Token — Theatre admission token, London, ca.1900
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca.1900
Token — Theatre admission token, London, ca.1900 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated ca.1900. The museum's brief description reads: White metal circular token for admission to the Pit, Palace Theatre, Derby, ca.1900. Museum description: Circular white metal token with central square hole for issue from a ticket machine. Engraved recto 'PALACE-DERBY-PIT'. Blank verso. The museum record gives material recorded as white metal; place associated: London; maker recorded: unknown. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The earliest theatre admission tickets were reusable metal tokens. They were purchased at the theatre's box office and handed in to attendants at the entrances to the auditorium. Different tokens were valid for different parts of the house. You could not gain admission to the pit, the area nearest the stage, with a token for the upper gallery. The business of tallying the number of tokens with the receipts for each performance was time-consuming and, in the early 20th century, the process was automated. Tokens were issued by a machine which also recorded the number sold. The V&A has an example of one of these machines in its collections (S.145-1988). The central hole in each token enabled it to be stacked on a rod. This example is from the Palace Theatre of Varieties in Derby, which opened in 1897 and closed in 1914.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- white metal
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Struck metal
- Maker recorded
- unknown
- Place recorded
- London
Identification
- Museum object name
- Token
- Museum object number
- S.5026-2009
- Museum system number
- O1152790
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the holding institution and a specialist reference.