Temporal Anthropologist Tuesday, a.k.a. #TemporalTues
Below you will find an archive of my logged observations of my visit to the Great Exhibition in London, 1851, at the Crystal Palace.
Timestamps are the relative time in US Eastern that the messages appeared in my native timestream.
Temporal Anthropologist Tuesday is the brainchild of Dr. Wendell Howe, Temporal Anthropologist.
9:06 – Aand it’s #TemporalTues day! There are too many times & places I want to visit, but after much deliberation… the Great Exhibition of 1851!
9:50 – Almost forgot I’d need proper money for the entrance fee! Logistics are taken care of, so away we go!
9:59 – At the Crystal Palace. It looks… odd! The fusion of classical and modern-industrial architecture is strange in person.
10:02 – It is also a sunny day, and the Palace is VERY SHINY. I do love shiny things – oh blast. I forgot a camera.
10:04 – I should’ve checked the weather for a cool, mostly cloudy day. Inside is going to be beastly hot. Greenhouse, you know.
10:21 – Good lord, it’s HUGE. I mean, I knew it was, but… it’s like the Met back in NYC, only it’s all metal and glass!
10:22 – The crowds are about as I expected, at least. It’s very much like the Met during a special exhibit. Well, which this is!
10:24 – The fusion of industrial structural bars, clear glass, and Classical layout feels similar to the Brooklyn Bridge.
10:26 – Both the Bridge and the Palace have a mixture of light insubstantiality mixed with traditional solidity. It’s lovely.
10:31 – Finally inside the Palace. It is HOT. The greenhouse effect plus the crowds are making it positively tropical in here.
10:34 – There are so many exhibits! I had no idea! I don’t have the faintest idea where to start. I’ll just wander about a bit.
10:47 – I found the steam engines! Glee! There are a whole lot of machines actually running in this area. It’s quite noisy.
10:53 – The juxtaposition of exhibits is amusing. Right next to the steam engines is a gallery of… paintings!
11:06 – I could spend all day here with the steam engines, but that would be a bit of a waste of a trip. I can come back later.
11:11 – The next section over is one of the sections with actual running machinery and seems to be primarily fabric related.
11:13 – I think this one is a loom, I can’t find the sign. Surprisingly, this area is quite crowded too, despite all the noise.
11:23 – All the people and machinery and sunlight through glass… the heat! I think I’ll step outside for a little while.
11:30 – There are exhibits outside the Crystal Palace as well! Well… of a sort. Cement and stone blocks? And GIGANTIC coals.
11:37 – Seriously, these are the most gigantic blocks of coal I never knew existed. This one says it weighs 16 TONS!
11:52 – The rock exhibit is surprisingly enthralling, but I feel sufficiently refreshed to go back inside. To the greenhouse!
11:59 – I’m overwhelmed all over again by the sheer QUANTITY of everything! Paintings, statues, replicas, machines, plants…
12:12 – I should’ve disguised myself as a man. These skirts are incredibly awkward for navigating through crowded walkways.
12:14 – Turning my back purposely on the trains and looking at the fabrics for a bit. Mustn’t let myself be TOO single-minded!
12:18 – Oho! The rocks and minerals exhibit is hiding behind the fabrics! I’m certainly glad I went this direction instead, now!
12:34 – Fish guano! They have fish guano! I will not laugh.
12:42 – Alright! I will now allow myself to go drool over the carriages and locomotives across the hall. Street. Passageway.
13:08 – A British gentleman seemed concerned at my wandering the exhibit alone – until I spoke. Hurrah for American stereotypes!
13:28 – I’m feeling a bit hungry. Where does one get food around here, anyway? (Goodbye locomotives! *blows a kiss*)
13:31 – That last action got me a few odd looks from the surrounding crowds. Don’t mind me, I’m just a crazy American! Now food.
14:22 – Back to exploring the Crystal Palace. Next, the Brazil exhibit, in honor of/as suggested by a certain Brazilian we know.
