3-011-894 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Royal Dramatic College Fete at the Crystal Palace, [London], 1864. Annual fund-raising festival. '...the central portion of the nave and transepts was filled with the stalls of a fancy fair, kept by many of the most popular of the London actresses, whose merry merchandise went off with remarkable success...On the left-hand side of the transept, looking towards the great orchestra, were the stalls of Miss Katharine Hickson; Miss Elsworthy, who was liberally patronised; Mrs. Stirling, who conducted her commercial operations with her usual spirit; and Mrs. St. Henry, who attracted a multitude of customers and sold a variety of wares at no very alarming sacrifice. On the right were ranged the stalls of Mrs. Alfred Mellon, Mrs. Billington, Miss Fanny Hunt, and Mdlle. Stella Colas, who, as might have been expected, enjoyed a large amount of public patronage. In the centre of the nave a many-sided tent, of curious construction, was jointly tenanted by Miss Harfleur, Miss Wentworth, Miss Lindley, Miss Caroline Carson and her sister, and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul, who sold, at a profitable price, fans of a peculiar pattern, prettily got up and embellished with views of Maybury College, and vignette portraits of Mr. Webster...and Mr. Creswick...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.