Crystal Palace General view from Water Temple

The Stanley Cycle Show or Stanley Show was an exhibition of bicycles and tricycles first mounted by the Stanley Cycling Club in 1878 at The Athenaeum in London's Camden Road. Britain's first series production cars were displayed at this show in November 1896. The 34th and last exhibition was held in the Royal Agricultural Hall,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

in November 1910. It was supplanted by the 1911 Olympia Motor Cycle Show and, a few weeks before that, Olympia's International Motor Exhibition.

Stanley Show Committee

In its first decade it was organised by the Stanley Cycling Club and held at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster specially for "the votaries of wheeling". From the 1886 exhibition it was arranged not by the Stanley Club but by a committee of manufacturers and Stanley Club members. This 1886 exhibition displayed a strong emphasis on ''dwarf'' or safety bicycles. There were signs that tandems were replacing the wider and more unwieldy sociables. 1888's display included a prominent exhibit by Coventry Machinists Company, styled a Hansom Cab Coolie Cycle. Built for the Sultan of Morocco with a full-size cab body in front, where His Majesty would be able to sit in comfort and control the steering and braking, this machine was propelled by four cyclists at the back. There were other notable displays by: Hillman Herbert & Cooper of Premier Cycles, Rudge Cycles – a bicycle for military purposes, Marriott & Cooper – a tandem, Eureka racing bicycles by Bayliss Thomas & Co. and many others including an electric tricycle and "roadscullers" using a rowing motion for propulsion. The Stanley was always a winter show. In the summer of 1896 Harry Lawson ran a competing International Motor Exhibition at the Imperial Institute, Kensington.

The Stanley Automobile Exhibition January 1905

The Stanley Show Committee's first automobile exhibition was held at

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

. Opened on 15 January 1905 in very cold weather Earls Court's unheated buildings drew the comment from newspapers that it was well-attended considering the weather conditions. A month later an automobile exhibition at Olympia (the third International Exhibition of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders under the auspices of the Automobile Association of Great Britain and Ireland) drew crowds that were "enormous and interested". The Stanley Committee's last show was in November 1910.The Stanley Cycle Show. ''The Times'', Saturday, Nov 05, 1910; pg. 8; Issue 39422

Olympia's International Motor Show and Motor Cycle Show

The Olympia Motor Cycle Show held in November 1911 supplanted the old-established Stanley Cycle Show. The new Motorcycle Show pushed forward by two weeks to the beginning of November the great International Motor Show also to be held at Olympia that month.

Venues

* 1st at The Athenaeum Camden Road, 1878, 60 cyclesThe Stanley Cycle Show. ''Daily News'', Monday, January 30, 1888; Issue 13045 * 6th the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. February 1883 * 7th the Royal Floral Hall, Covent Garden, above 80 exhibitors, over 400 machines. February 1884 ''illuminated by Jablochkoff electric arc lights.'' * 8th ''The Wheeleries'',

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment. History There had been a long history of ...

(close to Blackfriars Bridge), February 1885 * 9th the

Royal Aquarium The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was desi ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, February 1886 * 10th the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, 118 exhibitors, 600 machines. February 1887 * 11th the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, 160 exhibitors, 800 machines, "The Wheeleries". January 1888 * 12th

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

Sydenham, February 1889 * 13th the Crystal Palace [Sydenham, 230 exhibitors, 1500 machines, January 1890 * 14th Crystal Palace Sydenham, 225 exhibitors, 1125 machines, January 1891. ''Boycott by leading manufacturers'' * 15th Crystal Palace Sydenham, 312 exhibitors, 1500 machines, November 1891. ''Boycott by about 70 leading manufacturers'' * 16th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington. November 1892 * 17th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington. November 1893 * 18th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington, November 1894 * 19th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington, November 1895 * 28th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington 300 exhibitors, 376 stands, November 1904 * 32nd Royal Agricultural Hall Islington 250 exhibitors, November 1908The Stanley Cycle Show. ''The Times'', Friday, Nov 20, 1908; pg. 6; Issue 38809 * 34th Royal Agricultural Hall Islington 250 exhibitors, November 1910

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley Cycle Show Bicycle tours Cycling in England