Blackpool Illuminations - Woolworths Tram - Spanish postcard 1970s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Blackpool - illuminated tram (express train) sponsored by Woolworths c.1970s
• Publisher:  Fisa Golden Sheild [these were printed in Spain in the 1970s]
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition:  small blemish near bottom left hand corner

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Lights Festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 19 September that year, held each autumn in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.

Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for sixty-six days,^[1][2] from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts' seasons are coming to an end. Dubbed as ""the greatest free light show on earth"",^[3] they are 6 miles (10 km) long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.

In 2013 the Illuminations were meant to shine from 30 August to 3 November.^[4] However on 14 March 2013 it was announced that they had been extended by a week shining until 10 November making it the first time ever the Illuminations will shine for 73 days.^[5]

The Illuminations first shone in 1879 when they were described as 'Artificial sunshine', and consisted of just eight arc lamps which bathed the Promenade.^[6] The original event preceded Thomas Edison's patent of the electric light bulb by twelve months.^[7][8] The first display similar to the modern day displays was held in May 1912 to mark the first British Royal family visit to Blackpool when Princess Louise opened a new section of the Promenade, Princess Parade. The Promenade was decorated with what was described as ""festoons of garland lamps"" using about 10,000 light bulbs. The local Chamber of trade as well as other local businesses requested Blackpool Council to stage the event in September of the same year. The subsequent event was such a success that in 1913 the council were again asked to stage the Princess Parade lights as an end of season event. With the outbreak of World War I there were no further displays until 1925 when the lights were again on display and extended to run from Manchester Square to Cocker Square. In 1932 animated tableaux were erected running along the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham, and the Illuminations were extended to its current length running from Starr Gate to Red Bank Road at Bispham. The Illuminations were ready to shine in 1939 but the outbreak of World War II again interrupted the annual display.^[6]

Every year there is also the Festival of Light which features interactive installations and is described as being ""a contemporary look at the concept of light and art working together to create entertainment"".^[3]

Each year the opening night of the Illuminations, The Big Switch On, held in a specially erected arena with a celebrity pulling a switch to turn on the six miles of lights.^[3] The first switch on ceremony was held in 1934 when Lord Derby flicked the switch to turn on the Illuminations.^[9] In 1993 BBC Radio 1 first broadcast the switch on ceremony live when Status Quo were the guest celebrities, before in 1997 BBC Radio 2 started to cover it which continued until 2010, when GMG Radio, under its Real Radio and Smooth Radio brands took over the broadcasting of the switch on.^[10] Each year one main celebrity pulls the switch while there are performances in the Radio 2 arena with a pre-switch on concert featuring pop bands, singers and comedians.

Most visitors drive through the Illuminations by car, coach or bus. There are also open top trams which run along the tramway as well as horse-drawn landau. At Bispham there is a special walkway for the tableaux which also includes mixed media in the various large tableaux displays.^[11] The Illuminations cost £1.9M each year to stage.^[2]

For the 2007 Illuminations, Interior designer and television personality Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen best known for his appearances on the BBC television programme, Changing Rooms was commissioned to create special feature on Central Promenade outside Blackpool Tower, named Decodance.^[11] Llewelyn-Bowen had stated that he fell in love with what he called ""Blackpool's high-kicking glamour and historical reputation for giddy glitz"" while filming for the Holiday programme.^[12]

The displays at the cliffs from North Shore to Bispham contain forty large tableaux holding more than 5,000 square metres in surface area. There is a pedestrian walkway running the length of the tableaux displays which are set back from the Promenade beyond the tramway. Blackpool Tramway runs along the entire length of the Illuminations and there are over one million lamps in the display.^[8] In 2007 the Egyptian tableau which includes Egyptian sarcophagus, which eerily opens to reveal a mummified secret, returned after an overhaul. Also at Bispham on the clifftop was a new BBC Portal video screen.^[13]

Also in 2007 a new Doctor Who display appeared with monsters from the last three series of the show. In January 2008, it was stated that this section had been the most successful feature ever built in the Illuminations.^[2] And at Gynn Square on Gynn Island, a Space Invasion with an opalescent mothership hovering more than 40 ft in the air, battling it out with eight spaceships arranged in formation defending their territory. The display which used colour-changing LEDs, was created from the popular alien craft which used to adorn the Promenade.^[13]

In October 2007, a laser beam installed on the tower for the duration of the annual Illuminations was criticised by Astronomer and presenter of The Sky at Night television programme, Patrick Moore who said, ""Light pollution is a huge problem. I am not saying we should turn all the lights out, that is not practical, but there are some things which are very unnecessary. The Blackpool Tower light is certainly something I do not think we should be doing. I very much oppose it."" The beam could be seen 30 miles away. Moore called for the beam to be stopped. The Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston said the laser has added to a spiraling problem affecting astronomy.^[14]

At the sixth annual Banquet and Ball on 9 January 2008, organised by the holiday trade umbrella group, Blackpool Combined Association, to raise funds for the Lights,^[15] the new Head of Illuminations, Michael Wilcock revealed new plans for the future of the Illuminations.^[2] These include,

• Plans to make the Lights, which at present are funded 80% by Blackpool Council, as self-sustaining as possible, with plans to increase business sponsorship.
• New, all year round, triumphal arches to be erected at either end of the Illuminations, ""selling the Blackpool message.""
• Extending the Doctor Who section for the 2008 season, ""with eye-catching battles between Daleks and the TARDIS.""
• Increased promotion for the 2008 Illuminations season.
• Establishment of a Friends of the Illuminations group.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=lancashire

transportation type=road

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted