Victorian Monkey Tennis?

Notes written by a manager of the Alexandra Palace, c.1880? (Haringey Museum AP1/17)

These notes appear in the archives without an author, but display a series of one-line ideas, added over a period of time (months?) for developing the north London pleasure-ground of Alexandra Palace, which was perennially on the verge of bankruptcy. They provide a unique insight into the mind of a harassed Victorian entrepreneur.

Railway timetable given or sold at every Ry Station along lines to & from City & to and from AP with list of AP attractions;  ? charge 1/2d & illustrate nicely and get nearly the cost back

Arrange Waiting Room at Railway - Have at in Central Hall & at each end 

" next train to City ____  To King's Cross ___ [illeg] ___ for respectively

Study towns round Palace, Enfield, Barnet &c.

Subscription Skittle Ground (see the one Mr. Perfect plays at)

Volunteer Ball - have Central Hall gradually close-boarded

Sales of sporting and other dogs by Freeman ([illeg.] Rich called 8/11/79)

Hunters show & jumping Competn as at Lyons Down (see B, Booth, future)

Compare Ry fares without admt. to see what added 

Picturesque villas in the park

Exhibtn to illustrate Old London - Antiquarian & Relics - Photos Moods Maps & Pictures

Leifold & other organists - Foreigners for Saint Saens &c Stainer, Best

Smoking Gallery in Central Hall

No Touting but gentlemanly information given [illeg.] 

next  train leaves at ___ & so on. "Have you shown your children the Japanese Village, Sir?" "Have you seen the new ____" & so on

Panto & opera books shd have a few bars of most popular airs

3rd class Dining room where West Rooms now useless are

Big label with name of piece to be played by Band or sung &c (?Blackboard)

Plenty of information given to Visitors so that programmes not necessary

Print programmes on back of handbills

Steam [illeg.] Railway, Wm Eton 6 Rue des Fermieries, Batignolles, Paris

Offer Prize for the best £10 Piano. Also for Girl Pianists.

Sewing Machine Exhibt.  Prizes for machinists (girls)

Get Ry Co's to give small space on monthly bills for AP Calendar 

AP trains briefly stated & small

Trade Contests - Bartenders, Bricklayers &c

Plant a Maze

Sell Fruit and Cigars at Telegraph office

Exhibition of Taxidermy

Stall for novelties - Elect. Pen zylographing, Yankee Dodges

Big Strong aviary Macaws flying about   ||    Bear Pit

Entrance to theatre from top of Railway stairs

Amuse crowd on Bank Holiday nights with lime light [illeg.] (save gas!)

Make Working Models a really good exhibition

?Electric light for Palace & Park?

Goat Enclosure - high rock work as Jardin d'Acclimiation

Sell Reminiscences of S.G. like Royal Academy does

?Sea water Swimming Bath  (Willing, Had[illeg.], ?Lloyds homemade)

Get some of the features of Polytechnic, Madame Tussaud's. Aquarium (one or two tanks zoological f[illeg.] for specialties)

A Rabbit Warren   |   An Alligator Pond

Push books of admission tickets

Valentines Day Concert of Love Songs, Huge Valentine, Comic figure (as Guy show)

Fairy Groups by Wilson (Cinderella trying on shoes, R.Riding Hood & Wolf &c)

St. Patrick's Day

St. Andrews, St. Crispin's Day (Best[?] Show), French Fete (when?) Italian Fete [illeg.]

Exchange posters with Halls and Theatres

Programmes on sale at all Ry Stations

House to House dely [delivery] of circulars to be systematized

?Glaciarium - see one   ?for Slides

All Fool's Festival a la Guy show

Shows of artificial flowers \ mechanical toys

Mammoth Punch & Judy (Lightfoot)

Biscuit advertisements

Exhibtn of Engravings, Photographs

Exhibitors to pay for their gas

Half Holiday Entmts for Children ?on Satys or Wednys  of a Dissolvg View Polytechnic sort

Cultivate the Religious people, Sunday School Gatherings &c because N.L. so good 

Piscatorial Exhibition at end of fishing season (R. Ag. 78)

Paris Panorama  M.Marie

Exhibtn. Burglars Implements & means to outwit them, safe, weapons &c

(never let Stilemen work together long. The frauds perpetrated are:

Passing 2 at a time \ adults through children's stile \ Ry. tkts through S.T. tile & then cash at Ry.

