To the Fair We Go

by

Lauren Roberts

President John Kennedy had been assassinated exactly five months to the day before the 1964/1965 World’s Fair opened in New York City on April 22 with the theme “Peace Through Understanding.”

I would say that the theme was ironic or perhaps hopeful, even wishful given the events that surrounded the Fair:, but the fact is that the theme had been chosen long before the events that would define the 60s began. In 1964, they included the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the Vietnam War, Beatlemania, racel riots in seven American cities,  the repeal of the U.S. Poll Tax and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the first “sit-in” at the University of California, Berkeley, the devastating Alaska earthquake, the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, and the release of Bob Dylan’s famous album, The Times They Are a-Changin’. Peace and understanding seemed at times very far away from those realities, yet the 1964/1965 World’s Fair held much wonderfor the future.

The fair, like its predecessor the 1939/40 World’s Fair, was conceived by a group of New York businessmen, most of whom had attended the earlier one as children. Their happy memories weren’t the only reason, of course. Another World’s Fair could bring economic boom times to their city and businesses. Frederick Pittera, a producer of such fairs and the author of the history of International Fairs & Exhibitions for the Encyclopedia Britannica, was tapped by the New York City’s mayor to prepare, in conjunction with architect Victor Gruen the first feasibility studies. Their report led the Eisenhouwer Commission to award the fair to the city in a competition with several other cities.

Once their city was chosen, the organizers got to work. Funds were raised both privately and with the sale of bonds via a Fair Corporation established and headed up by Robert Moses, a man know as the “Master Builder” for his experience in raising money for huge public projects.  He was also the city’s Park Commissioner. One of Moses’s earler  dreams that was as yet unfilled was the conversion of the then Queens tidal marsh/garbage dump known as Flushing Meadow Park into a vast park and recreational playground for New Yorkers. The 1939/1940 World’s Fair was supposed to have raised enough money to ensure this, but that project, despite the acclaim, was not a financial success. Now, Moses began to envision the new fair as a means to finish what the earlier fair had begun. His salary was a remarkable $100,000 per year.

Moses worked on the belief that world’s fairs should be created with the idea that their lasting improvements to the host city were of greater importance than the tempraroy cultural and entertainment value thye offered fairgoers. Unlike the earlier fair, this time he meant to provide the park with a new Museum of Science and Industry, outdoor sculpture and also a zoo and botanical garden.

The key to achieving this financial success was maximum gate receipts. They would need 70 million people to turn a profit, and for that to happen the fair had to be held over two years. Additional monies would be raised by charging site rental fees to all exhibitors who wanted to construct their own pavilions on the fairgrounds. And here they ran into some trouble. The Burea of International Expositions (BIE), the body that sanctioned world fairs, had rules that stated (1) international expositions could run for only one six-month period; that no rent could be charged to exhibitors; and (3) only one exposition in any given country was allowed. The latter was especially problematic since the Seattle World’s Fair had already received approval for 1962.

While the U.S. was not a member, its sanction would mean that the nearly forty nations that were would particpate in the fair. So Moses travled to BIE’s Paris headquarters to seek official approval. He didn’t get it so he took his case to thepress, publicly stating his disdain for the BIE. In turn, the organization formally requested its members not to participate. (The 1939/1040 and 1964/1965 fairs were the only significant ones held since the formation of the BIE to take place without its endorsement.)

That decision, along with competition from the sanctioned Seattle and Montreal’s fairs, had a major impact on the fair’s exhibitors. The governments of Canada, Australia, most of the major European nations, and the Soviet Union chose not to attend. The bulk of countries that did attend came from Asia, South and Central America, and the Middle East. But the European countries of Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and Sweden did come. To supplement them, fair officials turned instead to the trade and tourism organizations to host national exhibits, whch explains why the corporations and businesses, especially American ones, and states dominated the fair’s pavalions.

