industry.
The First Tradeshows
Mankind, since before Christ, has been bartering and selling goods within city walls by travellers and tinkers on the road, opening up trade routes such as the Silk Road, a network of roads that stretched from China to Europe that was active till the 15th century.
The first recorded and organised trade fair was located in Frankfurt, Germany. It was first written down in 1150, when it became legal. In 1240, Emperor Frederick II gave it a licence, or “privilege,” to hold a fair. It was called the Autumn Fair. Another fair soon followed in 1330, called the Spring Fair.
In 1365, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV extended the same privilege to Hamburg to open new trade routes.
In 1393, Frankfurt ran a December market, adding to their spring and autumn fairs. Dresden ran the first Christmas market in 1434. These markets included food and entertainment as well as stalls. In a mere 12 years, the spread of printing would result in the oldest fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair. It began its 560-year-old history in 1462. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and inventor, created the Gutenberg printing press in 1450 in Strasberg and started the printing revolution.
Tradeshows in Middle Age
Across Europe and England, Frost Fairs were held on bodies of frozen water in winter. Rivers are significant thoroughfares that, when frozen, become easier to traverse, making it a natural environment for booths to be set up selling wares and food. These Frost Fairs were held between the 16th and 18th centuries. The last Frost Fair was held in 1814 for four days. An elephant walked across the river Thames at Blackfriars in London. A variety of tradesmen set up stalls as well as many printing presses, printing odes and poems, one of which was the printer George Davis, who published a book titled Frostiana. It was the last Frost Fair held on the Thames due to the redesign of London Bridge, which resulted in a faster-moving river that didn’t freeze as quickly.
As the Industrial Revolution and colonisation by European countries like France, Belgium, etc. gained momentum, the first public exhibition was held in 1798 in Paris called “L’Expostion Publique des Produits de L’industrie Francaise”. It and several others that would follow in the next 50 years were to showcase only French products.
The first Paris exhibition had 110 exhibitors; by the 1827 exhibition, the number had increased to 1,695, which attracted over 600,000 visitors over 60 days.
It was the first exhibition at which a purpose-built building was erected in 1849. An astounding 5,494 exhibitors participated, resulting in overflow exhibition areas added to the impressive 240,000 square foot hall.
At the 1889 Paris World Fair, the Eiffel Tower was the main attraction as the Champ de Mars in Paris was converted into an exhibition. The Eiffel Tower showcased the iron and steel that powered the industrial revolution and new buildings. The first Skyscraper built in Chicago was a 10-storey building reinforced with steel in 1885.
Tradeshows in Modern Age
The modern exhibition began because of an ambitious King and an arranged marriage. Before Queen Victoria became queen, Leopold, King of the Belgians, her maternal uncle, arranged for Victoria to meet Prince Albert, his brother Ernest’s son. After meeting, Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her “best and kindest adviser”, to thank him “for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert … He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see.”
At the age of 22, having ascended the throne at 18, Victoria and Albert married. Their arranged marriage soon turned into a love match.
Albert found married life to the Queen challenging before he found his metier in working to improve public works, educational reform, reforms to the constitutional monarchy, and the abolition of slavery worldwide.
The Victorian Age saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It was a time of great innovation. The following were all created during that time: bicycles, typewriters, light bulbs, the Underground, photography, telephones, and the sewing machine, are just a few. It also saw the extensive building of roads, bridges, and homes using steel and iron.
The British Empire during her reign extended as far as the Caribbean, India, Ceylon, Australia, and New Zealand. In total, she ruled over 16 countries. This diversity of materials, foods, and innovation at home and abroad, as well as the results of Charles Darwin’s travels, set the stage for the first Exhibition in England. Even though the Grand Exhibition was to showcase the British Empire, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 included other nationalities.
There were other goals to the Grand Exhibition of 1851 over and above showcasing innovation: hope. Europe had for the previous two decades been tumultuous, with the London Straits Convention of 1841 being signed recognising the Ottoman sultan’s right to prevent warships of any nation from passing through the Bosphorus Strait leading to the Black Sea
The Paris Exhibition was the inspiration for Prince Albert to create the Great Exhibition to showcase the British Empire.
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations ran from 1 May to 15 October 1851 in Hyde Park. It was also called the Crystal Palace. This was because the design mimicked the new technology of using glass to build greenhouses. It was designed by Joseph Paxton, who was an MP, architect, gardener, and engineer who won a competition for the design of the Exhibition. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a famous civil engineer at the time, who changed the British landscape by building dockyards, bridges, and tunnels, the Great Western Railway as well as overseeing the building of the Great Exhibition.
Even though other Fairs and exhibitions had taken place prior to the Great Exhibition in London, what makes it the first modern exhibition is that Schweppes was the first sponsor, coupled with people being charged to enter, ensuring the Great Exhibition made a profit.
The Great Exhibition made a move from the realm of political or royal goals to a more business focus.
In America, the first American Institute Fair was held in 1829 in New York City, attracting 30,000 visitors, which became an annual event until 1897. Its goals were to encourage commerce, arts, and agriculture.
In 1864 what was called the Great Sanitary Fair was held in Philadelphia. It boosted the Union’s goals and aims and promoted Union Soldiers’ welfare. It raised $1,046,859 for medicine and bandages for the Union during the Civil War.
However, the visitor numbers were greatly exceeded by the Centennial Exposition in 1876 in Philadelphia, which ran from May 10 to November 10, 1876; where nearly 10 million visitors attended the exposition, with 37 countries participating.
The organisation of the Centennial Exposition was not without a few trials. In March 1872, the United States Centennial Commision, whose president John Welsh and the Commission made up of a representative from each state and territory in the United States, created a finance board to raise funds. The board raised $10 million by selling shares at $10 each. The board raised $1,784,320. The City of Philadelphia contributed $1.3 million, and Pennsylvania gave $1 million. On February 11, 1876, Congress made a loan of $1.5 million. However, there was a misunderstanding as the Board was under the impression that it was a subsidy. After the Exposition closed, the Government sued to repay the loan. The United States Supreme Court forced repayment of the loan.
It was held in Philadelphia to celebrate the centenary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. During the Civil War, Philadelphia was at the centre of the Union war effort.
The Great Sanitary Fair also became a voice for the Suffragette movement. A great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie was President of the Women’s Centennial Executive Committee. They raised $70,000 for a women’s exhibition building.
Conclusion
Fairs, exhibitions, and expositions have all had interesting stories in the past, but no matter what they were called, they all had the same main goal: to show off business and new ideas.
Read Next: History of Trade Shows in the 1930s