Always put best men at ticket stile? & doubtful ones on cash

Skipping Ropes - send for, in grounds

Invalid Chairs if only one of Wicker

Doll Show Ancient & Modern Toys contrasted

Make statues of Kings & Queens instructive & great men in each reign &c

Always label gifts of birds[?] &c with names of donors. Get much in this way as advt. for donors.

We ought to be able to tell Excursion parties rates including admn. from any Station named for any number (Gower St. Walworth Rd &c)

Calendar of attractions posted in every Ry carriage of GNR, NLR, GER

Riding School

Get Joint Tckts issued at Crouch End, Edmonton & all stations.

Can more burners be stopped, Central Hall, to enable frequent entire lighting

Can Poultry Show be profitably revived (Nichols, W.J 6 Arnold Rd Tooting)

Ballad Concerts, Classical Concerts, English opera concerts

Meeting of Old Soldiers

Ballon captif

? Bookstall, secondhand books & at Publishers prices

Get gas lower price if more used

Water at 7.5 instead of 9d

Reading Room, Buy Maps & all periodls at trade price

? Subscribe for telegraphic news

Competition among Theatrical Property Masters

Singlestick - Profll & Amateurs, Volunteers

--- Military, All[?] Clubs 

Glee clubs, Chamber Music, Dramatic Recitations

[illeg.] in Latin and other languages - German & French particly

At Easter get chief attractive items of London Xmas pantos

Find employment for unoccupied Stilemen, Ladies [illeg.] Women &c

Prize for best Manifolder Zylograph &C Typewriter

Exhibn of means to do [ditto] - Electric Pen &c

Herriot & Louie & such for Entnts in dull times & Good Friday

Show Type Setting Machine & other interesting machine

Rail Staff tkts?  Pay lower price for Waiters, Choir &c than for general

Make W. green Doorkeeper's room Refreshment Bar

Get Paintings by Princesses? Buy.  2y Collection of Royal Artwork

Do a big Trotting match on a Race Day

Show [illeg. line due to folder paper]

advertised by R.Smith Ho. Nurserymen, Worcester

Prize for best amateur Water colour Sketch of grove

Grow water-cress in grounds

" cucumbers & sell them, letting Public cut them

Fancy biscuits to be made in Public & sold

[illeg.] Exhibit Ball [illeg.] water jet &c &c.

Milk & Cows or his idea of model farm combined

? Admit all children free or pass them free to Circus or -

? Cheap arrangemt for Mondays

Stiles to record by Electricity in Central Office

Alls Tkts Compy & paid shd have name & address on front

Get Wood Green Stn called A Park & W.G.

If Circus, Band specially for it?

Special Trains from City not stopping [illeg.] KX  ?at FP?

Exhibitors stalls in Central Hall & Corridors (Get a Naturalist)

Chess with living men

Encourage Amateur Walking & Runnung

Make Trotting Track perfectly level

Alter Bicycle Track

Make Stand over Ref Pavillion for Trotting or Buy a Stand

Cinder Track for Running

Alter Excursion Tariff Reconcile contradictions

Make Statues instructive by labels

Popcorn should be made & sold well away from sweetmeats

Choir Tickets to be limited in their date of admission

James B's [illeg.] for children's stiles

Blotting pad with sketches of AP & Calendar (see Brown B Kunder 7)

Shooting at glass balls thrown from spring

£7 A [LFA?] to hasten good housebuilding outside. Use surplus shrubs A. Park

Sell foods on commission

Morgan promised favourable advertising arrangement

Arrange a simple plan for sale of tickets available by Rail like Police Fete but simpler to suit Tonic-Sol-Fa people &c

? At Palace High level entr. combined work of Ry Tkt people & our Stilemen

D ___ ? after stiles so that visitors can use either stairs

Many more Ludgate Trains. More direct City Trains less changes at F Park

Erect earth works & Camp as at Ulundi Edowe, Rorkes Drift

? get the verulable defenders to undertake it?