The needed, hoped-for, and expected profits shaped the physical plan of the fair. In order to save money on design, Moses insisted that the new fair conform to the physical design of the 39/40 fair thus allowing them to reuse the park’s roadways, fountains, and underground infrastructure. But they still had to move approximately one million cubic yards of dirt, lay fifty miles of underground pipes and 500 miles of cable for gas, water, and electricity for the fair’s 175 pavilions to be built on 643 acres.

The 39/40 Fair had a single theme: Building a World of Tomorrow. But Moses wanted more for this one. He desired it to be “universal, to have something for everyone.” The theme may have been Peace Through Understanding but he further noted that it was “dedicated to Man’s achievements on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe, his inventions, discoveries, arts, skills and aspirations . . ..” So another theme—A Millennium of Progress” was also added.

The visual respresentation of that was the Unisphere, the creation of Gilmore Clarke, a 140-foot high, 900,000-pound steel armillary sphere covered with representations of the continents and encircled by three giant rings that denotatd the first humanmade satellites that had launched the Space Age. U.S. Steel had been convinced to pick up the $2 million tab for its construction in exchange for its publicity..

But otherwise, the Fair’s officials did not impose a unifying approach to architecture, creating one of the most diverse fairgrounds in the history of world fairs.  And because Moses had long-standing business relationships with corporations, the participants heavily reflected that. General Motors, Chrysler and Ford would all build grand pavilions (Ford spent an astonishing $30 million). Religion would play a strong role here too as they had not in 1939/1940. Moses invited religious groups of all kinds to build their own pavilions, rent free. Fifteen accepted, including the Vatican who sent over Michaelangel’s brilliant work, Pieta.

But the fair had something for everyone. Among the foreign pavilions the most striking and popular was the four-acre Belgium Village. It was actually a meticulous copy of a walled nineteenth-century village, containing a city hall, a 1500-seat Rathskellar (beer hall), a fifteenth-century church, one hundred houses, a canal, and a bridge all built out of stone. Other attractions included an 1898 carousel, crooked streets lined with small shops that sold handicrafts and folk dancers. Four times each day clowns wearing wooden shoes, ostrich feather headdresses, and bells danced through the streets.

Spain’s pavilion also proved popular with a lot of romantic notions satisfied by the interior courtyards with a massive staircase that led past white stucco walls, through crowded courtyards spiced up with flower beds of geraniums, leading to exhibition halls where Spain’s art treasures were displayed. Among them were paintings by Goya, Velesquez, El Greco, Miro and Picasso. Upstairs contemporary artist's and sculptor's works were on display and for sale. Outside the galleries, flamenco wails and throbbing guitars provided continuous entertainment while the Coros y Danzas troupe performed on the patio fourteen times a day. Nearby were three excellent restaurants that had captured nearly all the Fair’s blue ribbons.

The Republic of China, actually Taiwan, hosted a fabulous exhibit. The write-up in the Pavilion Guide noted it was “the first time that such a building in the best architectural style of the Chinese imperial palace, has been erected in the Western Hemisphere. Every piece of roof tile was handmade, and every ceiling panel hand painted in Taiwan, repository and defender of Chinese culture.” Interestingly, in 1964, the guide noted that it hoped to offer an “an oasis of peace and quietude that is different from the myriad attractions of the Fair” and that it was not “to impress or dazzle, but to provide a change of pace, a place for reflection, and quiet enjoyment of a mellow culture.” By 1965, the tone had changed; the idea was for visitors to educate themselves about life in Taiwan, a boldly political move

Africa did an impressive job as well. There was a village of round huts representing twenty-four nations of sub-Saharan Africa, which stood upon a broad platform that had been erected on stilts above water. A replica of a giant banyan tree towered above the platform and built into its branches was the pavilion’s restaurant. Inside the main gate were cages of lions, leopards, and other animals that lined the path to the movie theatre as well as an exhibit of Africa’s natural resources including diamonds. The movie was a ten-minute one that presented a geographical survey of Africa’s scenic wonders and industrial development. Placed among the exhibits and sales huts were other animals huts, displays of art, and in the open-air entertainment area, presentations of dances by Watusi men and West Africans and Burundi drummers.

