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Exposition Internationale de l’Est de la France, 1909

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Exposition Internationale de l’Est de la France, 1909

The Exposition Internationale de l’Est de la France [International Exhibition of the East of France] was an exhibition held in Nancy in 1909. The exhibition opened on May 1 and ran until October 31. The exhibition was held to demonstrate recovery from the Alsace-Lorraine annexation in the 1870 war. There were over 2000 exhibitors and 2 million visitors. Visitor attractions included a water chute, French gardens, and mining and gas pavilions.  French colonial exhibits included an Alsatian Village and a Senegalese village. Source: Wikipedia.

The 1909 Exposition in Nancy included an exhibition of incubators and human babies by Dr. Alexandre Lion. Dr. Lion operated storefront “institutes”” with incubators and human babies in several cities in France, and also had incubator pavilions at many international exhibitions in both Europe and the United States around the turn of the century. Links to more information about Dr. Lion can be found at the bottom of the page. Photo supplied by Drs. Thijs Gras.

A map of the exhibition grounds is shown below.

An aerial conception of the exhibit grounds is shown below.

Alexandre Lion produced souvenir postcards based on a common template for nearly all of his exhibitions and establishments. Some are quite easy to find on eBay (the Paris institute, for example) and some are quite rare now. The postcard for the Nancy exposition is shown below.


Last Updated on 01/28/23