1964 New York World's Fair

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1964–1965
picture phone, CRT light pen, Audio-Animatronics
Visitors51,607,307 [1]
Organized byRobert Moses
Participant(s)
Countries80 [1] (hosted by 37 nations)
Organizations15
BusinessGeneral Electric, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Disney, IBM, Bell Telephone, US Steel, Pepsi Cola, Seven Up, Dupont, RCA, Westinghouse
Location
CountryUnited States
CityNew York City
VenueFlushing Meadows–Corona Park
Timeline
Bidding1955
AwardedNever
Opening
  • April 22, 1964 (1964-04-22)
  • April 21, 1965 (1965-04-21)
Closure
  • October 18, 1964 (1964-10-18)
  • October 17, 1965 (1965-10-17)
Universal
PreviousCentury 21 Exposition in Seattle
NextExpo 67 in Montreal
Internet
Websitewww.nywf64.com

The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a

Bureau of International Expositions
(BIE).

Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding", dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe".

Perisphere from the 1939 World's Fair.[4] The fair ran for two six-month seasons, April 22 – October 18, 1964, and April 21 – October 17, 1965. Admission price for adults (13 and older) was $2.00 in 1964 (equivalent to $19.65 in 2023 after calculating for inflation). Admission in 1965 increased to $2.50 (equivalent to $24.17 in 2023 after calculating for inflation). In both years, children (2–12) admission cost $1.00 (equivalent to $9.82 in 2023 after calculating for inflation).[5]

The fair is noted as a showcase of mid-twentieth-century American culture and technology. The nascent

'60s
.

In many ways the fair symbolized a grand consumer show, covering many products then-produced in America for transportation, living, and consumer electronic needs in a way that would never be repeated at future world's fairs in

telephone modems in an era when computers had rooms of their own in the back office, decades before the advent of personal computers and the Internet
.

Site history

The selected site,

borough of Queens, was originally a natural wetland straddling the Flushing River.[6] Flushing had been a Dutch settlement, named after the city of Vlissingen (anglicized into "Flushing").[7]: 220  The site was then converted into the Corona Ash Dumps,[7]: 212  which were featured prominently in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as the "Valley of Ashes".[6] The site was used for the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair, and at the conclusion of the fair, was used as a park.[8][9]

Preceding these fairs was the 1853–1854 Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, located in the New York Crystal Palace at what is now Bryant Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan.[10]

Beginnings

The 1964–1965 Fair was conceived by a group of New York businessmen who remembered their childhood experiences at the

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. commissioned Frederick Pittera, a producer of international fairs and exhibitions, and author of the history of International Fairs & Exhibitions for the Encyclopædia Britannica and Compton's Encyclopedia, to prepare the first feasibility studies for the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair. He was joined by Austrian architect Victor Gruen (creator of the shopping mall) in studies that eventually led the Eisenhower Commission[12]
to award the world's fair to New York City in competition with a number of American cities.

The year 1964 was nominally selected for the event to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the naming of New York,[11] after King Charles II sent an English fleet to seize it from the Dutch in 1664. Prince James (the Duke of York) then renamed the former Dutch colony New Amsterdam as New York.

Organizers turned to private financing and the sale of bonds to pay the huge costs to stage the event. The organizers hired New York's "Master Builder" Robert Moses, to head the corporation established to run the fair because he was experienced in raising money for vast public projects. Moses had been a formidable figure in the city since coming to power in the 1930s. He was responsible for the construction of much of the city's highway infrastructure and, as parks commissioner for decades, the creation of much of the city's park system.