A number of American states were also there including the host New York, which featured a $6 million open-air pavilion called the Tent of Tomorrow. It boasted the fair’s high observation towers in the shape of flying saucers where its restaurants were found, while the main floor was given over to a large scale design of a Texaco highway map of the state and other exhibits. Illinois’ pavilion featured an unusual exhibit—a Disney-designed animaltronic and startlingly realistic Abraham Lincoln that stood up and recited a speech. Montana displayed its heritage in a museum set up inside a series of railroad cars; among the displays was a million dollars in gold nuggets. Wisconsin exhibited the “World’s Largest Cheese,” Florida brought a dolphin show and water skiers, and Louisiana recreated New Orleans’ Bourbon Street inside its pavilion complete with jazz musicians that entertained at the restaurants that lined the street.

The U.S. Pavilion, titled “Challenge to Greatness,” focused its efforts on President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” proposals. A 15-minute ride took visitors through a presentation of American history that used moving grandstands and sliding movie screens. There were also tributes to the late President Kennedy who had been the one to break ground for the pavilion in December 1962.

There was also a two-acre park sponsored by NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Fair.  This was the decade of the Space Age—Kennedy had promised to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade—and the exhibits reflected the excitement of it. Full-scale model of parts of several different rockets were there as was the Mercury capsule that that flown on the second U.S. manned orbital flight. Also shown was the x-15 aircraft, a Gemini spacecraft, an Apollo command/service module, and a Lunar Exploration model. And these were only some of the displays.

In the Hall of Education, which was located next to Space Park, multi-media exhibits entranced visitors. One show allowed up to 400 visitors at a time to see two full-sized space vehicles  “rendezvous” high overhead. The 96-foot diameter Moon Dome (in the Transportation and Travel pavilion) showed “To the Moon and Beyond” on an encircling Cinerama screen. Some state pavilions, home to aerospace companies, mounted exhibits on communications satellites, space capsules, space history, and the search for extraterrestrial life. And companies themselves—Chrysler with a ten-story rocket; General Motors with a Space Age Research theme center including a solar space mirror, the world’s largest cosmic ray spark chamber, an articulated lunar vehicle, and exhibits on space navigation technologies; and Ford with its “Magic Skyway” ride which ended with a glimpse of man's future in space—also promoted the science of space in thrilling exhibits.

Of course, it was the Fair’s visual symbol, the Unisphere with its three satellite rings that set the tone. Viewed from the edge of its pool, the Unisphere actually had the dimension that Earth would have if viewed from a height of 6,000 miles. And the nearby sculptures, The Rocket Thrower and Forms in Space, only added to that.

But it was American corporations that dominated the Fair, both in numbers and in impressive displays. Given the 1960s emphasis on science and technology, it’s no surprise that these were often the themes of the participating corporations. In 1964, computers were huge mainframes in air-conditioned rooms that were operated by technicians in white lab coats. Their greatest usefulness was in producing lists by shuffling through stored information. (“Do not fold, spindle or mutilate” became the basis for a lot of comedians’ jokes of the time.)

IBM didn’t attempt to entertain but to educate, and their various exhibits explained how computer circuits and memory cores worked while teaching the principles of probability, structure, and abstraction. While personal computers were not yet on the horizon, IBM wanted to prove to visitors that the machines were not a threat. To that end, they created a multi-media presentation called “Information Machine” that was presented in a 90-foot high ellipsoidal-shaped theater. Five hundred visitors would be hydraulically lifted up to watch the 15-minute show that used fourteen synchronized projectors and nine screens.

