New York World's Fair
I am in the mood to go to the New York World's Fair. Who's with me? There are many reasons to want a time machine, but being able to experience that Fair is way up there for me.
First up, here's a young girl enjoying the carousel (built in 1898) in the Belgian Village. The horses seem to be all-white, just like at Disneyland. Ya gotta love a carousel.
Here's a pretty nice shot of the AMF Monorail as it zoomed 40 feet over guest's heads. On the World's Fair monorail, built by American Machine & Foundry Company, trains ride below the track, suspended from overhead power units with rubber tires. The route is a loop 4,000 feet long, with three trains traveling in one direction while four others travel in the opposite direction on a parallel track.
Next is the Tower of Light. The building, rising in a forest of aluminum-faced prisms, is sponsored by 150 investor-owned electric utility companies. Visitors see the 15-minute show from swivel seats on a giant turntable. It looks like this was taken late in the day, it's too bad they didn't wait until a bit later when "the world's most powerful searchlight beam" (12 billion candlepower!) shot into the sky.
We've seen the wonderful Eastman Kodak pavilion many times before, but I always get a kick out of those giant (30' X 36') photo prints that were changed out every four weeks.
Oh boy, Space Park! The dramatic vehicles that are carrying the United States into the space age are displayed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense in the area surrounding the Hall of Science. On display are a Project Mercury spacecraft which has orbited the earth, a Gemini two-man spacecraft, a model of the Apollo which will carry three astronauts into lunar orbit, a lunar excursion vehicle in which men will land on the moon, the lower portion of the Saturn V moon rocket, and a full-scale X-15 rocket-powered research airplane.
And finally, a detail of the 120 foot-tall Tower of the Four Winds, at UNICEF/Pepsi pavilion, where you could ride the very first iteration of "it's a small world". Rolly Crump apparently "hated" the way it turned out (due to the fact that many of the supporting elements were made much thicker to withstand winds), but it looks great to me.
General Electric's "Progressland" can be seen (that white dome) in the distance.
I hope you have enjoyed to visit to the New York World's Fair!
16 comments:
Major-
Did you say you've got a time machine at-the-ready-? I'm so anxious to hop-aboard and join you at the Fair-! Tell me more about those 'Madcap Movies".
Thanks, Major.
The Tower of Light's stack of crystals reminds me of the World of Tomorrow crystalline cubes at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. It was indoors and you rode up into the cube structure by way of the Bubbleator. Once up there, the show itself seemed kinda strange and vague (I was 9 at the time), but just seeing the Bubbleator rise up into that 'cloud' was a fantastic sight!
On the Kodak pavilion, I wonder what those two side-by-side signs say? (with the marquee lights) I tried zooming in, but it was still illegible to me.
As impressive as all the rockets and space capsules are, for me it's the X-15 that looks the coolest. That dramatic angle and the darker coloration really catches the eye! (And the imagination!)
I always enjoy seeing images of the Tower of the Four Winds. A spectacular and colorful structure... and it moves!
Thanks for another trip to the fair, Major.
- Junior mints, Big hunk (Halloween candy)
It looks like the mechanisms for moving the horses on the Belgian Carousel, were located underneath the horses, rather than overhead.
Thanks for another trip to the World's Fair, Major. It's always enjoyable!
Tokyo Black Magic!
It’s amazing to me that all of this amazing stuff was designed, built and then destroyed…seems like buying parsley for garnish for a plate…looks pretty then throw it away. There was a Flinstones episode where Fred buys a restaurant and they have him buy a thousand pounds of parsley to throw away “why am I buying parsley to throw away?!!!” He said…. I kind of agree with Fred. I always ate my parsley on my plate, and still do if it’s there. Back to the Worlds Fair- never made it myself…but so many great things came out of it- like Kodak’s “Mad Cap Movies”…sounds great! The word Kodak was invented because no matter what language you speak, Kodak is pronounced exactly the same, and can be by thousands of dialects. The things you learn in speech class….
Ah, the X-15. The baddest of the bad (in a good way) when it comes to aircraft. It was the first rocket plane to officially go into space and then land on a runway, beating the Space Shuttle by a couple of decades. It also flew to over mach 6 (which, to the average guy translates into "dang fast"). Interestingly enough, only three were ever built. Two (numbers 1 and 2) survive. Number 3 went into a hypersonic flat spin that shredded the aircraft over 50 square miles. The pilot was killed.
The example at the World's Fair was a model. A dang good 1/1 scale model, though!
I tried to build one in my front yard, but I couldn't afford that many Legos. The neighbors were so sad when I told them that they threw a huge party to cheer me up! If only they had invited me...
S-illy T-ubular U-ndead (I have no clue what I'm doing any more)
After the NYWF, this carousel (an 1885 model) was moved to Expo '67 in Montreal, where it still operates today.
Interestingly, the other antique carousel at the fair was right across Grand Central Parkway. It still runs in Flushing Meadows today.
Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire has a lot of trashcans like those in the Kodak pavilion picture. Given that Canobie Lake has a "Luminaire" on display, I bet there's a good chance their trashcans came from the fair!
I’m digging the extravagant variety of concrete shell roof construction here. Kodak has quite a amazing one, and apparently you can walk on it. Beyond Rollies Tower, GE is visible in the distance, and a folded-plate structure is in the mid-ground, looking much like Melodyland. It’s a veritable circus of weird roofs.
Always something new to learn about this Fair, Major, thank you!
JB, the two signs have the same message, and the bottom line reads “Madcap Movies”, but I can’t make out the rest. The sign on the white curved wall also reads “Madcap” in part, so maybe that was the theater entrance?
