The Festival of Britian - Design
Inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Festival of Britain held May - September 1951 hoped to provide some respite from the ongoing effects of the Second World War by celebrating the nation's past achievements in the arts, industry and science, as well as looking ahead to a future of progress and prosperity. The major events were held on the twenty-seven-acre bomb site around Waterloo Station, although events happened throughout the UK.
The Festival was almost immediately unfashionable among commentators. It was viewed with suspicion by political conservatives and quickly dismantled and many called into question the Festival's objectives. This political ambivalence towards the Festival is confounded by its popularity today among collectors, social historians and anybody interested in post-war British culture and society.
This book is the first to present the story of the Festival of Britain, held in 1951, through its souvenirs. These objects were produced to commemorate The Tonic to the Nation. Retrospectively, they testify to its enormous popular appeal. Festival of Britain 1951, the newest addition to the popular Design series, places these souvenirs and objects into their historical context and explains the continuing appeal of these modest artifacts.
