A friend of mine who died a number of years ago was a World's Fair enthusiast. No idea where he got it but before he died he gave me a cassette recording of the narration of the ride that was in the GM Pavillion. Brings back a lot of memories (transferred it to cd).
A shame the Federal Pavillion was demolished but that was due to an anti preservationist Queens Borough President who I would lock horns with years later on preservation projects. Amazing that even though the buildings were alledgedly temporary, many of them were over built and could have lasted indefinitely. Case in point the Port Authority heliport which became Terrace On The Park.
I remember riding in the cars at Ford plus the Carousel Of Progress @ GE.I was too young to appreciate a lot of it but marvel looking @ videos on You Tube today.
Only in NY do we let remainders of events like the fair rot away. Case in point The Tent Of Tomorrow. I understand the NYS state map that graced the floor was rotting away and is now in storage somewhere. Many of the buildings could have remained but they went down. There was a rumor that Walt Disney wanted to take over the fair at the end and preserve it as a permanent attraction but the idea died.
The fair was not a sanctioned World's Fair and as a result there were not many countries that participated. It was mainly corporations . It was, like most fair, a financial flop mainly due to mismanagement and cost overruns.
It was still fun and brings back many fond memories.
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 4/25/14 at 03:38 AM
