^† The origin of the exhibition idea properly belongs to Henry “Old King” Cole, a British civil servant of remarkable ability and breadth of knowledge who, among other achievements, designed the world’s first postage stamp, the “Penny Black.” Cole also began the tradition of sending Christmas cards each December (and printed his own), and under the pseudonym Felix Summerly, he won an award at the 1845 Society of Arts Exhibition for the design of a ceramic tea service. He knew Prince Albert well, and persuaded him to defy the insufferable court traditionalists by throwing his weight and influence behind this immensely ambitious project of 1851.