World Expo.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 2:52pm

Just borrowed a DVD at the library about the 1893 Chicago World Fair or Columbian Expo- its very interesting! I did not realized that the Ferris Wheel was introduced at the Expo. so I did some research on this topic. There was tons of books about the 1893 Chicago Expo and its pretty interesting- corruption, drama and all. The last expo that was held here was in 1984 in New Orleans> I wonder why we dont have world expo in the US anymore. Is it because we have Disney World now and other big amusement parks..

I am kinda interested in the 1964 New York Expo- I see that the globe structure was still standing at Queens, NYC.

Have anyone here attended any World Expo?

J*

Updated On: 4/20/09 at 02:52 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:10pm

Yeah, it's Disney World and Epcot Center that fills the niche for these things in the US. Actual Expos/World's Fairs are extremely cost prohibitive and usually lose huge amounts of money.

We went to the 64/5s World's Fair in NYC, I was a little kid but I have vivid memories of going on the ferris wheel that was inside a giant tire. My brother took me on that ride while my parents and grandmother went through the Vatican pavilion to see the Pieta.

No one speaks of pavilions anymore, and that saddens me.

The summer before first grade I went with my father and grandmother to Expo '67 in Montreal. To me it was completely magical and I have such vivid memories of it. I am still in love with Montreal because of that trip. About 10 years ago I went and visited the islands in Montreal where the Expo was held and pointed out what I remembered to my boyfriend. We were looking at the Buckminister Fuller-designed building that housed the USA pavilion. The line had been so long in '67 we never got in that exhibit. However, the monorail did go through the middle of it. I remember trying to take in as much as I could as we whizzed through there in about 10 seconds.

That building now houses and eco-exhibit. When we walked toward one side of it, I said, "I believe the monorail came out of the wall right about here" and we looked up and could see exactly what section had once been a hole in the wall. My bf asked, "How can you remember this?" I guess it all just made such an impression on me!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:12pm

Et voila.

See the parachutes up top on the inside? That's a US space capsule they're holding up. I remember catching a glimpse of that and of a giant Elvis poster.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:25pm

Thanks Namo!

I saw the DVD about the 1893 Columbian Expo- there's not much photograph photos because it was banned for the organizer to make profit and the mayor of Chicago then was very corrupt. Its sad that we dont have a lot of photos from that great expo. I think the Fine Arts Building is the only one that standing in Chicago as a remainder of that expo. based on the sketches and stories from those people whove seen it- they say it was grand and it looks like Venice with gondola ride.

I always passed that Globe structure at Queens, NY and i know its from the 64 World Expo, until I saw photos of it from a book called Images of America : 1964-65 World's Fair - Wow! it was soo magnificent! Too bad my family arrived here in the States in the 80s and there were barely no more expo held here!

J*

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:31pm

My family and I went to the 1982 fair in Knoxville and 1984 fair in New Orleans.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:45pm

Here's some (surviving) photos and sketches from the 1893 Chicago World Fair or Columbian World Fair:

They say- it looks like Venice with gondola rides




Sketch of the 1893 Chicago World Fair

The guy who made the plan was the same guy who designed and laid out plans for
Central park in NYC

Ferris wheel -its supposed to stay after the World Fair like The Eiffel Tower, but did not survive..apparently it can hold 2,000 people at the same time

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:48pm

Now they have the McDonald's Wheel at Navy Pier. It's practically the same thing.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 3:51pm

Here's more photos..

1893 Columbian Fair

They said- these building are not made up concrete..its all plaster and staco, so it barely survived after 6 months.

Wow! This photo is magnificent!


The Pavilions

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 6:18pm

Expos generally lose a ton of money. The 1964/65 one in NY was not a true world's fair as it was not sanctioned by the BIE in Paris

You could never have one now . One big reason is there could be not many corporate sponsors & not many would pay money for it & international participation would be spotty

I know Montreal is trying for one in 2017 & Toronto is trying as well.Most cities put the remaining structures to good use. In NY, we just let them rot away

I have a website on favorites showing pictures of the GM ride & I also have an actual audio recording of the Alexander Scourby narration that was played into the speaker seats as you rode by. It does bring back memories

Updated On: 4/20/09 at 06:18 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/20/09 at 11:24pm

Do you just jump to the end of threads and throw post or do you deliberately repeat points made previously?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 2:16pm

There is an recurring exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago screening a 3-D computer rendering of the Expo exactly as it was in 1893. Sort of a virtual walking tour, if you will. I attended a few months ago and it was fascinating. Since it is such a long process adding every detail, they have been having recurring presentations two or three times a year as they update the project. I'm hoping it will be back during the summer so I can see what they have added.

The Palace of Fine Arts is the only remaining structure from the expo as it was the only building designed as a permanent fixture and it underwent massive renovations. Everything else was designed for temporary use. After the expo, it housed the original Field Museum until a new Field Museum was built in 1920. After extensive renovation in the late 20s/early 30s, the Museum of Science and Industry opened and has remained there ever since.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 2:21pm

Thank you mister matt for the info! definitely I will check that out when I go to Chicago! I also borrowed another DVD on the Public Library about the 1904 World Expo in St. Louis (2004)

Btw- where is White City -the site of the 1893 World Fair? is that in Chicago..a suburb?
what's on that place now?

J*

Updated On: 4/21/09 at 02:21 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 3:02pm

The White City was a huge expanse that, if I understand correctly, ran mostly along the lake from the Museum Campus south of the Loop, all the way down into Jackson Park (Hyde Park neighborhood), where the Museum of Science and Industry stands now (though I'm not 100% sure if that's correct). My parents live just a couple of blocks from the Museum of Science and Industry, so we have a family membership. It will also be launching the international Harry Potter exhibition this summer. And yes, I am definitely going to see that!

Just a few blocks south of where the Exposition once stood, about a decade later, Chicago built an amusement park called "White City", borrowing the name from the hugely successful Exposition, to rival Dreamland on Coney Island. While the park thrived and survived a couple of serious fires in 1925 and 1927, attendance declined in the early 30s and the park was eventually condemned in 1939.

Updated On: 4/21/09 at 03:02 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 3:23pm

The 1964-65 World's Fair was a great thrill to me as a 8-9 year old. We went about half a dozen times, and the last time I got lost at Sinclair Oil Company's "Dinoland"--with big dinosaurs you walk into.

I had seen them give kids who got lost there ice cream while they waited for their parents, so I told my parents if I got lost to look for me there.

Disney unveiled "It's a Small World" at that world's fair, and the General Electric "World of Tomorrow" was a lot of fun. Here's a video about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQEzzE8KNP0

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 3:24pm

And here are Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland at the 1939 NYC World's Fair, with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgHQL2YJnpk

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/09 at 4:40pm

That Futurama ride looks like the template for Horizons at EPCOT. I loved that ride so much. Future World at EPCOT has deteriorated rapidly. I remember how it was truly cutting-edge and futuristic in the 80s, but much of it rapidly declined into Six Flags commercialism.