In the mid-1930s, Moses oversaw the conversion of a vast Queens

Flushing Meadows Park, it was Moses's grandest park scheme. He envisioned this vast park, comprising some 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) of land, easily accessible from Manhattan, as a major recreational playground for New Yorkers. When the 1939–1940 World's Fair ended in financial failure, Moses did not have the available funds to complete work on his project. He saw the 1964–1965 Fair as a means to finish what the earlier fair had begun.[14]

To ensure profits to complete the park, fair organizers knew they would have to maximize receipts. An estimated attendance of 70 million people would be needed to turn a profit and, for attendance that large, the fair would need to be held for two years. The World's Fair Corporation also decided to charge site-rental fees to all exhibitors who wished to construct pavilions on the grounds. This decision caused the fair to come into conflict with the

Seattle World's Fair had already been sanctioned for 1962, as two years prior.[13]

The United States was not a member of the BIE at the time, but fair organizers understood that approval by the BIE would ensure that its nearly 40 member nations would participate in the fair. Moses, undaunted by the rules, journeyed to Paris to seek official approval for the New York fair. When the BIE balked at New York's bid, Moses, used to having his way in New York, angered the BIE delegates by taking his case to the press, publicly stating his disdain for the BIE and its rules.[13] The BIE retaliated by formally requesting its member nations not to participate in the New York fair.[13] The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair is the only significant world's fair since the formation of the BIE to be held without its endorsement.[15]

Architecture

External videos
video icon "1964 New York World's Fair From the Air" – promotional film of the architectural styles utilized in the fairgrounds (1964) on archive.org

Many of the pavilions were built in a

Carousel of Progress
".

The pavilion architectures expressed a new-found freedom of form enabled by modern building materials, such as reinforced concrete, fiberglass, plastic, tempered glass, and stainless steel. The facade or the entire structure of a pavilion served as a giant billboard advertising the country or organization housed inside, flamboyantly competing for the attention of busy and distracted fairgoers.

By contrast, some of the smaller pavilions were built in more traditional styles, such as a

Chinese temple or a Swiss chalet. Countries took this opportunity to showcase culinary aspects of their culture as well, with fondue being promoted at the Swiss Pavilion's Alpine restaurant thanks to the Swiss Cheese Union.[16]
After the fair's final closing in 1965, some pavilions crafted of wood were carefully disassembled and transported elsewhere for re-use.

Other pavilions were "

decorated sheds
", using plain structural shells embellished with applied decorations. This allowed designers to simulate a traditional style while bypassing expensive and time-consuming methods of traditional construction. The expedient was considered acceptable for temporary buildings planned to be used for only two years, and then demolished.

The Underground World Home which was designed by architect Jay Swayze was also featured at the fair. Fairgoers could tour the home for the price of one dollar.[17] It was a large underground bunker-home and it was unveiled in response to the Cold War.[18] The home had ten rooms and 6,000 sq ft (560 m2) and was entirely underground. It featured air conditioning and backlit murals to create the illusion of the outdoor lighting.[17]

International participation

View of the Unisphere with world flags

The BIE withholding official recognition was a serious handicap for fair promoters. The absence of Canada, Australia, most of the major European nations, and the Soviet Union, all members of the BIE, tarnished the image of the fair.[13] Additionally, New York was forced to compete with both Seattle and Montreal for international participants, with many nations choosing the officially-sanctioned world's fairs of those other North American cities over the New York Fair. The promoters turned to trade and tourism organizations within many countries to sponsor national exhibits in lieu of official government sponsorship of pavilions.

New York City, in the middle of the twentieth century, was at a zenith of economic power and world prestige. Unconcerned by BIE rules, nations with smaller economies (as well as private groups in (or relevant to) some BIE members

Lyndon Johnson. Indonesia withdrew from the United Nations in January 1965, and officially from the Fair in March. The Fair Corporation then seized and shut down the Indonesian pavilion, and it remained closed and barricaded for the 1965 season.[37]

Loaned from the Vatican, the sculpture by Michelangelo titled Pietà was among the most popular exhibits at the fair

One of the fair's most popular exhibits was the Vatican Pavilion, which featured Michelangelo's Pietà, brought in from St. Peter's Basilica with the permission of Pope John XXIII; today, a small plaza and exedra monument mark the spot (and Pope Paul VI's visit in October 1965). People waited in line for hours to view the Michelangelo sculpture; a novel conveyor belt system was used to move them through the viewing in an orderly fashion. A modern replica of the artwork had been transported beforehand to ensure that the statue could be installed without being damaged. The copy is now on view in the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Douglaston, Queens, New York.[38] The exedra monument is now used with permits since 1975 for prayer vigils by Our Lady of the Roses relocated from Bayside, New York.[citation needed]