14:32 – Well, I can see what she meant. It’s all very… artistic. A bouquet made of feathers? Pretty, but a bit out of place.
14:39 – France has a LOT of stuff here! Particularly fabrics. & I found some glasses. They’re cute! Well, I think they are…
14:41 – I didn’t expect so much fabric to be at this Exhibition, honestly. Although in retrospect, it makes perfect sense.
14:43 – The fabrics/cloth industry was a major global industry! In fact, I’m surprised that I was surprised by this. Tsk tsk.
14:51 – I’ve been here for almost five hours now and I feel myself starting to burn out. But there’s still so much to see…!
14:55 – France’s section feels like a cross between a museum and a bazaar. It is also huge! It’s the next largest after England.
14:56 – Ooh look! Pocket watches! How cute! … I think I’ll check out the US exhibit then head home, before I get out of hand.
15:04 – I never knew (and never would’ve guessed) the US was so prominent in the dentistry industry during the mid-19th century.
15:08 – OH LOOK! A sulky! How cool! … Am I regionalizing myself much by knowing what a sulky is? I WAS a horse-crazy teen.
15:16 – Vacuum-packed corpses, anyone? We brilliant Americans devised an “air-exhausted coffin” to prevent corpses from rotting.
15:18 – I must say, while England outshines the US in terms of machinery, the US has some decidedly ODD things here.
15:19 – I was being facetious with my “crazy American” comments, but perhaps it isn’t so undeserved a reputation after all.
15:24 – Preservative coffins? An anatomically correct artificial leg? A telegraphic fax machine! Dentures! BROOMS!
15:26 – Miniature steam engines, model bridges, a vast variety of grains and cottons, “Indian” products, hats, preservatives!
15:33 – This is an excellent closing point. I’d love to stay, but I didn’t plan for overnight accommodations and I’m exhausted.
15:43 – One last look back at the Crystal Palace. Maybe I’ll come back someday for an event; and to see how it looks at sunset.
15:48 – Actually… one last thing before I go. I’m going to find Baker Street. I know it’s not the right time period, but…!
15:58 – I’m taking a hansom cab! A real one! This is so exciting! London looks much as I imagined, although it’s quite crowded.
17:26 – 221 Baker Street. I think my favourite part about the place is how there is no distinguishing characteristic to it.
17:33 – I’m tempted to see who lives here right now… but no, I can’t just knock on some random person’s door.
17:35 – Well then, it’s back home with me! Farewell 1851, dawn of the Victorian era. *salutes*
Wow! You did a great job. Ironically you picked the one spot Wendell can never go in his Tweets. In my first book 1851 is where Wendell meets Serendipity. Wendell, for the first time, has a very special mission. India is suing Britain for the return of the Koh-I-Noor Diamond. Problem is the want it returned INTACT, before Prince Albert started fiddling with it. Wendell has to exchange it for a 27th century replica. The only reason the Enforcers are allowing it is because the current Koh-I-Noor Diamond appears to actually be a 27th century replica, so Wendell wouldn’t be changing history at all. Okay, I’ll quit boring you.
Anyway the Koh-I-Noor Diamond was one of the exhibits at the Crystal Palace so I had to do some research on the Great Exhibition. I thought you captured quite well. I have some pictures of it along with a copy of a ticket I could send you to put on your blog if you like. I would think after 150 years the copyright has expired.
If you don’t want to send me your email, no hard feelings. I could see if I can find the websites I originally found them on.
Do you mind if I just put a link to your blog from my archive? You have them arranged so neatly.
I’m can’t wait to see where you are going next!
Jeanette aka Scablander (also known as Wendell Howe’s feminine side)
Pshaw! Hearing about Dr. Howe’s adventures is never boring. Is the aforementioned book available for purchase, or is that pending a future arrival/completion date?
And of course you can link directly to my blog; I would, in fact, be delighted.
She hasn’t yet finished writing it. In fact, you can read the first chapter in one of her many blogs :) I have it favorited, wait a minute. Here: http://jeanette-bennett-chap1.blogspot.com/
She desperately needs a real website XD