The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
By Bill Cotter and Bill Young
4.5/5
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About this ebook
The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was the largest international exhibition ever built in the United States.
More than one hundred fifty pavilions and exhibits spread over six hundred forty-six acres helped the fair live up to its reputation as "the Billion-Dollar Fair." With the cold war in full swing, the fair offered visitors a refreshingly positive view of the future, mirroring the official theme: Peace through Understanding. Guests could travel back in time through a display of full-sized dinosaurs, or look into a future where underwater hotels and flying cars were commonplace. They could enjoy Walt Disney's popular shows, or study actual spacecraft flown in orbit. More than fifty-one million guests visited the fair before it closed forever in 1965. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair captures the history of this event through vintage photographs, published here for the first time.
Bill Cotter
Bill Cotter is the author of the novels Fever Chart, The Parallel Apartments, and The Splendid Ticket. He is also responsible for the middle-grade adventure series Saint Philomene’s Infirmary, published by Henry Holt. His short fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. An essay, “The Gentleman’s Library,” was awarded a Pushcart Prize in 2013. When he is not writing, Cotter labors in the antiquarian book trade. He lives in Austin with his wife, the retired opera singer Krissy Olson.
Read more from Bill Cotter
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Reviews for The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
3 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The only thing missing is a map of the fair. Otherwise this a great view of New York's last World Fair.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I finally learned what everyone was talking about the "New York World's Fair." I thought it was impresive. Also, its interesting to know what happended to the remaining pavilions.
Book preview
The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair - Bill Cotter
bargain.
INTRODUCTION
I cannot remember the actual date of my first visit to the fair. I really wish I could, because that visit and the ones to follow had a profound effect on me. I was 12 years old in 1964, and my first impression of the sights and sounds of Flushing Meadows made me realize that the adults of the time must really have lost their minds. Why else, I wondered, would they build such a magical world and plan to tear it down in two years?
During the run of the fair, I kept waiting for the grownups to come to their senses, but just in case they did not, I went as often as I could. There were visits with my family, with the Boy Scouts, and with friends and their families. Then, much to my surprise and joy, my parents agreed that I could go there on my own as long as I took one of my younger brothers. More trips followed, and my coin collection vanished in the pursuit of tickets and Bel-Gem waffles.
I have always been a collector of souvenirs from places I visit, and the fair was certainly a great spot to add new treasures to my collection. Today, 40 years and several moves later, I still have the box of souvenirs I gathered at the fair. Opening it and flipping through the brochures, maps, and photographs is like a time machine for me—a return to a world where the future was promised to be bright and wonderful.
I have also been interested in photography as long as I can remember. I have spent countless hours reliving the days of the fair and recalling half-forgotten moments and sights as I spot them again on film, and I hope the photographs in this book work the same magic for you.
As we know, the world leaders of 1964 and 1965 did not share my visions and plans for the fair, and by 1966, it was all gone. Although I can no longer walk past the pavilions, watch the waving flags, or enjoy the fireworks over the Fountain of the Planets, I still have to smile when I think of the fair. After all, my visits there played a large part in my later working for Disney, where I met my wife. She never visited the fair herself, but happily, she indulges me in my efforts to travel back in time.
—Bill Cotter
www.billcotter.com
April 2004
I loved The Jetsons, that space-age cartoon series featuring the 21st-century Jetson family, their dog, Astro, and faithful maid, Rosie the robot. From the night the television show first aired in 1962, I could not wait to grow up so I could eat a breakfast of blue pills, put on my silver jump suit, hop into my flying car, and travel to my high-rise office-on-a-pole to spend my day working on my own computer. What a future that was going to be!
A few years ago, a commercial for a computer brand aired on network television. In the advertisement, a family of four is shown driving through a city in a sleek minivan. Mom and dad are in the front seat, while son and sis are in the back seat, chatting away with friends on their cell phones. Dad pulls up to a school, and the kids head off to class with a cheerful wave. Next stop: a shopping center. As dad drops mom off for her day with friends, he hands her his debit card. With a sly smile, mom snatches his wallet instead and heads off. Dad just chuckles and continues on to work. He arrives there and travels up the side of his high-rise office building in a glass elevator. Once inside his office, he leans back in his chair and props his feet up on his desk as his laptop computer boots up for a day of work.
If the volume were turned down on the television, the advertisement would have appeared to be a rather nondescript commentary on the life of today’s ordinary family. It had no words. The message was conveyed through the background music. What was playing? Why, the theme song from The Jetsons, of course. That is when I stopped being disappointed that my life was not filled with flying cars and silver jump suits and realized that I am George Jetson after all.
I have never stopped being fascinated with predictions of life in the future, and there has never been a greater display of ideas for a Jetson-esque life than was presented at that space-age extravaganza called the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair. In 2000, I launched a Web site called www.nywf64.com to indulge and to share my interest in that amazing fair. The Web site has proven its popularity. It seems I am not the only one fascinated with past predictions of life in the future. From the Web site has come my friendship with Bill Cotter and this affiliation with Arcadia Publishing and the book you hold in your hands.
Today, I spend my workday in front of a computer screen. A bright blue Pontiac Firebird is as close as I have come to a flying car. Breakfast is not in the form of blue pills, but my nutrition is better than ever. My jeans and sweatshirts are a lot more comfortable than a silver jump suit. In some ways, my life in the future is even better than George Jetson’s. I still want a Rosie the robot, though.
—Bill Young
www.nywf64.com
April 2004
One
THE MASTER BUILDER
The old S.O.B. does it again.
—The Saturday Evening Post, May 23, 1964, 237th Year, No. 20
World’s fairs are, by their very nature, special events. Vast resources must be brought to bear in the design, building, and operation of something that is quite transitory in nature. There is great excitement when the fairs are announced and even greater excitement when they open. However, after they close, there is usually little left to mark their existence other than a few leftover buildings and millions of happy memories. Along the way, the fairs entertain, educate, and amuse. They also provide an opportunity for architects to go wild, countries to show off, and companies to advertise as never before.
The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair was one of the biggest international extravaganzas and set records for its size and cost.