A recreation of a nook of a medieval Belgian village proved very popular. Fairgoers were treated to the "Bel-Gem Brussels Waffle"—a combination of waffle, strawberries and whipped cream, sold by a Brussels couple, Maurice Vermersch and his wife.[39]

Fairgoers could also enjoy sampling sandwiches from around the world at the popular

Seven Up Tower.[40][41] In addition to complimentary 7-Up beverages, a menu offered varied culinary delights for sale representing the cuisines of sixteen countries. While dining, visitors enjoyed live performances on four circular stages from various instrumentalists, which included a five piece musical ensemble, the 7-Up Continental Band.[42][43] The dining pods featured furnishings designed by the futuristic Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and were enclosed by twenty-four futuristic fiberglass domes that were topped by a commanding clock tower that soared more than 107 feet (33 m) above the pavilion.[44][45][46]

West Berlin Pavilion, by Hans Wehrhahn

Emerging African nations displayed their wares in the Africa Pavilion. Controversy broke out when the

Palestinian people. The Jordanians also donated an ancient column which still remains at the former fair site.[47]

The city of West Berlin, a Cold War hot-spot, hosted a popular exhibit in a pavilion that was designed by Hans Wehrhahn.[48]

On April 21, 1965, as part of the opening ceremonies for the second season of the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, Ethiopian long-distance runners Abebe Bikila and Mamo Wolde participated in an exclusive ceremonial half marathon.[49] They ran from the Arsenal in Central Park at 64th Street & Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to the Singer Bowl at the fair.[50] They carried with them a parchment scroll with greetings from Haile Selassie.[51]

Federal and state exhibits

United States Pavilion

The United States Pavilion was titled "Challenge to Greatness", and focused on President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" proposals. The main show in the multimillion-dollar pavilion was a 15-minute ride through a filmed presentation of American history. Visitors seated in moving grandstands rode past movie screens that slid in, out, and above the path of the traveling audience.

Elsewhere, there were tributes to the late President John F. Kennedy, who had broken ground for the pavilion in December 1962 but had been assassinated in November 1963 before the fair opened.

The pavilion displayed a painting by the Belgian artist Luc-Peter Crombé, a semi-religious presentation of three young men challenging flames.[52]

Civil rights protests

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized a protest during the World's Fair. About 700 protestors participated; of those, 300 were arrested.[53] Demonstrators used walkie-talkies to communicate during the protest.[53] Protestors demanded that the Civil Rights Act be passed and criticized the lack of inclusive hiring for the World's Fair.[53] During President Johnson's speech, demonstrators shouted "Jim Crow must go!" and "Freedom now!" and jeered as he outlined his plans for the Great Society.[54] The mayor of New York later publicly apologized on behalf of the city.[54]

More radically, Louis Lomax, of the Brooklyn chapter of CORE, had proposed a "stall-in"; 500 drivers would go to the fair and stop or deliberately run out of gas on the way there, creating a traffic jam.[54][55] Because it would clog the highways, it would also have been a protest against Robert Moses and his newly renovated traffic networks.[54] Henry A. Barnes, the New York City Traffic Commissioner, made it illegal to intentionally run out of gas on a New York roadway.[54] Tactics such as using emergency brakes to stop subways and releasing rats during Johnson's speech were also proposed.[53] James Farmer, who was the national chair of CORE at the time, suspended the group.[54] Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter stating that he did not support the stall-in as a tactic, but also would not condemn it. He wrote: "Which is worse, a 'Stall-In' at the World's Fair or a 'Stall-In' in the United States Senate? The former merely ties up the traffic of a single city. But the latter seeks to tie up the traffic of history, and endanger the psychological lives of twenty million people".[54] Despite a New York Times article stating that "the stall is on",[55] only a few drivers actually showed up.[54] Isaiah Brunson, chair of the Brooklyn chapter, promised future protests, but went into hiding a few days later.[54]