Other companies took a more lighthearted approach. At the National Cash Register pavilion, people could choose a date and get a list of events that took place on that day, or a list of the essential sites of a foreign city. Parker Pen’s computer would, upon the completion of a questionnaire about one’s hobbies, match that person up with a foreign pen pal whose name was stored in its memory. At the Better Living Center, computers generated lists of colors to use in home decorating.

The  Bell Telephone System introduced the Picturephone by which visitors could make a telephone call to a  nearby booth and see the people talking to them. (It was to go on sale at the time of the fair.) The RCA pavilion offered the opportunity to watch an operating color television studio that was hooked up to 250 color monitors around the fairgrounds and was used for televising announcements, ceremonies, and photos of lost children.

The Sinclair Oil Corporation sponsored Dinoland, featuring life-size replicas of nine different dinosaurs, including the corporation’s signature brontosaurs. After the Fair ended, Dinoland toured the country and was then donated to Dinosaur National Monument (where it is still on display).

And Ford had its historic moment, though it wouldn’t be noted as such until much later—the Ford Mustang was introduced to the public at its pavilion on April 17, 1964.

Chemistry was popular too. Many new plastics and other synthetic polymers in the latest products for home, car, and office were introduced. The DuPont pavilion hosted a show called “Wonderful World of Chemistry,” which was a musical that included songs like “The Happy Plastic Family.” Everything in the theater was made of DuPont plastics: nylon carpets, the Tedlar roof, Antron and Fabrilite seat fabrics, Mylar stage curtains, and Delrin doorknobs. DuPont also had a “Chemical Magic” show that illustrated the physical properties and processes that made these and other new materials possible. Watching nylon made in a test tube must have been enthralling even for a non-chemist.

The future in the home, in the workplace, and in the world in general was  so exciting according to the Fair’s exhibitors. Despite its known dangers, nuclear power was at the heart of the GE Progressland pavilion. The pavilion had twin themes: Progress through Electric Power and The Wonders of Atomic Energy. Visitors would go through a moving Time Tube to the “Skydome Spectacular” where they could experience electricity’s future. In the pavilion’s dome (200 feet wide by 80 feet high), they would see and feel the immense power of lightning, storms, and solar energy (thermonuclear fusion). Then they would be led down a spiral ramp to a large well where they watched “the creation of a miniature sun.” It was a “Big Bang,” literally when millions of deuterium nuclei fused at a temperature of 100 million degrees for six millionths of a second inside three-foot-long quartz tubes. There it was—an almost limitless source of electrical energy, enough to last for billions of years.

But the future didn’t need to be that far away. Two of the most impressive exhibits were General Motors “Futurama” and Ford’s “Magic Skyway.” Both demonstrated cities of the future, scarily sterile visions of soaring skyscrapers with huge underground parking garages connected by elevated or tunneled highways, each carrying thousands of computer-guided cars. Not a city street or park was to be seen. It was a city of technology, not people. Futurama was the most popular show of the entire fair, with 26 millon, half of all fairgoers, enjoying the show where moving cars took the visitors past the detailed scenery.

General Motors went even further. It showcased an undersea city, 10,000 feet down, which would be reached by atomic submarines. Men (only men in 1964) would operate claw-handled “aquacopters,” which would mine minerals and ores, and others would drill for gas and oil or farm the sea. There would even be an underwater resort, Hotel Atlantis.

But the home (meaning women) weren’t neglected. The Better Living Center, the third largest pavilion at the Fair, was nothing more than a giant showcase for the products and services designed to create and maintain “the American standard of living.” Approximately 250 exhibitors displayed their wares in six major categories: Fashion, Food, Health, Home, Family Security and Leisure.

