Dan Dare helps Science Museum to Tourism Gold

The winners of the Visit London Awards 2008 were presented at the Royal Albert Hall on 27th November. The Science Museum, which among its many attractions is currently exhibiting 'Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain', won 'Gold' as the Visitor Attraction of the Year. The award recognises the Science Museum's appeal to adults and children, with its world-class collections, exhibitions and events.

The 'Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain' exhibition has certainly given the museum a boost. Not only has it provided an excellent exhibition (see the review at our earlier post) but it has brought the museum additional publicity through press exposure. For example, apart from its coverage when it launched back in April, 2008, The Times has since chosen to list the exhibition among its Top Five Museums on at least five occasions.

David Britton has provided a quote from John Liffen, who is a co-curator of the exhibition with Professor Andrew Nahun. The following came in response to David's question on the how the exhibition was going:

As you know, we had a good press reaction and an independent study thought that the value to the Museum of the exposure was high. I quote from Andrew Nahum: ‘It was done by an able PR professional and it rates value of every mention according to size of the article and each paper or magazine's advertising rate. There is also an industry convention multiplier reflecting the fact that editorial material is far more influential than paid for advertising and “can't be bought”. According to these calculations, the Science Museum would have had to spend almost £700k to achieve the same presence in the media with “paid for” marketing. Of course, this publicity contributes to public perceptions of the whole Museum and not just to the Dare show.’ “Aside from that, the exhibition was well-received internally (which matters a lot!) and the visitors seem to like it. I haven’t yet seen a qualitative visitor survey, but I hope we shall have done something on those lines. People are stimulated to write in with notes of appreciation about the whole exhibition, but often they focus in on just one item which has particularly caught their attention ... I haven’t heard of any adverse comments, and perhaps that’s a good test, too”

The Exhibition runs until October 2009, so there is still plenty of time to see it, if you haven't already.

The picture (from the Science Museum's Dan Dare Exhibition press pack) shows one of the murals drawn for the Museum in the 1970s by Frank Hampson, Dan Dare's creator.
Dan Dare is © The Dan Dare Corporation Ltd.

Footnote: Those interested in memorabilia might like to note that the Science Museum now has sets of 'Dan Dare Exhibition' tie-in souvenir postcards and notepads, 'Dan Dare' (and Mekon) T-shirts (small and medium only, unfortunately!) and badges, and some very attractive 'Dan Dare' spaceship LED keyrings.

Dan Dare - man of iron?

So, does Dan Dare do the ironing - or does he have more pressing engagements?

I was amused by this graphic of Dan Dare while attending the press preview of the 'Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-tech Britain' Exhibition (which is open at the Science Museum in South Kensington until November, 2009).

For its time, the 'Dan Dare' strip was forward looking, socially as well as technologically, anticipating the further emancipation of women: Jocelyn Peabody never fitted the classic "dumb female" stereotype of hero fiction - she was a scientist, a space pilot too, definitely not there just to scream and be rescued. I'm not sure I ever expected to see Dan with an iron in his hand, though, unless it was for playing golf - on the moon or elsewhere!

But what of the exhibition? Well, I can assure you that it's well worth a visit. That applies not only to fans of the original Eagle and their contemporaries, but to anyone who wants to know more about the development of technology in Britain between 1945 and 1970, and the impact on home life of design and innovation in those "Eagle times".

There are three sections. The first, as you enter, focusses on 'Dan Dare', and tells in brief how Eagle and Dan Dare came into being, how the 'Dan Dare' strip was produced, and some of the merchandise that was available to children of the 1950s.

Highlights of this section include artist Frank Hampson's 'Dan Dare' murals, which were originally commissioned by the museum in the 1970s, and two cabinets, one of which includes some examples of original 'Dan Dare' artwork plus one of Frank Hampson's "ideas books" used when he was planning the alien technology that would appear (in 1956) in the 'Dan Dare' strip 'Rogue Planet'.

The other cabinet displays other the 'Dan Dare'-related memorabilia: the 'Dan Dare': Stamp Album, Card Game, Radio Station, Construction game, etc. To anyone who attended the major Eagle exhibitions in Southport in 1990 and 2000 (Eagle's 40th and 50th anniversaries), this aspect of the display might appear more modest, but this exhibition is not just about 'Dan Dare'. 'Dan Dare' is used as a symbol of the times, a model for the optimism of Britain, its faith in technology in the post-war years, and a lead-in to the rest of the exhibition.

The "signature exhibit", providing a bridge to the technology, through another Eagle link, is a Bristol Bloodhound air defence missile, a pillar of UK's defence against the Soviet threat between 1958 and 1964. Reminding us that Eagle was not just a comic, a reproduction of Leslie Ashwell Wood's cutaway drawing of the Bloodhound (from Eagle Vol 10 No 5) is also on display.