United States Space Park

Space Park, as it appeared in December 1963 before its official opening

A 2-acre (0.81 ha) United States Space Park was sponsored by

Lunar Excursion Module. Replicas of uncrewed spacecraft included lunar probe Ranger 7; Mariner 2 and Mariner 4; Syncom, Telstar 1, and Echo 2 communications satellites; Explorer 1 and Explorer 16; and Tiros and Nimbus weather satellites.[56]

New York State Pavilion

Main article: New York State Pavilion

New York played host to the fair at its six-million-dollar open-air pavilion called the "Tent of Tomorrow". Designed by famed modernist architect

New York State Power Authority's St. Lawrence hydroelectric plant, comprised a 9,000-square-foot (800 m2) terrazzo replica of the official Texaco highway map of New York State, displaying the map's cities, towns, routes and Texaco gas stations in 567 mosaic panels.[58]

Other state pavilions

Wisconsin Pavilion

Parrot Jungle, and water skiers to New York. Oklahoma gave weary fairgoers a restful park to relax in. Missouri displayed the state's space-related industries. Visitors could dine at Hawaii
's "Five Volcanoes" restaurant.

New York City Pavilion

At the New York City pavilion, the

roller skating rink.[60]

Bourbon Street Pavilion

Bourbon Street Pavilion

Louisiana Governor John McKeithen
to sever all ties and withdraw state's sanction, leaving the pavilion completely to private enterprise.

Special media attention was given to a racially integrated

African-Americans.[citation needed
]

The pavilion included ten theater restaurants, which served a variety of

go-go dancer Candy Johnson
headlined a show at a venue called "Gay New Orleans Nightclub".


American industry

Many of the large U.S. corporations built pavilions to demonstrate their wares, vision, and corporate cultures.

General Motors

Concept car inside the General Motors Pavilion

Industries played a major role at the

General Motors Corporation whose Futurama II
proved to be the fair's most popular exhibit, in which visitors seated in moving chairs glided past elaborately detailed miniature 3D model scenery showing what life might be like in the "near-future". Nearly 26 million people took the journey into the future during the fair's two-year run.

IBM

The

computer logic.[63] At ground level beneath the theater, visitors could explore Mathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond (an exhibit of mathematical models and curiosities) and view the Mathematics Peep Show (a series of short films illustrating basic mathematical concepts).[64]

Bell System

The

computer modem
.

Westinghouse

Westinghouse Pavilion

The

United States flag
.

Sinclair Oil

The Sinclair Oil Corporation sponsored "Dinoland", featuring life-size replicas of nine different dinosaurs, including the corporation's signature Brontosaurus.[66] The statues were created by Louis Paul Jonas Studios in Hudson, New York.[67][68] They also contained a "space age" gas station with orbiting gas pumps shaped like rockets,[69] and a marine fuel station in the vicinity of the World's Fair Marina.[70]

Ford

The Ford Motor Company introduced the Ford Mustang automobile to the public at its pavilion on April 17, 1964. The Ford pavilion featured the "Magic Skyway" ride, in which guests rode in Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln convertibles past scenes featuring dinosaurs and cavemen, concluding with a futuristic cityscape.[71] The vehicles used were the Mustang, Galaxie, Thunderbird, Falcon, Mercury Park Lane, Mercury Comet and Lincoln Continental. After the Fair, the Audio-Animatronic dinosaurs would move to Disneyland, becoming part of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad's "Primeval World" diorama in 1966,[71][72] while the vehicles were collected by Ford and sent to the Dearborn Headquarters where employees purchased the cars as used and at a discount. When the fair opened again for 1965, all-new vehicles were again used as convertibles only.

DuPont

DuPont presented a musical review by composer Michael Brown called The Wonderful World of Chemistry.

Parker Pen

At the

penpal
.

