Periodicals are a goldmine for historical research as they contain different types of information. However, it is sometimes difficult to extract this data. The layout of these journals often contain multiple columns, lists, tables, various fonts and sizes, and a combination of text and images which all complicate the extraction process. Nonetheless, I was curious about the lists of recommended establishments that were published in showpeople periodicals. These lists are tucked away between running text about correspondence, marriages, meeting reports and much more. Within the Belgian Comète…

In the shadow of the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, an extraordinary collection of over four hundred fairground ephemera recently surfaced at a vintage poster shop. This historical trove comprises an assortment of advertisements from the funfair season in the city of Leuven, providing a vivid glimpse into the world of popular visual and performance culture around 1900. These fragile documents shed light on many facets of fairground culture during that time, including the promotion of attractions and personalities, the variety of spectacles, and the overall organization of the fairs.…

The fair used to be a place to have fun, but also to discover something new. Young and old alike prepared to visit the lion tamer, the boxing stall, or the levitating lady, but they also learned about pregnancy and childbirth. Professor Nele Wynants (UAntwerp) and actor-magician Kobe Van Herwegen visited one of the oldest forains (showpeople) in Belgium: François Delforge. A seventh-generation forain, he can still vividly recount his fairground past throughout the 20th century.

One of the most arresting images from Belgian colonial history is the photograph of Nsala of Wala gazing at his daughter’s severed hand and foot, taken by English missionary and photographer Alice Seeley Harris in 1904. This disturbing image, capturing the atrocities of King Leopold II’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State (1885-1908), was not only a grim testament to the horrors of the rubber trade but also a powerful visual tool in the fight against colonial abuses. Projected during magic lantern lectures, Harris's photograph played a pivotal role in raising awareness of human rights…

Since 1883, Der Komet has been a pioneering journal, serving as a compass for fairground entrepreneurs and travelling traders. The periodical played a vital role in the professionalization of the fairground industry and chronicled over 140 years of German fairground culture. As such, it is a valuable resource for researchers interested in the cultural history of fairgrounds, media and film history, and the history of knowledge and technology. Current digitization campaigns, supported by the SciFair project and its partners, aim to make this rich historical material accessible to a wider…

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Charles Buls, the forward-thinking mayor of Brussels, employed magic lantern performances not merely to display his extensive travels but also to illuminate his socio-political ideals. These spellbinding illustrated lectures whisked audiences away to far-flung corners of the globe, deftly weaving in Buls’ passionate advocacy for cultural conservation and civic identity. His poignant recounting of the tragic Messina earthquake of 1908 not only shed light on the plight of that unfortunate city and its people but also unveiled his grand vision for Brussels.…

Can large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) unlock the secrets hidden within historical documents, such as showpeople periodicals? This question propelled researchers from the universities of Antwerp, Luxembourg, and Marburg to explore the potential of LLM/AI in a one-day workshop. On 12 March 2024, scholars from the University of Antwerp (ARIA), the University of Luxembourg (C2DH), and the University of Marburg (Institute for Media Studies) joined forces to conduct preliminary tests for an interdisciplinary research project. This international group of researchers aims…

Levitating tables, conversations with deceased family members, or fortune-telling: spiritism was a “hot item” in nineteenth-century Belgium. PhD researcher Hannah Welslau (FWO) examines how spiritism found its way from living-room séances to magic at the fairground. Hannah's research focuses on how spiritism was introduced into various types of popular entertainment, such as theatre, lectures and séances. Since her FWO project is related to the Science at the Fair project, the fairground was also an obvious venue to explore. Hannah: "What struck me immediately was that spiritism at the…

What role did science and technology once play at the fairground? And how were new technologies such as X-ray technology, photography, and film presented and disseminated through the travelling network of showpeople? PhD researcher Tim Overkempe is currently investigating all of the questions above for the period 1850-1914 within the Science at the Fair project at UAntwerp. While most of us might associate the funfair with nostalgia and perhaps a touch of old-world charm, this was certainly not always the case in the past. Instead, the fairground was often the place-to-be to wonder at new…

Nele Wynants is a professor of art and theatre studies at UAntwerp. Her research is on the interface of science, media and performance. In her EU-funded project Science at the Fair, she explores the world of travelling science shows in the 19th century. She told us about how the project came about and made a passionate plea for more room for chance, intuition and unexpected twists in research. When we think about ‘science for the public at large’, the first thing that comes to mind nowadays is large science museums or interactive experiences such as Technopolis. In the 19th century, however,…