Having set the theme, the second part of the exhibition is 'Building a New Britain' and covers everything from the creation of the National Health Service to the investments of government in nuclear power and the atom bomb. The third part looks at the reinvention of the home, the merging importance of design and the impact on everyday life with the arrival of previously unheard of consumer goods. Arguably, more use of Eagle imagery might have been used in these sections. For example, the section featuring the Dounreay nuclear research station might have, but did not, include L. Ashwell Wood's cutaway (from Eagle, 18th October, 1957). Several other examples, occur to me, where Eagle imagery could have been exploited. Seeing a section of the upper fuselage of the De Haviland Comet 1 aircraft that crashed in 1954, I was reminded that the Comet had featured as 'The First Four-Jet Airliner in the World' in Eagle's 4th issue. The Festival of Britain coverage could have used Lawrence Dunn's cutaway of the Dome of Discovery, or L. Ashwell Wood's cutaway of the (3-D) Telecinema. The WE177 air launched nuclear bomb, which entered service in 1966, never featured in Eagle, however, as it was on the top secret list!

While you're there, take a look elsewhere in the museum. On the ground floor in the permanent exhibition you'll find four more original 'Dan Dare' artboards. Nearby, you'll find a V2 rocket, like those which, as he watched them rise into the sky over the Scheldt Estuary in the closing stages of World War II, inspired Frank Hampson (though in Antwerp, at the receiving end) to dream of space travel.

Links

Science Museum:

• Audio introduction to Dan Dare Exhibition (mp3)
• Online Stuff (including Frank Hampson's Dan Dare murals)
• Object Wiki (Objects from the Dan Dare Exhibition)
  

BBC News videos:

• Dan Dare creator's son: "Peter Hampson, son of the Eagle comic strip character's creator Frank, says Dan inspired a generation. The character Flamer was based on Peter."
• Dan Dare 'inspired innovation': "The Science Museum's Ben Russell and John Liffen on technology that reflects the ideals of the comic hero created by Frank Hampson."

British Satellite News video:

• Celebrating the birth of High Tech Britain (may not work in all browsers)
  

Guardian picture gallery:

• In Pictures: Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-tech Britain (gallery of 9 pictures)
  

Other related articles:

• How the 1950's hero Dan Dare helped shape history with Utopian visions (Times Online)
• Where Dan dares, boffins follow: (Telegraph)
• Daring to be Different: (Evening Standard)
• Dan Dare exhibition latest to revisit lost era of the Fifties (Times Online)
• Histories: Heroes for hard times (New Scientist)
• Sufferin' satellites! We've built the future! (Guardian)

Eagle Times earlier post: Dan Dare & the Birth of Hi-tech Britain

Dan Dare & the Birth of Hi-tech Britain

The way Britain reinvented itself as a hi-tech nation after the Second World War is to be revealed in a free exhibition, due to open on 30th April, 2008 at the Science Museum, South Kensington, London. Titled Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-tech Britain, the exhibition is expected to run until at least October, 2009.

Eagle's space hero, Dan Dare - a fixture in the lives of millions of British children (and their parents!) in the 1950s and 1960s - introduces the exhibition, showing the optimism, faith in technology and spirit of adventure of the times. As Dan Dare is being rediscovered today, there will be a special display of original artwork, merchandise and memorabilia. In case enthusiasts should be wondering, Eagle Times has confirmed with the museum that the artwork on display will include Frank Hampson's Dan Dare murals, commissioned by the Science Museum in 1977, and alongside some original artboards from the 1950s/60s Eagle (the latter were acquired by the museum in the 1990s).

The official press release states that:

Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-tech Britain will capture the essence of those pivotal post-war years, showing how Britain took striking wartime advances like the jet engine, radar and penicillin to create new industries. This was a time when the state rolled out huge new projects for a free nationwide health service, nuclear power, supersonic flight and a radical rehousing programme - major developments which created a revolution in national affairs and personal life.

The free exhibition also looks at the reinvention of the home, the emerging importance of design and the arrival of previously unheard of consumer goods. It will show that the period, from 1945-1970, started the long climb from austerity to affluence and laid the foundations for the Britain of today.

The signature exhibit representing hi-tech is the Bloodhound missile. Seven metres long, with fins, two ramjet engines and four booster rockets, Bloodhound was one pillar of Britain's defence against Soviet threat in the Cold War. Reaching speeds of Mach 2 (about 1,500 mph) in four seconds, it surpassed anything produced by the US. Also on display will be the British-built 'Bomb' - the WE177 nuclear weapon - Britain's ticket to the top table of nations.

Some of the finest examples of British manufacturing of the time will be shown. These include iconic products from designers such as Gordon Russell, Abram Games, the man behind the iconic Festival of Britain poster, and Pye radios designed by Robin Day. It will show, moreover, a 'lost world' of British manufacturing - a time when many people's first TV was a Murphy, not a Sony!

Further details about the exhibition can be read in the full press release on the Museum's website.

The two examples of Dan Dare original artwork shown above are from:

'Reign of the Robots' (Eagle Volume 8 No 17, 26 April, 1957)
'Platinum Planet' (Eagle Volume 12 No 43, 28 October 1961)

Thanks to the Museum's Press Officer, Richard Purnell, for allowing us to include them here.

Dan Dare is © The Dan Dare Corporation Ltd.