Fashion had been designed with an eye to the setting of the first World’s Fair at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851. Five fashion shows were held every day with the latest in clothes, accessories, and cosmetics on view. Over in Food, a glass-walled trailer truck put on view a 90-day food supply for the average American family. The Hershey Company offered a history of chocolate—and plenty of samples. Borden’s had Elsie the Cow starring in a fanciful animation every fifteen minutes. Dream House featured a full-sized, seven-room house with modern furnishings and design ideas along with predictions about the future of the kitchen. (One of the most interesting kitchen gadgets was in the futuristic Norge Kitchen in the Festival of Gas pavilion. The Norge Dish Maker ground, washed and dried the family's plastic dinnerware and molded the pellets into new plates, cups and saucers.)

The 500-seat Beech Nut Theater, on the second level, featured plays, concerts, fashion shows, movie premieres and lectures. An FM radio station broadcasted programs from a studio adjacent to the theater. A Women’s Hospitality Center offered a quiet, safe place for visiting members of all women’s clubs. And the rooftop offered not only the Ovservation Deck but the Cafe International and Penthouse Restaurant. Also included were the Promenade of Interiors, a comprehensive exhibit of interior decorating with a variety of new fabric, furniture and lighting ideas, and the Art Gallery with “Four Centuries of American Masterpieces.”

Food was, as it always was, was popular and almost all pavilions offered it. There were a total of 112 restaurants, many featuring the international cuisine of the individual pavilions. Of course no World’s Fair would be properly called one unless a unique food was introduced there. In1964, the Fair had the “Bel-Gem” waffle. Itt originated at the Belgium Village, but this fat, fluffy waffle piled high with strawberries and topped with whipped cream was also all available all over the Fair.

The Fair attracted more than 51 million people over its two years. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. Even though it ran for two 6-month seasons (April 22–October 18, 1964 and April 21–October 17, 1965), and sold millions of dollars in advance ticket sales for both 1964 and 1965, the money from those sales  was books entirely against the first season of the Fair. This provided a false view of how much operating money the Fair really had to pay its bills. With attendance below expectations—70 million were projected to attend when I reality only 51 million did—bankruptcy loomed. It was unable to repay its financial backers and embroiled in legal disputes with its creditors that were not resolved until 1970 and the New York World's Fair 1964-1965 Corporation was dissolved.

Most of the pavilions were demolished within six months of the closing, though of those that survived many found new homes far away from the fairgrounds. New York City benefitted with a much improved Flushing Meadows Park that even today hosts the Unisphere, now considered a symbol of Queens.  The Space Park deteriorated due to neglect, but the surviving rockets were restored and placed back on display in 2004. It is presently open again as part of the New York Hall of Science, a portion of which is a remnant of the fair.

The 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair is still a strong memory for many, and it has many, many links online. The ones I found most useful and interesting include the following: the planning and progress as of 1961, building the World’s Fair, World’s Fair maps, the official Fair Guidebook (312 pages), the slideshow of a visiting Australian, a short video advertisement for the , a about the Fair, a for the Fair featuring the opening and closing, a to the World’s Fair (promotional film), a of the fairgrounds made from the Monorail, To the Fair! Part 1 and Part 2,  and the site to end all sites: the amazing NYWF64 site.

Bookmark specifications: New York World’s Fair
Dimensions: 5” x 2 1/4”
Material: Synthetic material (nylon?)
Manufacturer: New York World’s Fair Corporation
Date: 1964
Acquired: eBay

Almost since her childhood days of Mother Goose, Lauren has been giving her opinion on books to anyone who will listen. That “talent” eventually took her out of magazine writing and into book reviewing in 2000 for an online review site where she cut her teeth (as well as a few authors). Stints as book editor for her local newspaper and contributing editor to Booklist and Bookmarks magazines has reinforced her belief that she has interesting things to say about books. Lauren shares her home with several significant others including three cats, nearly 1,300 bookmarks and approximately the same number of books that, whether previously read or not, constitute her to-be-read stack. She is a member of the National Books Critics Circle (NBCC) as well as a longtime book design judge for Publishers Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin Awards. Contact Lauren.