Chunky Candy

The Chunky Candy Corporation put on what was a state-of-the-art, transparent display of candy manufacturing where visitors were able to view "all the steps in a highly automated process".[73] The Pavilion also included an interactive sculpture playground called "Sculpture Continuum", designed by Oliver O'Connor Barrett.

Films

1964-65 World's Fair

The fair was also a showplace for independent films. One of the most noted was a religious film titled

Mormon Pavilion.[77]

The surprise hit of the fair was a non-commercial movie short presented by the

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).[79] The Golden Rondelle Theater designed for the movie's exhibition at the fair was later moved to the company's headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, where it remains in service today.[80]

Disney influence

Fountains and a reflecting pool mark the approach to the Unisphere.

The fair is remembered as the venue that Walt Disney used to design and perfect his system of "Audio-Animatronics", in which electromechanical actuators and computers control the movement of lifelike robots to act out scenes.[81] WED Enterprises designed and created four shows at the fair:

WED also created the 120-foot-high (37 m) Tower of the Four Winds which was located at the It's a Small World pavilion. In addition, costumed versions of Walt Disney's famous cartoon characters roamed around the fairgrounds and interacted with guests. After the fair, there was some discussion of

Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and subsequently replicated them at other Disney theme parks. Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, which opened with Magic Kingdom in 1971, is essentially the realization of the original concept of an "East Coast Disneyland"; Epcot, which opened in 1982, was designed as a permanent world's fair.[84]

Music

The fair featured an official band, the

Cities Service's World's Band of America (C.S.W.F.B.A.) conducted by Paul Lavalle. It was a 50-piece group, operating seven days a week, on location 7 to 9 hours a day.[85] They toured the fairgrounds on a 72-foot long bandwagon that went into a V-shape when performing. The opening day's big musical performance was Lavalle conducting a 94-piece orchestra in the world premiere of Ferde Grofé's "World's Fair Suite" commissioned by Robert Moses. Moses had previously commissioned Grofé to compose the theme for his 1939 New York World's Fair. Mr. Grofé was present, listening from a wheelchair, having suffered a stroke in 1961. His score was in five movements—"Unisphere", "International", "Fun at the Fair", "Pavilions of Industry" and "National". Numerous other ensembles performed throughout the fair, including Guy Lombardo and the United States Marine Band.[86]

Amusement attractions

One of the fair's major crowd-attracting and financial shortcomings was the absence of a midway. The fair's organizers were opposed on principle to the honky-tonk atmosphere engendered by midways, and this omission was another thing that had irked the BIE, which insisted that all officially sanctioned fairs have a midway. What amusements the fair actually hosted often failed to attract crowds. The Meadow Lake Amusement Area was not easily accessible, and officials objected to shows being advertised.

Furthermore, although the Amusement Area was supposed to remain open for four hours after the exhibits closed at 10pm, the fair presented a fountain-and-fireworks show every night at 9:00 at the Pool of Industry. Fairgoers would see this show and then leave the fair rather than head to the Amusement Area, and few people remained on the fairgrounds by midnight.

The fair's big entertainment spectacles, including the Wonder World at the Meadow Lake Amphitheater, To Broadway with Love in the Texas Pavilion, and Dick Button's Ice-travaganza in the New York City Pavilion, all were closed prematurely with heavy financial losses. It became apparent that fairgoers did not go to the fair to watch "entertainment" programs, especially as there was plenty of entertainment in Manhattan.[87]

A notable exception was a minor attraction, the

musical puppet show created, produced and directed by Sid and Marty Krofft. This show, modeled after the Paris revues Lido and Folies Bergère, was heavily attended, and financially successful.[88]

Some spectacles were staged for the newsreel cameras, such as a May 1964 demonstration by

Bill Suitor ("Jetpackman") performed a 16-second flight, hopping over the "Court of the Presidents of the United States", the circular path surrounding the Unisphere fountain.[89]

