Here's the exterior of the Alaska pavilion, designed to resemble a giant igloo. Shriners are always welcome, but especially so here! Those enormous totem poles are pretty spectacular (they were originally displayed at the 1904 St. Louis Fair)... hey, let's stop at that cute little booth and get a delicious Eskimo Pie while we're at it. Back then they were made with chunks of real Eskimo.
This photo op is not only cheesy, but kind of insulting! Which is why I love it. The should have supplied passers-by with snowballs to throw at folks brave (dumb) enough to stick their head through that hole. Look, to the left, another opportunity to buy an Eskimo Pie.
Those animal pelts sure add a touch of elegance to the place! Decorators, take note.
Over the fence, Shea Stadium looks like it is still many weeks from completion - yet it had opened five months earlier. The Beatles wouldn't play there until the following year. Pop seems mighty tickled by that little styrofoam igloo.
This was always the funniest section of the Alaska pavilion. That lady, like many people, thought that the Alaskan brown bear was stuffed. In fact, he was trained to stand perfectly still until someone wandered close by. Lunch time!
Would I lie to you?
lol! Fun trip Maj. :)
ReplyDeleteVery fun, indeed! The 1964 and 1939 Westinghouse Time Capsules were located under those disc-shaped roofs in that first photo (behind the Eskimo Pie stand)
ReplyDelete9.2 quake for 5 minutes, no thanks...
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or did Alaska get kind of a cheap Pavilion? I mean the giant igloo is cool, but the rest looks sort of POP - trashy...
VDT: That's funny you mention about the trashy Alaska exhibit, I was looking at the photos and thought the same thing.
ReplyDeleteIn perfect fairness, standards were much lower back then; it reminds me of what municipal parks and displays were like in the mid 60s.
Very 'interesting' set of photos.....
ReplyDeleteLove the line of animal pelts hanging next to the Pepsi machine: "Thirsty after a hard day of hunting? Try a Pepsi!"
And what's with that tiny Alaska flag sticking awkwardly from the top of the igloo?
Do Eskimo Pies really have a connection with Alaska and Eskimos? Or is that just a cheesy marketing tie-in attempt?
The good thing is, they never had to worry about the bear getting enough to eat. "Didn't we come with Aunt Edna? Anyone see her after we left the Alaska pavilion?"
Cheesy marketing Anonymous, maybe they even sponsored the exhibits. Either them or the Shriners...
ReplyDeleteIgloo - made of that newfangled styro-foam.
Cheap, relatively, but Alaska wasn't too shaken up about it.
These are really great. It's not often you see so many nice details from the Alaska exhibit. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeletea great way to start December...
ReplyDeletei agree, the exhibit is fairly plain compared to some of the other pavilions we have seen, but then again, as Katella said, things were different then compared to the wow factor we expect nowadays
i LOVE that Pepsi machine. we had one in our local laundromat and when we had a dime we would go get a bottle of Pepsi ;)
thanks for great photos!
I laughed when I read your comment about the bear. Reminded me of when I went to Movieland Wax museum as a teenager with my family. A guard was dressed like a Keystone Kop and stood perfectly still. When I commented to my brother that they even put hair in the ears, he got all insulted and stormed off!
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Vaughn, I remember the Keystone Kop, except he scared the crap out of me. I like your version better!!
ReplyDeleteScore one for Vaughn!
ReplyDelete