1964 New York World's Fair, October 1964
I woke up in a cold sweat and knew that I had to share some photos from the 1964/65 New York World's Fair!
From the undulating roof of the Eastman Kodak pavilion comes this look toward the Pepsi/UNICEF pavilion, featuring Walt Disney's "it's a small world". And there's the Tower of the Four winds! We know that Rolly Crump was disappointed with the bulked-up Tower, but from here it looks very graceful, in my opinion. Cheer up, Rolly! You did good! Near the middle of the photo is the Better Living Center, and to the left of that (the low round roofs) was the Schaefer Center, where you could enjoy a crisp cold glass of Schaefer beer.
The Solar Fountain was a surprisingly popular photo subject. A central dome supports a 30-foot high column of water while a starburst circles around the dome. Wobbling jets of water surrounding the dome simulate the sun's gases.
You know it, you love it, it's the Unisphere! Symbol of the New York World's Fair 1964/1965 is this 12-story-high stainless steel model of the earth designed, built and presented to the Fair by United States Steel. Dedicated to "Peace through Understanding," the Unisphere will remain on its site when the Fair is over, as a permanent gift to the City of New York for the improved Flushing Meadow Park that will be created on the fairgrounds. It is located at the Fountain of the Continents, near the center of the Fair. Seen from the edge of the pool, it shows the world as it appears from 6,000 miles in space. I don't know, it looks more like 5,000 miles to me.
Whoa, the gloom overtook the Fair! As you can see from that sign, this is the Lowenbrau Gardens. The brewers of Lowenbrau, a Bavarian beer, have reconstructed an open-air Bavarian-style restaurant set in a village square. The square is surrounded by five buildings, including a bell tower and gate. Three of the buildings are service areas for the restaurant. Every now and again Lowenbrau's brewery wagon, drawn by four massive horses, can be seen in the street outside, or traveling about the fairgrounds.
I hope you have enjoyed today's visit to the New York World's Fair!
13 comments:
Major-
"A central dome supports a 30-foot high column of water while a starburst circles around the dome".
That's what's wrong with the world today... not enough starbursts-! (Once the Robinson's star no longer adorned the Wilshire Blvd. side of their Beverly Hills location at Xmas, it's been all downhill since then).
Here's to a future world full of starbursts-! Thanks, Major.
The sign with the undulating "it' a small world" looks, from this distance, like "it's a mad world" (without the other three 'mad's)... how appropriate.
I think the Solar Fountain's 'Sun' should have been free floating, bobbing on those jets of water. Instead of being held aloft by the pole. But they didn't consult me.
In the Unisphere pic, all the people in the background make the scene look like an artist's conceptual drawing. Ostrich plumed hat alert!
I like those ribbon-y poles in front of the Lowenbrau Gardens. I wonder if they represent something specific, or if they're just decorative decor decorations. :-p We can see a wagon of some sort back there next to the building; but no horses. There's also a shy Moonberry hiding behind the trees on the left. It didn't want to have its picture taken because it's having a bad hair day.
A nice trip to the Fair! Thanks, Major.
That's what's wrong with the world today... not enough starbursts-!
Nanook, I'm doing my part to keep "starbursts" alive. I have a couple starburst-shaped wall clocks, a ceramic ashtray with raised starbursts in the bottom, and a set of Franciscan dinnerware with the company's "Starburst" pattern.
I wonder if those ribbons on the poles in front of the Lowenbrau Gardens had bells hanging off of them. It looks like something is attached to the end of them. Bells would've be nice to hear when there was a breeze. Unless you were working an 8 hour shift at a pretzel or bratwurst cart, right underneath them.
Wobbling jets of water surrounding the dome simulate the sun's gases.
Everything I know about the sun's gases, I learned from Interplanet Janet!
These are extra nice Fair Fotos, Major! Thanks for sharing!
Rolly wasn’t the first, or last designer irritated by his structural engineer. The Tower is still a masterpiece. There might be as many as 6 trash cans in that picture too.
Wait, the Sunburst is supported by a pole? My faith is dashed…
Great picture of the Unisphere! I saw somewhere the first-draft name was Monoglobe. Glad they changed it.
I remember Lowenbrau beer was one of first “premium” beers on the market, with a silver foil wrapper over the cap. You had to drink it with your pinkie held out.
Thanks for the Fair Treatment today, Major!
JG
Thanks for the trip to the fair, Major. It's a gray rainy day here so my local street fair is not nearly so busy.
That Unisphere picture is postcard worthy. I like the guy with the souvenir hat at the right foreground.
It's incredible that that enormous Better Living Pavilion was built to be temporary. It looks like an office building, you'd think it would be permanent. I suppose the look is also why it didn't draw much of a crowd when there were much more fanciful looking pavilions to see.
TM! - That Interplanet Janet is a galaxy gal.
I think my dad spent more time at the Lowenbrau pavilion than any other, judging by his stories. I think those poles with the rings are maypoles, they're on the Oktoberfest grounds and there's one under the picnic pavilion at my German club. I don't think they have bells. We don't have Lowenbrau there, just a lot of other Bavarian imports. But it would have been nice to have that pavilion disassembled and rebuilt on our grounds. I'm always trying to make our place look a little more like this or Epcot's Germany pavilion.
Thanks to my astigmatism, I see starbursts all the time if I don't have my contact lenses in.
Nanook, hmmm, I am unaware of the “Robinson’s Star” at Christmas. Which was apparently a beloved local landmark? I’ll have to look that up!
