The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-05
BRITAIN PLANNING '
 COLOSSAL FAIR ID
 SHOW HER GOODS
Promoters Have Already An n0unced Next Years Event Greatest of Its Kind in
 History
BY FLETCHER ALLEN

I OuolubSS LTdnSdCLeQ Dy eXU1DllOT5 cA- ceeded a million pounds sterling daily. Plans are laid for 1921 which will greatly exceed this figure, says the l officials who are busy with their preparations.
 ] Fairs that made great appeal to merchants from all parts of the world are familiar in trading enterprise Be- fore Russia was reduced to her present ! sorry position, Mini Novgorod was fa- ] nous for it's annual fair. At Leipzig, Germany held her trade show. but to- day the industries of Germany are | threatened, her finance is crippled, and there Is little prospect of recovery for | many years. Lyons fair the great yearly event of French commerce, compared with those mentioned, is not 1 a great enterprise, although it is rightly renowned for a highly artistic display of miscellaneous merchandise. | The forthcoming British industries l fair, which will be opened on February | 21. 1921, is announced as the great | est thing of it's kind in the worlds | history" It was organized as an an- nual fair in 1915. Every year since that date it has continued to grow, and the accumulated experience of six years growth and success is behind the organizers. Last year the daily booking of orders exceeded a million sterling, and many exhibitors booked orders on a scale which has enabled
 them to keep their factories working ever since. Firms which failed to take advantage of the fair for exhibition of their goods on the announcement of its success within week of last year s closing began bidding for space for 1921.
 OnfN genuine buyers are invited to the fair, and the exhibitors know that their visitors are not there out of idle curiosity. There are no crowds or ir- | responsible sightseers--the fair is for Business"
 GOES TO WHITE CITY
 Pleasure, of course. is not omitted from the routine of the guests. Leip- zig used to be famous for it's gaiety, but Leipzig, as a city, offers no at fractions comparable to London for gaiety or amusement In addition to the ordinary round of pleasure pro- vded in the metropolis, the guests from abroad are generally entertained On lavish scale. Official entertain
 ments and informal luncheons planned bv trade organizations and individual firms conspire to make friends from abroad feel that the trip is not exclu- sively hard business matter, but that pleasure takes its proper place to the advantage of all concerned.
 Last year the fair was held at the Crystal palace. London's famous hall of glass This year, owing to the tre- mendous expansion of the industrial
 enterprise the Crystal palace has to be abandoned, and the fair is trans ferred to the White City" which at one time was one of the striking at fractions of Londons pleasure places. During the European war, the White City was transformed into a depot for troops and now it is being remodeled e. fa tr n fulfill function more serious than that for which it was originally planned but more agreeable than that of the years 1914-1S16 ns' The 'tWhite City" covers an area Of more than 100 acres with floor space of several million square feet. It IS served by four railway stations and a score of omnibus and tram routes con- verge upon It. to the 1921 fair will be issued, of which 40, 900 will be to merchants overseas Last year visitors arrived In thousaids from the United States, South Amarlca, the British colonies, the far east, ana there was a continual stream of people from nearly all the European countries. jYisitors from abroad are carefully as- sisted. The guide books and catalogues | are issued in eight languages, ana force of efficient interpreters is always | on hand.
 The British Industries Fair is really divided into three separate sections, lone being at London. one at Glasgow, 1 and one at Birmingham. The fairs al London and Birmingham run concur
 rently from February 21 to March 4. as they are within a few hours travel | of each other, and an excellent train service is maintained. The Glasgow exhibition opens on February 2S. As each of the fairs represent different branch of industry, and no industry may exhibit at more than one SC ction
 there is no overlapping. and no waste
 of time or energy on the part Of such
 visitors as wish to make the complete | tour.
 ] Only British goods are on exhibition and no exhibitor may display yoods
 not manufactured in his own works. 1 The London show Is organized by the department of overseas trade, and lis devoted to merchandise whose man }ufacture or sale is connected with tf e metropolis. The following broad clas- tsification covers a list of wares whose detail would run to thousands of arti- | cles: Fancy goods. travellers requi sites, tobacconists, sundries, lea-her goods, bookbinding. upholstery, brush
 ware, paper trade. stationery and sta
 tioners sundries, printing trade. toys, games and sport goods. cutlery, silver
 ware, electric plate. watches, jewelry, land imitation jewelry, watches and clocks, optical wares, instruments glassware, chinaware, earthenware,
 drugs and druggists sundries furni- Lure, basketware and musical instru- lments
 The old industries are well known
 and Britain's part in them, but in some
 cases there is a distinct novelty to he
 range of exhibits, which give point to
 the statement that Britain is making
 the most of her need and turning It to Opportunity. The manufacture of toys
 cheap clocks and musical instruments lis comparatively recent development
 of British industry. Before the war few factories were engaged in toy
 making. The market was, foreign
 monopoly. At the present time he in-
 dustry Is well established. and last ear
 over 200 forms exhibited their prod icts
 which were admittedly better than ,anything turned out on the continent lsince 1914. Clocks of the higher iyIe
 and chronometers have been made ir
 Britain for many years, but the cheaper varieties, like the ow-priced .notoi
 cars, had been left to other nations
 The high price of good quality clocks
 and the wartime absence of the ,heap-
 or goods led the British clock makers to meet the need by mass production They find that they can reap as good
 a rate of profit from the low-7riced
 articles. Also in connection with 'nu-
 sical instruments; the high reputation of band instruments made in England
 is extending to player-pianos, wood in
 struments and graphaphones.
 Similarly at GlaSgr,x. which will bl