An airborne fundraiser in Porto

Fundraisers of the early 1900s literally aimed for the sky.

 
​  While doing my homework for a themed corporate running tour last week, I came across old photographs and several reports of an epic fundraiser that took place at the long gone Porto's own Crystal Palace/Palácio de Cristal. 

Hundreds of people bought tickets to see an airplane that had been purchased solely for that purpose: to be the main attraction of that charity event!

​The following -true- story took place in Porto, late summer, in 1912. It is a perfect example of the entrepreneurial attitude of those times -  still embroidered in most Portuenses you'll meet (...)

Let's start with the next day's news.

in Jornal de Notícias, September 8, 1912:
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"Yesterday, at 6:10 pm,  after the strong winds slowed down, the first flight of 'O Commercio do Porto’'s biplane finally took place.

​The apparatus, deftly maneuvered by Mr. Trescartes, rose gracefully from the airfield and cut through the sky in several directions".

This is how the national newspaper described the second flight ever of an airplane in Portugal, from an improvised airfield by the Atlantic ocean, next to the fort Castelo do Queijo.

According to the chronicles, a large crowd of over 60.000 people wanted to see the clunky machine take off.

After one test,  the MF4 biplane rose to 300 meters, performed a few flyovers and headed towards the centre of Porto, passing over the Douro River, Liberdade's square, Marquês and Torre dos Clérigos. Airborne for 16 minutes...

source: JN archives

What was the money for?

Raising funds for the  'o Commercio do Porto' daycare centres was the pretext for this pioneering enterprise. Its idea came from a prominent industrial, Mr. António da Silva Marinho, who acquired the small military plane in Paris, transporting it to Porto on a steamboat.

The bi-plane on display inside the Palacio de Cristal (1912). The Farman aviation works MF bi-plaine was manufactured in France, included a dual Renault engine and could fly as fast as 80km/h!

 
​Numerous entities and people joined the charity initiative. The governor offered security at the Palácio de Cristal, the venue used for both for the assembly of the plane and to serve as a place for it to be exhibited; The city's military chiefs lent their military bands to liven up the space, which was duly decorated with flags and flowers.

The facade of the Palácio de Cristal in 1912, a venue built for industrial expos and trade shows.

​The day care centres owned by a newspaper company.

Established between 1910 and 1933, on the initiative of the newspaper 'O Commercio do Porto', this was a group of day care centres that aimed to provide assistance to the offspring of the growing mass of factory workers - Porto's industrial activity was at its peak!



(In our running tour PORTO'S B-SIDE we discuss the industrial activity's rise and downfall in Porto's eastern districts)   

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By 1912, these day care centres ran by 'o Commercio do Porto' supported an impressive number of children: 770.

They were funded by various means, namely public subscriptions, donations and of course, events organized and publicized by the newspaper

A copy of the fundraiser's advertising poster featuring the French pilot and mechanic/co-pilot.

 It must be mentioned that the admission tickets to see the biplane in the Palácio de Cristal raised a good amount of money for the social work of 'o Commercio do Porto' but the real fundraiser took place at the improvised airfield of Castelo do Queijo with a crowd that paid for tickets ranging from 100 'reis' (in the sun) to 500 'reis' (covered seating), a success that would later be replicated in Lisbon.

The 'Castelo do Queijo' open field next to the city park has seen many uses throughout the years but not as an airfield... not till 2017, when the city paved it to become Red Bull Air Race event's airfield and centre of operations, more than 105years later.

2017: the Red Bull Air race event being held in Porto; Its paved airfield was located exactly where the MF4 biplane lifted from the ground, 105 years before.

An event that didn't live up to the expectations.

Despite the crowds, "the income from the event was far from covering the cost of buying the biplane", wrote the owner of newspaper 'o Commercio do Porto' in 1912.  However, shortly after, the airplane was sold to the Portuguese armed forces for 2,000 'réis' and the full amount transferred to the day care centres.

That was the happy ending to this unbelievable charity event.

There were many others, though. Some in the same setting and also involving flying apparatus. Read on!

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The hot air balloon saga.

One of the most curious - and current- traditions of the São João fest in Porto is the launching of paper balloons but ballooning in the past took the form of great public entertainment, seen as sort of a sport, and was not limited to the eve of this popular festival.

S.João fest in Porto, June 23: it takes some serious teamwork to get those paper balloons up in the air. 

Another impressive fundraiser.

During the late 1800's other equally remarkable events took place in the gardens of Palácio de Cristal, some also to raise funds. That's the case of the ascent of hot air balloons, right there, on the main promenade lined with linden trees.

Preparations for lift-off: a large crowd impatiently waiting to see the rise of yet another major balloon next to Palacio de Cristal.

 Ballooning back then was not a safe sport: some of the less experienced intrepid airmen were caught in high altitude winds and dragged away to open sea, never to be found again...

The luckier ones would randomly land -or crash- dozens of kms away and have to pay a local farmer to bring them back to Porto on an ox cart!  
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An hidden memorial to pioneer aeronauts.

The faded plaque below may go unnoticed to most passerby but not to a tour guide's trained eye, always on the lookout for these hidden gems.

(translation)"Since 1883, several free balloons took off from these gardens, piloted by Portuguese and foreign aeronauts, thus in the service of aeronautical advocacy in Portugal."


This marble plaque can be found a few meters away from the renovated SuperBock Arena, a sports arena built after the demolition of the Palacio de Cristal in the 1950's. The plaque was placed there in 1959 by the Aero Club de Portugal to celebrate its 50th anniversary and pay tribute to the fearless airmen who flew hot air balloons from the Palácio de Cristal's surrounding grounds during those pre-aviation years.

The Palacio de Cristal's gardens will always rank high in our 'best places to go running in Porto' list and are included in the route of our best-seller 'sunrise running tour' of Porto!

Please join us for a running tour and we'll delve into a few more of these wonderful stories about the entrepreneurial spirit of the people of Porto!

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Related posts:

The crystal palace of Porto - a symbol of progress(read)

Porto was the setting for Portugal's first ever F1 Grand Prix(read)

STCP Tramcar Museum - here's a sneak peek (read)

​more posts(+)