JB, ha, now that I am looking at that first photo, it really does look like it says “it’s a mad world”. Now THAT would be an interesting ride! I’ve seen a pingpong ball held aloft on a column of air (from a vacuum cleaner), maybe that sun really could have been supported by water? Of course a power outage would mean that the thing would crash down, maybe not desirable. I suppose the people in the Unisphere phoot do resemble the kind you might see in an architectural rendering, they’re strolling and strolling. And that one guy is lighting up. I don’t know about those ribbon-y poles, and assume that they were designed to provide interesting movement whenever there was any breeze (which I’ll bet was often). Maybe? I wish they’d put big blond wigs on the Moonberries, that would have been much better.
TokyoMagic!, starbursts are pretty great, you can find people making repros of vintage wall clocks online. I still like them to this day. Is your Franciscan dinnerware vintage? I’m unfamiliar with the name, but the monks probably want their plates back. Ha, reading your comment about bells on the Lowenbrau poles made me think that it would drive any employee nearby completely crazy! Who is “Interplanet Janet”??
JG, not long ago I went to an event where (among other things), Rolly’s son Chris displayed a beautiful model of the Tower of the Four Winds that he had built. It was so intricate and gorgeous - I wanted to just stare at it for ten minutes from various angles, but unfortunately other people wanted to look at it too. I remember Lowenbrau commercials showing yuppies enjoying their great lives (!) while sipping a beer… none of them were drinking a beer while watching cartoons on their shabby sofas in a darkened den, which is how I do it.
Dean Finder, ideally you want a street fair to be sunny and 72º, it’s true that rain will ruin the whole thing. I have many pictures of the Unisphere, but agree that today’s example is pretty sweet. I think that MANY of the buildings at the Fair were so incredible, real works of art, it was such a waste that they were torn down after two seasons. I know that a few structures were relocated (like the Johnson’s Wax pavilion), but most were destroyed. I can see why TokyoMagic! thought there might be bells on those ribbons, but I think the objects are just some sort of weight. I could be wrong though! EPCOT was very inspired by World’s Fairs from the past, in fact wasn’t it often referred to as a “permanent World’s Fair”?
Dean Finder, I’ll never forget talking to somebody who’d had LASIK surgery (long ago) for nearsightedness, and this person said that driving at night had become awful because of the starbursts caused by headlights. I’m assuming that this is not as much of an issue anymore.
Dang, the never-ending italics are back! I'm gonna try an experiment: Putting an 'end italics' code at the beginning of this comment to see if that gets rid of it.
About a week ago I noticed that my comment had changed to italics after the point at which I italicised something. I always write my comments on a notepad file, then copy/paste it into GDB. I checked my notepad file, and sure enough, I had made a typo with the 'end italics' code. So I deleted my comment from GDB, corrected the typo, and reposted the comment. It worked! I wonder if that's the case here? It looks like the italics started in Tokyo!'s comment above: "wobbling jets...", etc. Thanks a lot, Tokyo! ;-)
JG, "Monoglobe" sounds like a blood component. My monoglobes were really low when I was undergoing chemo, back in 2004/2005. :-p
Dean, ah, maypoles! That makes sense.
Major, The Big Blond Moonberries... why hasn't there been a rock band with that name? I suppose the Travelling Wilburys comes close.
^ Well... my experiment was an epic failure. The italics are still here.
According to the DVD commentary, some live action scenes of the Rankin Bass feature "Daydreamer" were shot on the still-standing Bavarian village after the fair closed.
Never actually went to a world's fair (elder siblings got to see the one in Seattle), but did have the Official Comic Book of the Flintstones visiting the New York event. Lots of cameos by other HB characters, but no reference to any Disney attraction beyond the Tower of the Four Winds (Dino pulled a metal fish off it).
Now recalling there was a television episode of the Flintstones visiting a stone-age fair and getting zapped into the modern one by a time machine exhibit. Nothing special or specific; mostly Fred trying to use rocks for money at a refreshment stand.
While my mind is wandering, the 1933 fair in Chicago featured a Midget Village, full of little people going about their business in scaled-down buildings. The 1939 fair in San Francisco featured Sally Rand's Nude Ranch, where girls in cowboy hats, boots, and a few strategic accessories did western things like badminton. No report on which was the bigger draw.
Thanks Major.. Dennis Levittown NY
Is your Franciscan dinnerware vintage?
Major, yes....Franciscan made a lot of dinnerware with various patterns, but the "Starburst" pattern has become very pricey. I picked up all my pieces in the nineties, when it was more affordable. I like them not just for the "atomic" or "starburst" pattern, but also because the plates aren't perfectly round. They are all slightly ameboid in shape.
Who is “Interplanet Janet”?
Major, she was a character from School House Rock, and she taught us all about our solar system. As DeanFinder stated, "She's a galaxy girl!" I think she was supposed to be a satellite....or maybe she was a mini rocket?
With today's posting, I finally have figured out what the World's Fair was all about: BEER! BEER ON EVERY CORNER. Well: I don't judge, and historically, beer has been around for like a zillion years...my question today is was their also bierschnapps served as well? For those who wanted something a wee more potent? The Tower of the Four Winds does not look horsey at all from this vantage point: it is rather delightful and I need to learn welding to build my own. The "boat attraction" certainly knows what's important: first: PEPSI, second WALT, last: it's a small world: lowercase. Now, if you distilled Pepsi like bierschnapps, would you get Pepsischnapps? I am SURE someone has tried this and sold it. With the "Coke Challenge" circa: 1978 (?) they should have also compared Cokeschnapps and Pepsischapps...and by the end...no one would really care which one was the best. I would say I can't "miss" the World's Fair as I never saw it in real life, but I do miss not seeing it all all. Disneyland was sometimes referred to as a "permanent World's Fair" of sorts....then World Showcase came along, and that became the "permanent World's Fair". I wouldn't mind a new Worlds Fair 'ala NY....and for the money spent, I'd think I'd rather go there, than the Olympic Games....which kind of bore me to tears...
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