DuPont Sign, New York World's Fair - March 1964
Today I am sharing the third and final (for now) blog post from the 1964 World’s Fair, showing the installation of the sign in front of the DuPont pavilion. Go back and look at the first two posts if you've forgotten about them!
This first shot is from the upper "terrace" of the DuPont building, looking toward the Unisphere (with the Republic of China building just to the right of it). Down below, roadways are full of worker's cars as they push themselves to complete the Fair for opening day, only a month after these pictures were taken (it opened on April 22, 1964). The building closest to us, to the right, is the "Spain" pavilion, with the saw-toothed roof of the "Indonesia" pavilion beyond that.
OK, back to the sign. I admit that the last three are not quite as interesting as the views from the previous two posts, but this is what I've got; one of the three identical signs appears to be in the process of being hoisted into place. In the background we can see the upper level of the DuPont building, where the first picture was taken.
The two remaining sides of the triangular sign still sit on the truck that brought them all the way from Baltimore.
It looks like this might be the final piece, on its way up. Weirdly, there was no photo of the finished product in this batch. BUT... I have another group of slides, it's been a while since I've looked at them, but I believe that we might get a few additional views of things like the Unisphere under construction, the Fairgrounds blanketed in snow between seasons, and more!
I hope you have enjoyed these NYWF scans!
15 comments:
Major-
That "deep pink" (probably in Tampico Red) is a 1959 Buick - and based on what little I can see of the trim, I believe it's a 'Le Sabre' hardtop coupe. Behind it is a 1955 Oldsmobile, probably in Frost Blue. And next to the 'Hot Coffee' truck is a 1958 Chevrolet - most-likely an Impala (can't quite make-out enough detail on the taillights for absolute ID-ing).
Thanks, Major.
1) A neat shot! I love the misty atmosphere. Oh my... is that a dead sea turtle decomposing next to the sawhorse? ;-p
2) The grille of that 'mystery car' looks like a plaid, or houndstooth blanket. I guess that's the DuPont sign(s) being hoisted into place behind the mystery car?
3) Typical of 1964, that worker, operating heavy machinery, has a cigarette hanging from his mouth... Or maybe it's a Tootsie Pop.
4 & 5) That must be a young "Whomping Willow" tree in the foreground. They've got it all trussed up so as to not cause any damage or injury to people and vehicles that may pass too close.
Nanook, what is that 'circle V' logo on the grille of the '59 Buick?
It's kinda neat seeing these signs being made and installed from start to finish. Thanks, Major.
@ JB-
"... what is that 'circle V' logo on the grille of the '59 Buick?"
It's all about the V-8 engine, baby-!
Buick was a 'little late to the party' [1953] in offering a V-8 engine (as opposed to their 'straight-eight' engine). Although a few V-8 engines were around early in the 20th century, (fer instance Cadillac: 1914-1935), it was Ford with the introduction of their famous 'flathead' V-8 engine in 1932, that really started the ball rolling.
And that structure closest to us in the first pic, will become the sign for the 7-Up pavilion. (Major, you had mentioned that in one of your other two posts).
These posts have been an interesting study in the DuPont Pavilion's signage. Thanks, Major!
Thanks, Nanook! I kinda thought it must have something to do with the V-8 engine but I didn't see and "8"?
Tokyo!, Weren't there several of those 7-Up clock tower signs scattered around the fairgrounds?
Tokyo!, Weren't there several of those 7-Up clock tower signs scattered around the fairgrounds?
JB, I don't know for sure, but here's a shot showing the one in the first pic. We can see the Spain pavilion (as Major pointed out in his first shot) in the foreground, and the DuPont Pavilion in the background
Spain, 7-Up, and DuPont
Okay, before publishing this comment, I did a search. Supposedly, there were twelve other smaller versions of this sign with clocks attached, scattered around the fair. But only this one was this size. Plus, we can see the 7-Up International Sandwich Gardens below the sign. Major pointed out in a previous post, that is the where "fresh sandwiches (hot and cold) grew on trees." :-)
I was just in the Spain Pavilion last month! It’s the first few floors surrounding the East Tower of the Hilton at the Ballpark in St Louis. You really have to know what you are looking for to see it today, as the original inlaid wood decor was removed decades ago.
Thanks, Major, for another interesting excursion!
