The front cover of this music sheet includes two images of the Crystal Palace drawn and lithographed by Augustus Butlerand printed by Stannard & Dixon, showing the Crystal Palace as it was rebuilt in Sydenham in 1854.

Britain trumpeted its technical and manufacturing supremacy to the world in 1851 by staging the Great Exhibition in London's Hyde Park, masterminded by Prince Albert and opened by Queen Victoria on 1st May. The exhibition building was vast, with an area of 69 892 sq. m (772 289 sq. ft). Joseph Paxton designed the building using new technology, mainly using prefabricated glass and iron panels. The amount of glass in the building lead the magazine Punch to nickname the building the Crystal Palace, a name that caught the public imagination. After the exhibition closed on 15th October 1851 the building was dismantled and rebuilt in London, in Penge Peak next to Sydenham Hill, where it was opened again by Queen Victoria on 10th June 1854. Although all of the original components were used, the reconstructed building was modified and enlarged, elevated several metres above the surrounding grounds, with two large new transepts added at either end of the main gallery and served by terraces and stairways in the grounds. After the building burnt down in November 1936 its name lived on since that area of South London was renamed Crystal Palace.

Polkas were fast dances, in quick half time with steps on the first three beats and a small hop on the fourth. They originated in Bohemia in the early 19th century and quickly spread throughout Europe. Polkas were first introduced to Prague in 1837 and then to Vienna and St. Petersburg in 1839, Paris in 1840, and finally London in 1844.