SW EP-357 La Grande Roue de Paris

La Grande Roue de Paris must have been an awe inspiring sight.  This wheel was built for the Exposition Universelle of 1900 World’s Fair in Paris, France. La Grande Roue actually opened the year before the World Fair and was part of a larger area of restaurants, theatres, and other entertainment that was in full swing in 1899. It was at the southeastern edge of the more glamorous Fair and would be located in what we might now call an entertainment district.

At 106 metres (over 300 feet), La Grande Roue de Paris was the tallest panoramic wheel to date and it would hold that record for more than eight decades, long after it had been torn down. Each of the 40 carriages carried 40 passengers and the arrangement of stairs and loading platforms was designed to allow passengers to get on or off 8 carriages at a time. With loading and unloading, each trip took 20 minutes. It was designed to transport 4,800 passengers an hour in cabins the size of railway carriages.

This ‘vintage’ (reproduction) postcard shows the Eiffel Tower in the background and was sent by Robyn (27 November 2014) Swap-bot.