I do love construction photos, and I’m always impressed by how familiar Major and GDB are with the Fair buildings. I can’t stay oriented even when I know what I’m looking at. I feel like one of those folks who label pictures of the county fair as “Disneyland” because they are on the same roll.
I particularly like the HOT COFFEE van in the background. Take care of the luxuries and the essentials take care of themselves, as Frank Lloyd Wright would say.
And so many great cars too! Thanks Major for these signs of the times.
JG
JG, are you telling us that Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t design bathrooms into his houses?! Man, that would have been murder in a place like Fallingwater.
Nanook, what the hell is a Tampico? I guess they are red, whatever they are. “Frost Blue”, love it. And “Impala”. We had car names then.
JB, sea turtles were a real problem when they were building the Fair, to the point where they had to hire a “wrangler”. I don’t think the sign is being hoisted just yet, nobody is looking up. Tootsie Pops, weird candy. I don’t love them, but I don’t hate them either. It’s like a chocolate dough. “Whomping Willows”, I thought those only lived in England. I actually know what the “circle V” logo means (really!), but I see that Nanook has addressed it, so I will let him get all the glory and the money.
Nanook, I think I remember a photo from the 1939 World’s Fair Ford pavilion with a big V-8 sign, so Buick really was late to the party if it took them practically another quarter century.
TokyoMagic!, yes, I probably should have mentioned the 7-Up sign, but didn’t do it. While I am done with the Du Pont sign pix, I have many more interesting NYWF photos from this same batch.
JB, there was only one 7-Up tower, you are probably thinking of the General Foods arches, there were 11 of those around the Fairgrounds.
TokyoMagic!, well, I didn’t even know that there were 12 smaller versions of tthe 7-Up towers (I need to look those up), so I guess I need to turn in my blogging license - which took me six months of study and $10,000 to acquire.
Chuck, I sort of love that the Spain Pavilion was saved/reused. Moving a building of that size seems like a huge endeavor, but I guess somebody crunched the numbers and decided it was worth doing. Thanks!
JG, I often have to look stuff up, though after all these years I have grown much more familiar with many of the more prominent buildings at the Fair. And I have a very good map of the Fair, which helps to orient me as to what is where. “I feel like one of those folks who label pictures of the county fair as “Disneyland” because they are on the same roll”… I feel like many eBay sellers have the motto, “When in doubt, just say the photo is from Disneyland”!
San Diego’s Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park is located inside the former Ford Pavilions Wonder Rotunda … built in 1934 for the 1935 second Pan Pacific Exposition, the building complex features the art decco murals … “progress of transportation “ and the giant center courtyard with the “V-8” fountain and planters . In 1935 there was also an attraction called “roadways of the world “ guests drove the newest Ford sedans along recreations of themed areas like a European cobbled stone , an American desert , and others. Today in the brush you can still see some of the “roadways of the world” ford debuted its famous 1935 Ford at the San Diego pavilion prior to the Exposition’s official opening.
Tokyo!, thanks for the clarification. I knew from Major's past posts that there were several of those arches and that they had (I think) the 7-Up logo on them, along with the clocks. What I didn't know is that there was a larger one. Sort of a "And one sign to rule them all" LOTR kind of thing.
Major, go ahead and turn in your blogging license. It'll free you up! Become a pirate! Although, all your posts from now on will have to be written in 'Piratese', with words and phrases like "Arrrrr" and "Mateys" and "Shiver me timbers!".
JB, there was only one 7-Up tower, you are probably thinking of the General Foods arches, there were 11 of those around the Fairgrounds.
TokyoMagic!, well, I didn’t even know that there were 12 smaller versions of tthe 7-Up towers (I need to look those up)
Major....OOOOPS! When JB asked that question, it sounded vaguely familiar, but yes, it was the G.F. arches that were around the fairgrounds. When I did a search about "how many 7-Up towers" there were, the first answer of course was A.I. and I usually know better than to trust those answers, but I guess last night I just went along with it. I used to catch the A.I. answers being wrong from time to time, but lately I have been noticing tons of wrong answers coming from the "A.I. response." I'm going to have to stop even reading those answers. Sorry about that! If there had been more 7-Up towers, we would have seen pics of them by now. I just bet that JB was thinking of all those white G.F. arches!
^ Now I feel foolish and guilty and belittled. ;-D I suppose Major will keep his blogging license now. And I was SO looking forward to all that pirate jargon.
I was anonymous.
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