Putting on a Show: the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Victorian town, c.1840-1876

This is a study of the annual shows of the Royal Agricultural Society of England from the perspective of the towns in which they were staged. Driven by the commercial and civic ambitions of the host towns, the shows escalated well beyond their original remit of knowledge dissemination to the farming population over the course of the study period. This both benefited and burdened RASE, by delivering increased revenues but also escalating costs and provoking ideological debate over the real purpose of the shows. It prompted the Society to reassess its approach to a number of aspects of show management by the mid-1870s