South African International Exhibition

The South African International Exhibition was a world's fair held in Cape Town, Cape Colony in 1877.^[1] It was officially opened on 15 February of that year^[2][3] by Henry Bartle Frere.^{[citation needed]}

Location

The exhibition was held inside a custom-made building^[4] that was constructed out of glass and iron in a style reminiscent of The Crystal Palace that housed London's Great Exhibition.^[5] It was located on the grounds of the Freemasons' Lodge de Goede Hoop, which was being used as the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope at that time.^[6]

Exhibits

During 1876, Signor Cagli had canvassed American and European industries to exhibit “manufactures of all kinds”,^[6] which were to be grouped in 10 classes: alimentation, chemicals (perfume, medicine and surgical equipment), furniture, fabric and jewelry, transport vehicles and equipment, hardware, machinery, agriculture, science and education, and miscellany such as fire extinguishers.^[4][5] Cagli's proposal was supported by the then-Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon.^[5]

The only countries and colonies with known recorded exhibitors include Great Britain, the Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State, and Griqualand West.^[5] However, representatives of the exhibition organizers were present and accepting submissions during the preceding months in "Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Turin and Amsterdam."^[5] As such, it seems likely that exhibitors from France, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Netherlands also presented at the fair. Individual exhibitors included: Wertheim safes;^[7] Taylor's sewing machines, who won a medal;^[8] Sheffield-based Samuel Marshall, who showed hooks, hay knives, scythes and sheep shears;^[9] and linen manufacturers Rylands & Sons, who won a prize (followed by another a year later at the Paris exhibition).^[10]

Aftermath

After the exhibition, the main building was used as an assembly hall and a theatre, aptly called the Exhibition Theatre. In the afternoon of 21 February 1892, around 3:30 PM, carpenters and scenery painters were preparing for a new play when a fire broke out near the theatre entrance. In less than one hour, the entire building was destroyed, along with the adjoining Masonic Lodge and Native Affairs Office.^[11]

References

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World exhibitions

Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)

Retroactively
recognized
expositions

• London 1851
• Paris 1855
• London 1862
• Paris 1867
• Vienna 1873
• Philadelphia 1876
• Paris 1878
• Melbourne 1880
• Barcelona 1888
• Paris 1889
• Chicago 1893
• Brussels 1897
• Paris 1900
• St. Louis 1904
• Liège 1905
• Milan 1906
• Brussels 1910
• Turin 1911
• Ghent 1913
• San Francisco 1915
• Barcelona 1929
• Seville 1929
• Chicago 1933

BIE-recognized
Universal
expositions

• Brussels 1935
• Paris 1937
• New York 1939–1940
• Port-au-Prince 1949
• Brussels 1958
• Seattle 1962
• Montreal 1967
• Osaka 1970
• Chicago 1992
• Seville 1992
• Hannover 2000
• Aichi 2005
• Shanghai 2010
• Milan 2015
• Dubai 2020^†
• Osaka 2025
• Riyadh 2030

BIE-recognized
specialized
expositions

• Stockholm 1936
• Helsinki 1938
• Liège 1939
• Paris 1947
• Stockholm 1949
• Lyon 1949
• Lille 1951
• Jerusalem 1953
• Rome 1953
• Naples 1954
• Turin 1955
• Helsingborg 1955
• Beit Dagan 1956
• Berlin 1957
• Turin 1961
• Munich 1965
• San Antonio 1968
• Budapest 1971
• Spokane 1974
• Okinawa 1975
• Plovdiv 1981
• Knoxville 1982
• New Orleans 1984
• Plovdiv 1985
• Tsukuba 1985
• Vancouver 1986
• Brisbane 1988
• Plovdiv 1991
• Genoa 1992
• Taejŏn 1993
• Lisbon 1998
• Zaragoza 2008
• Yeosu 2012
• Astana 2017
• Buenos Aires 2023
• Belgrade 2027

BIE-recognized
horticultural
exhibitions (AIPH)

• Rotterdam 1960
• Paris 1969
• Amsterdam 1972
• Hamburg 1973
• Vienna 1974
• Montreal 1980
• Amsterdam 1982
• Munich 1983
• Liverpool 1984
• Osaka 1990
• Zoetermeer 1992
• Stuttgart 1993
• Kunming 1999
• Haarlemmermeer 2002
• Rostock 2003
• Chiang Mai 2006–2007
• Venlo 2012
• Antalya 2016
• Beijing 2019
• Almere 2022
• Doha 2023
• Yokohama 2027

Not BIE-
recognized

Africa	Freetown 1865 Cape Town 1877 Kimberley 1892–1893 Johannesburg 1936–1937
Asia	Calcutta 1883–1884 Hanoi 1902 Nanking 1910 Semarang 1914 Hangzhou 1929 Taihoku (Taipei) 1935 Nagoya 1937 Clark 1998 Shenyang 2006 Chiang Mai 2011–2012 Udon Thani 2026
Europe	London 1760 Dublin 1853 Manchester 1857 Porto 1865 Stockholm 1866 London 1871–1874 Lyon 1872 Vienna 1873 Amsterdam 1883 Liverpool 1886 London 1886 Copenhagen 1888 Glasgow 1888 Frankfurt 1891 Prague 1891 Lyon 1894 Oporto 1894 Berlin 1896 Stockholm 1897 Glasgow 1901 Cork 1902 London 1905 London 1906 Marseille 1906 Dublin 1907 London 1908 Zaragoza 1908 London 1910 Dresden 1911 London 1911 London 1912 Lyon 1914 Cologne 1914 London 1914 Kristiania 1914 Malmö 1914 London 1921 Marseille 1922 Gothenburg 1923 British Empire Exhibition 1924–1925 Antwerp 1930 Stockholm 1930 Paris 1931 Porto 1934 Glasgow 1938 Stockholm 1943
North America	New York City 1826–1897 Bryant Park, New York City 1853 Atlanta 1881 Louisville 1883–1887 New Orleans 1884 Atlanta 1887 San Francisco 1894 Atlanta 1895 Nashville 1897 Omaha 1898 Buffalo 1901 Charleston 1901–1902 Portland, Oregon 1905 Jamestown 1907 Seattle 1909 Knoxville 1913 San Diego 1915–1917 Bronx 1918 Philadelphia 1926 San Diego 1935–1936 Dallas 1936 Cleveland 1936–1937 Dallas 1937 San Francisco 1939–1940 Chicago 1940 New York City 1964–1965
Oceania	Melbourne 1866 Sydney 1870 Melbourne 1875 Brisbane 1876 Sydney 1879 Adelaide 1887 Melbourne 1888 Dunedin 1889 Christchurch 1906 Auckland 1913–1914 Dunedin 1925 Wellington 1939–1940
South America	Lima 1872 Santiago 1875 Quito 1909 Buenos Aires 1910 Rio de Janeiro 1922

^†Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic • World portal