National Gas Congress and Exhibition (1913)
Encyclopedia
The National Gas Congress and Exhibition was held in the International Exhibition Halls, Shepherd's Bush
, London
from 1 October to 1 November 1913.
The exhibition displayed examples of the best gas
fittings of the day in mock rooms representing a large and a small town house, "unusually" mixing manufacturers' products in the spaces rather than having individual trade stands for competing companies. The exhibition catalogue guides the visitor around the seven halls detailing all of the gas powered objects on show. These included oven
s, cookers, toaster
s, tea
boilers, irons
, fires, radiators, towel
rails, cigar
lighters, and a wide variety of lights
including lamps, table lamps, pendents.
The event was targeted at promoting gas to "... all classes of visitor - the practical housewife and the housewife-to-be; the chemist; the technicial; the factory owner; the social worker; the artisan; the domestic servant; the doctor; the architect - in short all who need artificial warmth, light or power; and to the those whom they look for guidance as to how best to obtain those necessaries of life." Conferences and lectures were run by experts to explain various aspects of Gas to non-technical visitors in order to make "... subjects as well as objects of interest...."
Demonstrations of cookery using gas ran every day of the exhibition and members of the public were invited to participate in competitions for monetary prizes of 10 shillings for first price or £2 for competitions sending in dishes prepared at home, whilst every competitor received 2 or 5 shillings to cover their travel expenses. The catalogue also advertises a competition to write an essay on " - from the Housewife's point of view, or the advantages of cooking by Gas - from the Cook's point of view", with a maximum prize of £10 and a similar competition for children to write about what they learned about gas at the exhibition.
Shepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1 October to 1 November 1913.
The exhibition displayed examples of the best gas
Coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
fittings of the day in mock rooms representing a large and a small town house, "unusually" mixing manufacturers' products in the spaces rather than having individual trade stands for competing companies. The exhibition catalogue guides the visitor around the seven halls detailing all of the gas powered objects on show. These included oven
Oven
An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...
s, cookers, toaster
Toaster
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
s, tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
boilers, irons
Iron (appliance)
A clothes iron, also referred to as simply an iron, is a small appliance used in ironing to remove wrinkles from fabric.Ironing works by loosening the ties between the long chains of molecules that exist in polymer fiber materials. With the heat and the weight of the ironing plate, the fibers are...
, fires, radiators, towel
Towel
A towel is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It draws moisture through direct contact, often using a blotting or a rubbing motion. Common household textile towels are made from cotton, rayon, bamboo, nonwoven fibers or a few other materials.-Types of towels:* A bath...
rails, cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
lighters, and a wide variety of lights
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
including lamps, table lamps, pendents.
The event was targeted at promoting gas to "... all classes of visitor - the practical housewife and the housewife-to-be; the chemist; the technicial; the factory owner; the social worker; the artisan; the domestic servant; the doctor; the architect - in short all who need artificial warmth, light or power; and to the those whom they look for guidance as to how best to obtain those necessaries of life." Conferences and lectures were run by experts to explain various aspects of Gas to non-technical visitors in order to make "... subjects as well as objects of interest...."
Demonstrations of cookery using gas ran every day of the exhibition and members of the public were invited to participate in competitions for monetary prizes of 10 shillings for first price or £2 for competitions sending in dishes prepared at home, whilst every competitor received 2 or 5 shillings to cover their travel expenses. The catalogue also advertises a competition to write an essay on " - from the Housewife's point of view, or the advantages of cooking by Gas - from the Cook's point of view", with a maximum prize of £10 and a similar competition for children to write about what they learned about gas at the exhibition.