Tuesday, May 08, 2012

New York World's Fair, October 1964

Meet me at the Fair. Or else! Get my drift?

The U.S. Space Park was a veritable forest of rockets. Most rockets don't have cables keeping them earthbound, but we don't want one to fall over and flatten a fairgoer. 


Well, I'm not entirely sure what we are looking at here! Clearly it is the interior of some sort of craft... but is it from a space capsule? Or perhaps the X-15 plane that was on display? Help!


Here's an odd one; there was a "New England States" pavilion, where you would find this country store, "... complete with potbellied stove and cracker barrel, (it) sells New England products and souvenirs. The restaurant features seafood, chicken, Blueberry Slump and Apple Grunt." Apple Grunt? 


Eastern Airlines wasn't the oooooonly way to fly. That was Western Airlines. Sounds like the Eastern Airlines building was kind a snooze, but a useful snooze!  There was a lounge for weary travelers, as well as checkin facilities. If I could go back in time, I would spend all my time in this building!


12 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, aliens arrived at the Fair in that craft. I know. I've seen Men In Black!

K. Martinez said...

In the first image the third rocket in view which is furthest back is a Titan II rocket with a Gemini space capsule on top. If you look close, there’s another Gemini capsule displayed on the ground in front of it.

In the second image it looks like the interior of a Gemini space capsule. Perhaps it's the one displayed in front of the Titan II.

If you had wings, you could widen your world... The Eastern Airlines building looks like most nondescript tech buildings I used to work in. Not very interesting.

Anonymous said...

An apple grunt is a regional form of apple cobbler. Delicious!

Brian Fies said...

K. is right, the second photo is inside the Gemini capsule. You can see there are two seats side by side (the second one off to the right), which isn't how they'd be arranged in any fighter jet I know of. There are a couple of good comparison diagrams here:

http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/tharriso/gemini2_b.gif

http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/tharriso/gemini3.gif

The first one clearly shows the row of rivets/eyelets? along one side of the seat. The second one is relevant for its illustration of the Center Console with the ring, big knob and stick, which you can see in the photo.

Great finds!

Tami Von Zalez said...

Hello Major!
I'm posting some images from the NY World's Fair 1965 also.
Stop by for a visit - thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, I thought that the Men In Black arrived in those flying saucers at the New York pavilion!

K. Martinez, I wasn't sure about the Gemini, even though I knew they had one on display. The X-15 was practically a spacecraft, and I'm sure it was pretty cramped inside it as well!

Brian, thanks for the additional info. There is just something about those capsules from the early days of the space program that hold so much nostalgia.

Tami, you have some great Fair photos!

Anonymous said...

The middle rocket is an Atlas with a Mercury capsule on top.

Melissa said...

Man I could really go for some of my Grandma's apple grunt right now.

Chiana_Chat said...

"Man I could really go for some of my Grandma's apple grunt right now."

*grunts!*

Love me a mess o' that.

Veeeeery boring building, the Eastern Airlines, but it made the airport-minded execs at home eh?

TokyoMagic! said...

Yes, that seat is inside one of the "observation decks."

Aaron Ardle said...

More about Apple Grunts: http://tinyurl.com/7ojs6zx

David said...

The guy in the third picture (way to the right) is making sure the Indian statue is not a Weeping Angel. He refuses to blink!