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What Happened To Cool World's Fairs ? |
Unga Bunga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 06, 2003
Posts: 5734
From: CaliTikifornia
|  Posted: 2004-06-17 12:57 pm Permalink
The 1940 New York World's Fair Grounds:
There are some killer pictures here from 1940 NY World Fair. I can see Walt Disney attending this one and getting a ton of inspiration from it (as you will see from the photos). There were some cheesy parts of this fair too.
Anyone have any other info or photos on some great vintage World Fairs?
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/DISPLAY/39wf/taketour.htm
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Johnny Dollar
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2003
Posts: 2916
From: Baltimore, Maryland, PNG
| Posted: 2004-06-17 1:07 pm Permalink
i wasn't too into the '82 worlds fair in knoxville
 dig the atari 2600 box style graphics
i thought the best part was the arcade where i got to play ms. pac man. of course i was 11 at the time.
now the 1939 worlds fair- that was a different story
electro the socialist worker of the future?
of course i was -31 at the time...
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[ This Message was edited by: Johnny Dollar on 2004-06-17 13:35 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Johnny Dollar on 2004-06-17 13:37 ]
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Tiki Bird
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Joined: Sep 25, 2003
Posts: 850
From: Cerritos, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-06-17 1:20 pm Permalink
I really enjoyed the 86' worlds fair in Vancouver, BC. I remember i had a fair passport book & each country's exhibit you got a passport stamp. The U.S. theme was the International Space Station, and a memorial for the Challenger accident. I also remember a Large hockey stick & puck, the puck was the size of a two car garage.
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Tiki_Bong
Deleted
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 0 | Posted: 2004-06-17 2:11 pm Permalink
I went to the Seattle World's Fair in the extremly early '60's. Don't remember shit, I was only 2.
Damn my infant memory, age is where it's at!
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Futura Girl
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2002
Posts: 933 | Posted: 2004-06-17 2:13 pm Permalink
you mean you can remember things now?
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Tiki_Bong
Deleted
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 0 | Posted: 2004-06-17 4:26 pm Permalink
What?
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thejab
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2984
From: Forbidden Island, CA
| Posted: 2004-06-17 8:31 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-06-17 14:11, Tiki_Bong wrote:
I went to the Seattle World's Fair in the extremly early '60's. Don't remember shit, I was only 2.
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I think I was an infant so my parents went and left me at home.
My mom:
and dad:
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Shipwreckjoey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 29, 2002
Posts: 1794
From: San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2004-06-17 9:51 pm Permalink
The 1939 World's Fair was awesome. KPBS airs a documentary every once in a while that I should record someday. It's narrated by Jason Robards who attended with his parents as a child and even incorporates some of his families home movies. The whole theme revolved around futurism & streamline design. Footage of the robot, a miniature fully operational future city, mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, a jitter bug contest and the forboding Nazi exibit make for a weird window to the past.
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Unga Bunga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 06, 2003
Posts: 5734
From: CaliTikifornia
| Posted: 2004-06-17 9:55 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-06-17 20:31, thejab wrote:
Quote:
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On 2004-06-17 14:11, Tiki_Bong wrote:
I went to the Seattle World's Fair in the extremly early '60's. Don't remember shit, I was only 2.
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I think I was an infant so my parents went and left me at home.
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Great photos Jab!
I'm guessing they left you with "Electro" the octane socialist baby sitter and Retro, his stainless steel (non shitting) dog.
I have not seen any sales for this product in Ebay (Yet) . 
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Johnny Dollar
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 01, 2003
Posts: 2916
From: Baltimore, Maryland, PNG
| Posted: 2004-06-18 06:41 am Permalink
[quote]
On 2004-06-17 20:31, thejab wrote:
hey jab, looks like the *style* is in the DNA
mahalo fer the pix
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thejab
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2984
From: Forbidden Island, CA
| Posted: 2004-06-18 11:17 am Permalink
[quote]
On 2004-06-18 06:41, Johnny Dollar wrote:
Quote:
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hey jab, looks like the *style* is in the DNA |
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Yea, they couldn't believe it when in 1979 I raided their closet and started to wear my dad's old 60s clothes!
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Tangaroa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 25, 2002
Posts: 1549 | Posted: 2004-06-18 12:14 pm Permalink
They turned into this:
http://park.org/
World's Fairs used to be stunning showcases of new technology, and unique attractions that would draw people from all over - My personal opinion is that
1. People (corporations) don't want to spend the kind of money it takes to get these (temporary) things off the ground.
2. With good design harder to come by for exhibits, rides, attractions & shows (due to the "design by commitee" mindset so prevalent today (i.e. the horrifying failure of The Millennium Dome - my friend Dan Howland sells a great little book on the history of this recent ill-fated fair at:
http://dannysland.blogspot.com/2004/01/publish-or-perish-printed-7.html
It's too bad - some of the best rides & shows have come out of World's Fairs... Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition, and both the '39 & '64 New York World's Fairs stand out as incredible works of art...
Speaking of the Millennium Dome, one of my favorite (sadly didn't get to see first hand) attractions was the Body Zone - which was infested with animatronic Pubic Lice.... ah you wacky brits!
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[ This Message was edited by: Tangaroa on 2004-06-18 12:16 ]
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thejab
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2984
From: Forbidden Island, CA
| Posted: 2004-06-18 12:26 pm Permalink
There are upcoming World Fairs (Expos) in Japan in 2005 and in China in 2010:
http://expomuseum.com/future/
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woofmutt
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 26, 2002
Posts: 2584
From: Seattilite Telstar
| Posted: 2004-06-20 07:21 am Permalink
Expo 74 happened in Spokane, Washington in 1974. The world failed to notice but it was big news in eastern Washington. I got to go (I was 9) but it didn't impress me as much as my parents' stories of the '62 Seattle fair, which still seemed wildly futuristic 12 years after the event. And no Elvis movie was made about Expo 74.
In Junk shops the '62 Seattle stuff always gets overpriced and put in the special display cases but the '74 Spokane stuff is treated like the rest of the junk. Poor Expo 74.
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lanikai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 15, 2004
Posts: 490
From: Hawaii
| Posted: 2004-06-20 08:46 am Permalink
"What Happened To Cool World's Fairs ?"
taken over and sanitized by the modern corporate structure and lawyers, thank you very much!
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malama ki'i kahiko
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