Century 21 Expo, September 1962
Here are four more photos from Seattle's "Century 21 Expo"!
This building was the Safeco Information Center - the official information center for the fair. You could sign the official fair guest book, ask about any tourist destinations of interest in the Pacific Northwest, and help visitors with questions about the Expo itself. All in the name of increasing tourism!
The laminated wood shapes above the Christian Pavilion recall the stone arches in gothic cathedrals. Gee, suddenly I'm remembering all the bad things I've done. Oh well! The gentleman in the foreground looks like somebody who would have been in TV commercials. Maybe for Burgie beer!
Welcome to the Gayway, where everyone is happy all the time. The upside-down umbrella roofs of the souvenir booths are interesting. Did they have a drain in the middle? I think the booth closest to us sold lamp-worked glass doo-dads ("Handmade with Corning Pyrex Glass"). I used to love watching the artisans working with a blue flame and molten glass when I was a kid.
The view from the top of the iconic Space Needle was pretty spectacular. There's part of Puget Sound in the distance; parking aplenty; and the amusement zone below us. Let's take a closer look.
There's the "Wild Mouse" roller coaster, and the "Octopus"-type ride was known as "The Meteor". To it's right is the "Flying Coaster". In the lower right, the façade for the "Flight to Mars" attraction; The building with the Union 76 ball is one of the stations for the Skyride.
Once again, I'd like to recommend Bill Cotter's book, "Seattle's 1962 World's Fair" for folks who want to learn more. It's a great reference with tons of neat info!
8 comments:
Seattle's fair will be second on my list of World's Fairs to visit once someone gets that time machine completed. The first fair on the itinerary of course, will be the 1964 New York World's Fair!
Any number of lousy, unfunny jokes could be made about the "Gayway," but what I want to know is, could same-sex couples get married there while the fair was open? Probably not.
i love it all! where to go first...
the information building is very interesting; i wonder what the design meant. it looks a bit Oriental but Seattle does not bring that to mind for me.
of course, one of my favorite features are those cool light posts with all the rainbow colored panels, must have been really neat to see when the lights were on
thanks for a very fun post today
:-)
TokyoMagic!, I think it would be #4 for me. Here's my "time machine" list, with 1 & 2 being a virtual tie:
#1 - 1964 New York
#2 - 1939 New York
#3 - 1933 Chicago
#4 - 1962 Seattle
Pilsner Panther, even I managed to not make a joke in poor taste, which is practically unheard of.
Nancy, I never thought about it before, but if those panels had lights behind them, I'll bet they DID look great at night!
Oops, I kind of forgot about the 1939 NYWF. Hmmmmm, that would probably place second on my list bumping Seattle down a notch.
Sorry Major, that isn't Puget Sound you see in the background. That's Lake Union. The Sound is about a 120 degree turn to the left in that picture.
Thanks for the kind comments on my book about the Fair. I've been back up to Seattle twice this year and it's fun to see parts of the fair still there and in use, unlike what happens to most fairs. Sadly the last of the Gayway closed last year, but it had close to a 50 year run!
Bill Cotter
I barely remember my trip to the Fair, but I'm having my evening whisky right now in my Mom's original souvenir shot glass with the Space Needle on it.
JG
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