Alleged financial mismanagement

The fair ended in controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement. Controversy had plagued it during much of its two-year run. The Fair Corporation sold advanced tickets ahead of opening for each season, thus reflecting distorted profits compared to actual sales during the seasons. The receipts of advanced sales were booked entirely against the first season of the fair.[13] This made it appear that the fair had plenty of operating cash when, in fact, it was borrowing from the second season's gate to pay the bills. Before and during the 1964 season, the fair spent much money despite underwhelming attendance, below expectations. By the end of the 1964 season, Moses and the press began to realize that there would not be enough money to pay the bills, and accordingly the fair teetered on bankruptcy.[13] In March 1965, a group of bankers and politicians asked showman Billy Rose to take over the fair, which he declined, stating: "I'd rather be hit by a baseball bat", adding that "cancer in its last stages never attracted me very much".[90][91]

While the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair returned a generous 40 cents on the dollar to bond investors, bondholders for the 1964–1965 fair received nearly a 20% profit on their investment (19.2 cents on the dollar).[13]

Reuse of site and structures

On-site structures

The Unisphere (2010)

New York City was left with a much-improved Flushing Meadows–Corona Park following the fair, with the government taking possession of the park from the Fair Corporation in June 1967.[92] In the 21st century, the paths and their names remain almost unchanged from the days of the fair.[93]

The Unisphere stands at the center of the park as a symbol of "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe". The Unisphere has become the iconic sculptural feature of the park, as well as a symbol of the borough of

Perisphere during the earlier 1939–1940 Fair.[94][95]
: 53 

An ancient Roman column from Jordan still stands near the Unisphere.[96] A stone bench marking the site of the Vatican pavilion also stands east of the main fountain.[97]

The New York Hall of Science, founded during the 1964 World's Fair, was one of the country's first dedicated science museums;[citation needed][dubious – discuss] it still operates in an expanded facility in its original location at the park's northern corner.[98] The Hall of Science anchors a Space Park exhibiting the rockets and vehicles used in America's early space exploration projects. The Space Park gradually deteriorated due to neglect, but in 2004 the surviving rockets were restored and placed back on display.[95]: 53 

The carousel that was the centerpiece of Carousel Park in the Lake Amusement Area was relocated to the former Transportation Area outside of the Queens Zoo in the northwestern part of the park. It still operates as the Flushing Meadows Carousel, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[99]

Ruins of the New York State Pavilion observatory towers in 2006

The New York State Pavilion, constructed as the state's exhibit hall for the World's Fair, is also a prominent visible structure in the park. However, no new use for the building was found after the Fair, and the building sat derelict and decaying for decades. A suggestion to reinstall the mosaic floor at the World Trade Center did not materialize.[citation needed]

In 1993,[100] the Queens Theatre in the Park took over the Circarama adjacent to the towers and continues to operate there, using the ruined state pavilion as a storage depot.[100][101] The ruins were featured in the 1997 movie Men in Black.[102] Some conservation and restoration techniques were demonstrated in 2008 by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania.[citation needed] The New York State Pavilion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[103]

In fall 2013, NYC Parks announced plans to restore the pavilion for $73 million,[58] and in 2015, the entire structure was repainted yellow.[104][102]

A pre-existing structure from the 1939 fair served as the temporary headquarters of the United Nations General Assembly, and then became the New York City Pavilion in the 1964 fair. Afterwards, it was subdivided into the Queens Center for Art (now Queens Museum) and an ice-skating rink.[105] The Museum continues to display the scale model Panorama of the City of New York, which is updated occasionally.[59] The Museum also has a large display of memorabilia from the two world's fairs, as well as an original 3D scale model of the entire 1964 World's Fair site. In April 2011, the Queens Museum started an expansion project that almost doubled its floor space, bringing the total to about 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2).[106] The space formerly occupied by the ice skating rink was incorporated into the museum's expansion, completed in 2013.[105]

The Pavilion (World's Fair Building / Winston Churchill Tribute)[107] was dismantled after the fair, and reassembled by 1968 on the fairgrounds site as the aviary for the Flushing Meadows Zoo (now the Queens Zoo). The building was a 175-foot (53 m) diameter geodesic dome attributed to either Buckminster Fuller or Thomas C. Howard, and produced by Synergetics of Raleigh, North Carolina.[108] It remains as the aviary of the Queens Zoo, which was closed in 1988 and then reopened in 1992 after a $16 million renovation project.[109]

