THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YEAR 1888

The last posting I did was on a limited edition timepiece released by CERTINA 1888.  CERTINA was founded by brothers, Adolf and Alfred Kurth in Grenchen, Switzerland in 1888 making movement and supplies for watch making industry.

A few years later, the company developed into a timepiece manufacturer under the brand name of GRANA, subsequently change to CERTINA.

The year 1888 sound intriguing to tickle my curiosity to find more about the year. Indeed, some fascinating events did take place during that year to change the face of the world. Append below a summary of those events for easy reference:

1.0     George Eastman, 34 years old of New York, USA introduced the first simple, inexpensive camera, the KODAK. With the slogan, “You push the button, we do the rest”, Eastman took photography out of the professional studio into the hands of the masses.

2.0    John Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian living in Belfast developed the first pneumatic or inflammable rubber tyre for his son’s bicycle. Ridiculed as ‘pudding tyre’, the inflated wheels soon replaced hard rubber tyres in cycle shops all over Europe.

3.0    The first beauty contest, The Concours de Beaute, was held in Spa, Belgium. Winner walked away with first prize money of 5,000 Francs.

4.0    Henry Nicholas Ridley arrived in Singapore to take up the post of Director, Singapore Botanical Garden. He was credited to popularise rubber as an industry in Malaya, although Sir Hugh Low, The British Resident in Perak then, had introduced the plant in Kuala Kangsar 11 years earlier.

5.0    To register the significant year, I thought it might be appropriate to showcase some of the coins of Straits Settlements 1888.