The Eiffel Tower during the 1889 Exposition Universelle
The tenth Exposition Universelle was organised in Paris in 1889, from the 15th May to the 6th November, and it was for this occasion that the Eiffel Tower was built. Stretching over 95 hectares, the Exposition filled the Champ-de-Mars, the Trocadero Hill, and the banks up to the Invalides esplanade, and the Eiffel Tower was at the centre of everyone’s view.
Immediate success for the tallest tower in the world
The 1889 Exposition Universelle received millions of visitors. Amongst them, 1,953,122 came to see the Eiffel Tower, in other words almost 12,000 a day! The Tower was met with immediate success.
From the very first week, though the lifts were not yet in service (they would be from the 26th May), almost 30,000 visitors climbed the monument using the staircase, that is to say 1,710 steps to the top !
At the time, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest tower in the world and people from all countries went to the heart of the French Capital to admire this architectural masterpiece.
The public hurried to experience not only the dizzy heights of the ascent, but above all an unprecedented view over Paris, since no one had yet seen the view from an aeroplane.
The Eiffel Tower has attracted among its copious number of celebrity visitorsthe French actress Sarah Bernhardt, the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) and the Princess of Wales, George I of Greece, le Shah of Persia, Prince Baudouin and other, more unexpected guests such as one certain American: he had long hair, a broad hat and tan-coloured chaps. It was William F. Cody, known by the name of Buffalo Bill.
On the 10th July, the President of the French Republic, Sadi Carnot, very satisfied with his visit, offered a sum of 200 Francs to the Eiffel Tower employees and a sum of 100 Francs to the Figaro printing staff!
Attractions and celebrations overlooking Paris
Already festive, the Eiffel Tower lit up every evening with the light of hundreds of gas lamps protected by opal glass cases. A tricolour beacon, housed in the campanile, sent out three signals of blue, white, and red light over Paris (using two mobile projectors mounted on a circular rail at the top). Lastly, the opening and closing of the Exposition were announced every day by a cannon shot fired from the top under the direction of a certain Mr. Chobert, the “harquebusier” of Paris, in his capacity as “qualified associate and medal-holder at the Exposition Universelle”.
All sorts of boutiques (sale of souvenirs, photographers’ booths, binocular rental, refreshments) and restaurants opened up on the monument.