This etching was produced as the frontispiece for a publication by Henry Mahew called '1851: or, the adventures of Mr and Mrs Sandboys and family.' The story centres on a family who travel from Cumberland to London to visit the Great Exhibition and the various mishaps they encounter on the way.
The Great Exhibition attracted a huge number of visitors from Britain and overseas. Cruikshank treats it almost like a fairground attraction in the print with a caricaturised London Beefeater in a caravan advertising the Exhibition to a group of onlookers.
Although the novel was aimed at children Cruikshank introduced elements of political commentary in his drawings.
