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.

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.

An odd discovery in the Exposition guidebook is this advertisement for (apparently) a retreat for unwed mothers, which includes a sketch that strongly resembles a Lion incubator complete with nameplate.

“Maternity Home
Widow Nancy Baer, ​​38 Rue Pasteur, Nancy
Accommodates expectant mothers at any stage of pregnancy
Meticulous care, absolute discretion.
All modern comforts – Baths on the premises.”

• General Information
  • Dr. Alexandre Lion
  • The Lion Incubator
  • The Engineer and the Newborns, by W. A. Nelson and Paul L. Toubas
• Lion Incubator Patents (France)
  • Patent 201550, 1889
  • Patent 221716, 1892
• Maternité Lion Institutes
  • Alexandre Lion’s first incubator baby exhibit in Marseille, 1890.
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, Paris
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, New York
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants, Barcelona
• Maternité Lion Souvenir Booklets
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants , Paris Institute, Booklet Version #1 (appears to be ~1896)
  • Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants , Paris Institute, Booklet Version #2 (appears to be ~1901)
  • Pamphlet from Alexander Lion’s exhibit at the 1898 exhibition in Torino, Italy. (PDF supplied by Dr. Thijs Gras, Amsterdam)
• Press Coverage
  • La Maternité “Lion de Nice” pour Enfants Nés Avant Terme ou Débiles, by Dr. Ciaudo, 1895.
  • Les Couveuses pour Enfants, Gazette Médicale de Paris, 1900
  • Couveuses d’Enfants, La Maternité Lion, Paris, La Patrie, 1897
  • Paris Letter: An Improved System of Incubators, by O. Jennings, Pediatrics 1:427-428, 1896
  • Baby Incubators, The Strand Magazine, 1896, by James Walter Smith
  • Human Infant Incubation: A True Fairy-Tale of Modern Science from Leslie’s Weekly, 1897
  • The Saving of Human Life, Maternité Lion in NYC, The Literary Digest, 1898
  • Immature Infants in France, from The Lancet, January 16, 1897, page 196.
  • Alexandre Lion’s Incubator Charities in Europe (1894–1898) (The Embryo Project)
  • Newspaper Articles about Lion’s Storefronts and Expositions
• Worlds Fairs and Expositions
  • Maternité Lion at the Lyon Exposition Universelle et Coloniale, 1894
    • Maternité Lion at the Lyon Exposition Universelle – Le Monde Illustré, 1894
  • Maternité Lion at the Bordeaux Exposition of 1895.
    • “La Maternité Lion,” by Louis Énault, Journal of the Bordeaux Exposition, 1895
  • Maternité Lion at the Amsterdam World Exposition, 1895
  • Maternité Lion at the Berliner Gewerbeausstellung, 1896
  • Maternité Lion at the Exposition National Suisse, Geneva, Switzerland, 1896
  • Maternité Lion at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, 1897
  • Maternité Lion at the Brussels International Exposition, 1897
  • Maternité Lion at the Turin L’Esposizione Generale Italiana, 1898
  • Maternite Lion at the Ghent Provincial Exposition of 1899
  • Maternité Lion at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900
  • The Greater Britain Exhibition of 1899
  • Woman’s Exhibition in Earls Court, London, 1900
  • Maternité Lion at the Lille Exposition of 1902
  • Maternité Lion at the Marseille Colonial Exposition of 1906
  • Maternite Lion at the Bordeaux International Maritime Exposition of 1907
  • Maternité Lion at the Marseille Exposition Internationale d’Électricité, 1908
  • Maternité Lion at the Exposition Internationale de l’Est de la France, Nancy, France, 1909
  • Maternité Lion at the Brussels Exposition Universelle et Internationale, 1910
  • Maternite Lion at the Exposition du Centre de la France, Clermont-Ferrand, 1910
  • Maternité Liion at the Rome International Exposition of 1911
  • Maternité Lion at the Turin International Exposition of 1911
  • Maternité Lion at the Ghent International Exposition of 1913
  • Exposition Internationale Urbaine de Lyon, 1914

Last Updated on 06/18/26