JG
There’s a luminaire in every photo but the first one.
In the Space Park photo, there’s also an Agena upper stage, displayed at a dramatic angle behind the woman in the pink skirt, plus a couple of satellites and a sounding rocket of some sort scattered around the background.
Bu, it’s interesting that you mention The Flintstones. I was just talking to a co-worker on Thursday when a random comment which I no longer recall triggered a childhood memory of a Flintstones episode that had the Flintstones and Rubbles visiting the Bedrock World’s Fair, stepping into a time machine, and finding themselves at the 1964 NYWF. I remember alerting on the Unisphere, recognizing it from photos my parents had of the Fair (the one in NY, not the one in Bedrock; my parents aren’t that old). I hadn’t seen the episode since at least 1976, but I managed to find the segment on YouTube this morning and was surprised at how much of it I recalled. It’s also neat to see so many iconic things from the Fair illustrated in animated form.
Nanook, I’ll bet those “Madcap Movies” haven’t aged very well! I looked up “Herb Shriner”, a name I wasn’t familiar with - he was an American humorist/personality/actor (etc) who “was known for his homespun monologues, usually about his home state of Indiana”.
JB, so you went to the “Century 21” Expo in Seattle? Cool! I didn’t know that there was a Bubbleator there, I thought that those originated at EPCOT (or is it “Ekpot”?) in “The Living Seas”. The more you know. The two signs are for Herb Shriner’s “Madcap Movies”, whatever those were. Why do I imagine an early version of “Laugh-In”-style blackout gags? Yes, that X-15 is pretty sweet, and come on, it’s a cool name too. Glad you enjoyed these.
TokyoMagic!, I never thought about the fact that there might be different kinds of mechanisms for carousels. I figured they were all more of less the same!
Bu, that is the general feeling about World’s Fairs… so much creativity and effort (and money), all for such a brief span of time. But that ephemeral quality is what makes them so special in our minds, I guess. I don’t really eat parsley, though it is nice to chew on a stem once in a while. “Kodak” is the sound people make when they have a chicken bone stuck in their throats.
Stu29573, mach 6, I guess that’s pretty impressive. But what about mach one million?! I assume that the two surviving X-15 craft are on display somewhere. One has to be at the Smithsonian, yes? If only there was a way to look that up, but I guess there isn’t. I see that you are one of the few people who know that X-15s were made of Legos - just like Saturn V rockets.
Andrew, Very cool that the carousel in today’s photo still operates in Montreal! I think I did know that there were two carousels at the Fair at some point, but you know how it goes. Too much to remember. I’ll bet you’re right about the trash cans at Canobie Lake! Have I mentioned that I covet a Luminaire??
JG, people did walk up on those rolling curves atop the Eastman Kodak pavilion, I’ve shared photos of it a number of times. I think the “weird roof” thing was one way to be distinctive, though it was hard to top some of the designs at this Fair. Some pavilions didn’t even try, opting for the “big box” look. See my comments to Nanook and JB regarding those signs!
Chuck, what an exciting time that was, when rockets were a big deal and talked about often in day to day conversation. Jus think how much one of those full-size rocket models must have cost, I assume that the manufacturers of the working versions provided a hollow shell for display. There is a comic book with the Flintstones visiting the 1964 World’s Fair (I have a copy, somewhere)… apparently it was based on this episode! I had no idea. Fantastic, thank you for the link!
There may be white horses on that carousel, but there are also lion-dragons and things with human heads! No winder the girl looks a little apprehensive. I wonder if that’s her kindly grandpa. The lady in the pink skirt in Space Park almost looks like her headwear goes down over her face too. I think I’ll go diving to recover the Tower of the Four Winds; I practiced swimming in the Pool of Industry. Thanks, Major.
Kathy!, yes, many old carousels had what I think were called "sleds", more along the lines of standard bench seating - though still elaborately carved with fanciful animals and flowers! Not sure if the elderly man is related, or if was the ride operator. And what IS that thing on Pink-Skirt's head?? A babushka? I'd love to go for a swim in the Pool of Industry!
Just a note to everyone, I'm about to head out for the rest of the day (carving pumpkins and other fun stuff), so I might not be able to respond to comments until tomorrow. Have a great Saturday!
Hmm. Now Blogger ate my comment. Fortunately, I had it Copied and ready to re-Paste. I suppose it'll show up twice now. Oh well.
Anyway...
Tokyo Black Magic!, I saw all that mechanism under the horses as well. But didn't realize how unusual that was. I knew that most carousels have their 'works' up above. I wonder just how rare this one is?
Stu (S-illy T-ubular U-ndead), I hope you realize that I was just teasing you about your "desperate-sounding" attempts at spooky names. Oh, they are indeed desperate-sounding, but that's what makes them funny! I get a chuckle out of your name everyday.
Like Major, I wasn't aware of that info about the X-15. And, mach 6?! Wow. I guess it had to go that fast to go into space!
Major, "Kodak is the sound people make when they have a chicken bone stuck in their throats." I guffawed out-loud at that one! (Or maybe it's the sound a chicken makes when they have a human bone stuck in their throats.)
The Space Shuttle was also made of Legos; all that talk of 'tiles' and all.
Kathy!, I spotted those other carousel creatures as well. And while this row of horses is white, I bet other rows were other colors?
- Junior mints, Big hunk (Halloween candy)
Fun fact, the Pool of Industry is actually the Flushing Creek. It runs underground through the park and the pool is just a part where you can see it before it goes underground to Meadow Lake.
Postcardworthy, every single one!
I didn't ride the carousel but I went to all the other attractions posted. We saw James Bond's Aston Martin at the AMF Monorail pavilion.
Post a Comment