Electric Tram in grounds (or Steam) [illeg.] from Wood Green

[illeg.] Deep Park

Festoon of Ivy Grove entrances  Ivy specialties

? offer a prize for Ivy Figures

Get Entce to Grove from Road & from Ry

Cultivate Miseltoe in the Grove

Advt at bottom of Tumbler glasses seen as one drinks

Dr Rosenthal of 52 Woburn Place & 110 Leadenhall St. offered to bring over by Emperors [illeg.] the best German Band (Army) asked £60 for one evg

Prize for [illeg.] Cornet Playing & other Instrumentalists (Girl Pianists) by Shirley [illeg.]

Watercress Exhibtn as held at __

Get a London office

Staff Bar where B & R's office now is

? Sell tickets instead of taking money at Entrances

? By people to divide by separate doors those with tkts including admns & those who will have to pay [illeg.]

Give away Daily programmes to those who pay for adm (see below)

Get GER to run trains from Enfield &c to meet down trains at [illeg.]

Hold an Autumn Bird Show (never yet done)

Find out about Water Shoes to float people across lake

?2/6 or [illeg.] if after a certain time for promenade

Machinery show as at Kilburn

Java Sparrows in Conservatory

Get Police to accept Staff Railway Tickets 

A Potters Wheel at Work

Reduce City Rail fares 1/6 3rd cl keeping 1st and 2nd as now?

Get Foresters, Odd Fellows &c on liberal terms

Settle Horse show, Dog Show, Machny exhbitn, Races & Trotting early

Ransome's Complete primer of work in Machinery kept where also (or S. Wolssom's Patent) place coles, ivory turning, printing, coventry weaving, silhouettes, cigarette making, carving meershaum pipes, Pencock's collection of Eggs, Picture frame making, card printing, sausage making, ? beer bottling, bottle cleaning, moot mending

Settle Rates, Gas, Water, Railway contract, before [illeg.]

Turn Bazaar into conservatory

? Put K & 2 into present conservatory

Get Races & all other licenses transferred first

Ry get % from Ry Cos from people travelling with free tickets by Ry

Get Field for Races transferred from B & R by  GNR

Ry Improvements - Better S.L. traffic via Ludgate - Better [illeg.] West End, Midland branch & cannot delay at York Rd be abolished? 

Horses, Ponies, Donkeys & Goat chaises on line in Park

Finsbury Pk Tramline prolonged to Wood Green

Open air ochestra for singing in Grove. ? Use small orchestra in Centl. Hall

Scarboro' plan of ascent & descent to ticket ground & Wood Green entc.

Races make saddling paddock in the angle by Weighing Room & chge extra

Fire drill in public - Volunteers & Regulars  [illeg.]

[illeg.] La Crosse  -  Football  - Billard Matches

Change bills with all theatres, music halls, running grounds

Squirrels in Grove - Rabbit warren

Big collection of Chimpanzees

Can Alphand of Paris be useful

Entrance to Grove

Competition of Facia Writers.  ?J.B. always at work in public

Scotch Buffet

Competition of Theatre Bands of London

Naturalists Competition in Taxidermy

Let backs of handbills be instructive - grammatical errors &c

With illustrations of possible

Artificial skating rink

Cart Horse Show (held Agric. Hall)

- get all Pickford's horses on say a Good Friday?

Season Prog to have train serve from all Stations tabulated

Ry sell Ry Tkts in sheets of 20 perforated, at reduced price

Ry sell S. Tkts at reduced price to Choir, Ry people etc.

Flock of Pigeons a la guildhall [illeg] Race

Authorised Itinerant Vendors on Race Days

? An Aquarium - Just the sensational tanks - Anemones &c

People dining should not pay for admin.

Use Banquetg Hall for big Billard Matches, Winter Evg Entmts &c.