New week! Today I want to share a bit more of the story of this object I found while thrifting. I thought this was so cool!

This little folder is a ticket! Now first off that’s already cool to me because today tickets are virtual on your phone or printer paper, if you say, go to movie. Gone are the days of fancy tickets for events and honestly it was almost an art and also a cool keepsake. Yes, we are saving trees but part of me thinks it would also be cool to bring back neat tickets somehow.

This one here is for the 1891 Jamaica Exhibition. “The Jamaica International Exhibition was held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 27 January 1891 to 2 May 1891. It was modelled on the London Great Exhibition of 1851 and was the idea of Augustus Constantine Sinclair who ran the Government Printing Office in Jamaica.” (Source 1)

Now this first source is Wikipedia and this one will be too (so if you want to confirm for sure this information you might want to deepen my research) but it seems Augustus Constantine Sinclair was credited with the idea and put a lot of work in it but unfortunately died on opening day! (Source 2)

The exhibiton itself was a success though. It last multiple months and a fun fact I found is that it started fairly small until multiple countries asked for more space. As a Canadian I found this interesting “By August 1890 it became obvious that more space was required as Canada alone requested 50,000 sq. ft. for what would become 247 exhibits detailing everything produced by Canada that could have a market in the West Indies. ” (Source 3)

Apparently it was a great success “this Exhibition billed as “the most extraordinary commercial event in the history of the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies,” but yet the event still lost money. (Source 3).

Back to the ticket itself I wonder if the beautiful paper folio that it is was in part because Augustus Constantine Sinclair ran the government printing office?

With some research I found out that the 1851 exhibition (which inspired the Jamaica one) had much less fancy tickets (See source 4) unless of course you were an honored guest in which case you got a round of ivory about the size of half-a-crown (a Toonie about for us Canadians) enclosed in an olive wood box. Imagine that! (Source 5)

There is so much more to explore on this exhibition, it’s exhibits, who made it happen, the impact it had on Jamaica, etc. All of this brought forward simply by looking a bit deeper into a ticket I found cool. I love that there is so many stories all around us!

To end this post here is the inscriptions on the ticket pictured if you have trouble reading it (plus a few thoughts on those at the very end). Also, don’t forget to make the most of your story and to keep an eye out for the wonderful stories all around us.

Inside flap 1:
Jamaica Exhibition
Season 1891
Number 547
Sign-re of holder
By order of the commissioner
J. F MacKinnon?
Secretary

Inside flap 2:
The tickets are issued subject to the following regulations:
1.Available for admission to the exhibition from 11 a.m to 10p.m every week day, except on six days, which will be notified in public journal when it will not be available after 6pm, and except on the opening day, when it will only be available after 4pm.
2. The owner must sign his or her name on the ticket on receipt of the same.
3. The owner must, if required, sign his or her name in the registers kept by the Door-keepers.
4.The owner must always show the ticket on entering the Exhibition.
5.The ticket is personal to the individual to whom it is issues, and whose signature appears on it, and may not be transferred.
6. Ticket must not be made the means of pecuniary profit to the Owner.
If any of the foregoing regulations are infringed by the owner, the ticket is liable to be forfeited.

Quick thoughts on this:
First: The first point is a bit confusing. Is it only me? I guess no place to write start times for each day and no internet to post the hours.
Second: “Pecuniary gain refers to an increase in money or something that has monetary value. It can also refer to the profit made from selling something for more than it cost.” seems ticket scalping was outlawed. Interesting!

—————————–

Source 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_International_Exhibition
Source 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Constantine_Sinclair
Source 3: https://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0018.html
Source 4: https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/XJ543890/Ticket-to-the-Great-Exhibition-of-1851-held-in-the-Crystal-Palace-in-Hyde-Park-London
Source 5: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_MG-878