The Empire needed a boost after the War. By getting involved in a European land war, great losses had been sustained and the distraction had lead to the loss of Ireland and agreeing to the principle of leaving India in 1917. There was a movement to display what was being achieved and what united the people of the Empire in the hope of reenergizing the endeavor. Only time would tell if energy would be created or just a last gasp from dead enders. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your Earl Grey, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
It may seem strange to modern collectors who come across British commemorative stamps on subjects like not British movies and tv shows, but this stamp was the first British commemorative stamp issue. It came a full 84 years after the first stamp. The British Empire Exhibition was designed to show the Empire in a good light. Stamps are a way for a country to display it’s best self. A new road was being traveled. The stamps design by H Nelson was no great success, the lion seems inadequately evocative and George V’s portrait too large. Where was Manchin when you needed him?
Todays stamp is issue A92, a one and one half D stamp issued by Great Britain on April 23rd, 1924. It was a two stamp issue. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $8.00 used. Out of curiosity I checked my Stanley Gibbons “Collect British Stamps” They state the value up much higher at 15 Pounds used.
The idea of an exhibition in the style of a World’s Fair was proposed by the British Empire League as far back as 1902. The League was a bunch of aristocrats, among them Earl Grey, the man not the tea. Wars kept getting in the way. The site chosen was Wembley which was pretty far out of London but the subway was extended to get there. A large Stadium was built and large palaces were built of quick pour concrete that showed off India as a Hindu Temple, British West Africa as a Arab Fort, British Southern Africa as a Dutch styled Palace, and further Palaces to show off Industry and Art. For the young at heart there was an amusement park with bumper cars and a soon famous soap shop called Pear’s Palace of Beauty. In it attractive models posed in glass tubes dressed as great beauties of history. Two of the girls “Bubbles” and “The Spirit of Purity” reminded you to buy some soap. Every night the RAF put on an airshow called “Defending London” where Sopwith biplanes engaged in mock dogfights with blank ammunition and pyrotechnics. There were only 3 empire no shows, the Gambia, Gibraltar, and yes the Irish Free State.
To promote the Exhibition, a world tour of British celebrities was organized. The leader was a somewhat buffoonish would be politician named Ernest Belcher. He would tell wild stories and ended up enraging the celebrities on the tour. In retrospect, Agatha Christie for one thought the tour great fun.
The Exhibition managed to attract 1.7 million paying attendees but that did not prevent a huge financial loss. The Exhibition was extended into 1925 but then only lost more money. Most of the Palaces were torn down quickly after the closing but Wembley stadium lasted into the 21st century. It did little however to preserve the Empire and convince the people of it’s motto “One People, One Destiny”. Even the British Empire League folded up shop in 1955.
Well I suppose this was a failure but heck sometimes why not just throw a party and see who comes. Please come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.