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Exposition Internationale de Lille, 1902

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Exposition Internationale de Lille, 1902

The Exposition Internationale de Lille ran from June to October in 1902 on the Champ-de-Mars in Lille, France. The city was increasing in prominence at the time due to its textile industries. It is known to have included an incubator baby exhibit, and it is clear from the image on this souvenir postcard that it was another of Alexandre Lion’s pavilions; when viewed at its full size after a high resolution scan, “Oeuvre Maternelle des Couveuses d’Enfants” is clearly visible.

Above: Postcard showing Alexandre Lion’s incubator pavilion and the “restaurant of industry.”

Information on Lion’s exhibit at Lille is quite sparse, although I was able to find a few mentions of it in contemporary periodicals on the Retronews.fr website. I have not yet been able to find a guidebook or catalog for the exhibit online, although specimens exist in print collections in France.

“In addition to these important installations, let us also point out the Couveuses Lion, maternal work par excellence…” — Journal de Saint-Quentin, June 21, 1902“The Lion incubators have also been the object of incessant visits…” — Le Réveil du Nord, June 18, 1902“The Lion incubators have also been the object of incessant visits…” — La Dépeche Coloniale, June 19, 1902

A description of the exhibition in Reims the following year mentions that many of the pavilions in the Lille exhibition were reassembled and reused in a subsequent exposition in Reims. 

Below: Maps showing the layout of the exhibition and its location within the city.