Other buildings remained for a while after the 1964 Fair's conclusion in hopes that a new use for them could be found, but were subsequently demolished. This included the Travel and Transportation Pavilion, destroyed in 1967 after a failed conversion to a fire station, and the Federal Pavilion, demolished in 1977 after extensive deterioration.[110]: 55, 67 [111]

Pavilions and major exhibits elsewhere

Aerial view of some remaining structures in Flushing Meadows in 2004, including the ruins of the New York State Pavilion in the foreground
The carillon was moved to Stone Mountain in Georgia
One of the General Mills arches was moved to Rocky Point State Park in Rhode Island

Like its 1939 predecessor, the 1964 World's Fair lost money. It was unable to repay its financial backers their investment, and it became embroiled in legal disputes with its creditors until 1970, when the books were finally closed and the Fair Corporation was dissolved. Most of the pavilions constructed for the fair were demolished within six months following the fair's close. While only a handful of pavilions and exhibits survived, some of them traveled great distances and found new homes following the fair:

In media

Contents of the 1964 Westinghouse Time Capsule
interactive dark ride Men in Black: Alien Attack
are cleaned-up smaller replicas of the original structures.

Gallery

  • Westinghouse Time Capsule
    Westinghouse Time Capsule
  • RCA Pavilion
    RCA Pavilion
  • Johnson Wax Pavilion
    Johnson Wax Pavilion
  • Kodak Pavilion
    Kodak Pavilion
  • Ford Pavilion
    Ford Pavilion
  • Transportation and Travel Pavilion
    Transportation and Travel Pavilion
  • Alaska Pavilion
    Alaska Pavilion
  • Hong Kong Pavilion
    Hong Kong Pavilion
  • Underground World Home exhibit
    Underground World Home exhibit
  • The Hall of Science is a science museum today.
    The Hall of Science is a science museum today.
  • 1964–1965 New York World's Fair U.S. postage stamp
    1964–1965 New York World's Fair U.S. postage stamp
  • Souvenir ashtray
    Souvenir ashtray

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Flushing Meadows Corona Park: World's Fair Playground". nycgovparks.org. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "IBM Pavilion NY World's Fair". EamesOffice.com. 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  3. ^ Archdiocese History Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Archdiocese of New York. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  4. ^ Gordon, John Steele (October 2006). ""The World's Fair: It was a disaster from the beginning". American Heritage.
  5. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Appendix: The History of Flushing Meadows Corona Park" (PDF). New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. p. 52. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4767-4128-4
    .
  8. Old Fulton New York Postcards
    .
  9. Old Fulton New York Postcards
    .
  10. ^ "Guide to the New York Crystal Palace Records". The New York Historical Society. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Freeman, Ira Henry (August 10, 1959). "World's Fair Planned Here in '64 at Half Billion Cost". The New York Times. Reprint This articles includes a full list of the original members of the Fair committee, mostly corporate and union leaders.
  12. ^ "1964 New York World's Fair 1965 – The Fair – Building the Fair – Page Four". www.nywf64.com. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  13. ^
    OCLC 834874
    .
  14. ISSN 0362-4331
    .
  15. ^ "Endorsement". nysl.nysed.gov. October 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Lawrence R. Samuel, End of the Innocence: The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, p. 153 [verification needed]
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0415788489
    . Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  18. ISBN 978-0192846167
    . Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  19. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Pavilion of Paris – Page One". Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  20. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Berlin – Page One". Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  21. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Belgian Village – Page One". Nywf64.com. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  22. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Switzerland – Page Two". Nywf64.com. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  23. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Fiesta – Page One". Nywf64.com. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  24. ^ "Small Nations". seanmunger.com. October 13, 2017. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  25. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Spain – Page One". Nywf64.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  26. ^ "Pavilions & Attractions – Vatican – Page One". Nywf64.com. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
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Bibliography

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