Eiffel Tower replicas and derivatives and one in the Isle of Man and sold shares to potential investors, including many prominent Blackpool families. When the corporation got into financial difficultly John Bickerstaffe stopped the scheme from collapsing and ensured the scheme was a success. The Blackpool Tower, though one of the oldest, is not a true replica of the Eiffel Tower and differs from the Paris tower in a number of ways: it is approximately half the height of the Eiffel Tower (158 m compared to 324 m), it is not freestanding and the base contains buildings which house entertainments including the Tower Circus and
Eiffel Tower The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853. In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base