This coming Monday — April 22 — marks the 60th anniversary of the opening of the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
To many folks today, world’s fairs are relics of the past. You may have heard of them. But like rotary phones, cassette tapes or (if you’re really young) dial-up modems, you can’t figure out how they worked, why they were important, or what their appeal was.
If you were a child of that era though — particularly if you grew up in the tri-state area — the New York World’s Fair may be one of your most powerful youthful memories.
(I know a few “06880” readers remember the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair. That one was way before my time.)
The ’64 World’s Fair included over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants representing 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and over 45 corporations. It covered 646 acres in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
When the Fair opened that April — just 2 months after the Beatles appeared on “Ed Sullivan” — America was racing headlong toward an optimistic future. We were putting men in space, cool cars in driveways and color TVs in every home. Business was booming.
A small portion of the large Fair.
Businesses had a big presence at the World’s Fair.
IBM — for whom many Westport dads worked — had a pavilion with a 500-seat grandstand, which pulled people upward into an egg-shaped theater designed by Eero Saarinen. A film shown on 9 screens described how computers think.
The IBM Pavilion.
Throughout the Fair corporations displayed mainframe computers, computer terminals with keyboards, teletype machines, punch cards and telephone modems. Sure, the computers were the size of freight trains. But this was the future!
General Motors offered a “Futurama”: a ride past scenery showing what life might (or would!) soon be like.
GM gave World’s Fair-goers a vision of the future.
Ford jumped the gun. They introduced the Mustang 5 days before the exhibition opened, on April 17, 1964. Their pavilion sent guests on a ride in cars like Fords, Mercurys and Lincolns, past scenes of dinosaurs and cavemen. We’ve come a long way, baby!
There were many other memorable experiences, like “It’s a Small World,” sponsored by Pepsi; an animatronic Abraham Lincoln at the Illinois pavilion; the Pieta from the Vatican; “exotic” foods like Belgian waffles.
Walt Disney created Pepsi’s “It’s a Small World” exhibit. “Voyagers” glided past (above) the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Dutch windmills and tulips, and other scenes from 26 countries.
Like every Westport kid I knew, my family visited the World’s Fair many times.
Four Burr Farms Elementary School friends and I went together once. The mother who drove us let us loose for the entire day. “Let’s meet back here at 5 o’clock!” Mrs. Welker chirped.
We were 11 years old.
A 1964 World’s Fair children’s ticket was $1. That’s $9.85 in 2024 money. The official name had an apostrophe in “World’s” — though the ticket did not.
Another time, I saw New York Yankees announcer Mel Allen waiting in line, just like everyone else. I got his autograph, and felt like I had seen the president.
Today, little is left of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Unisphere — the 12-story model of the Earth that was its symbol (built on the foundation of the 1939 Fair’s Perisphere) — still stands in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a landmark from the air as planes approach La Guardia Airport.
The Unisphere
The park is best known now for Citi Field and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (site of the US Open).
The New York Mets’ current home opened in 2009. It replaced Shea Stadium, the shiny new ballpark that opened on April 17, 1964 — like the Mustang, 5 days before the World’s Fair.
Shea Stadium was demolished in 2009, to make way for Citi Field parking.
What’s not gone are World’s Fair memories. I’ve offered a few above.
If you have any to share — of the 1964-65 New York one, the previous fair in 1939-40, or any other city that has hosted a World’s Fair, click “Comments” below.
I would say “see you at the fair.” But World’s Fairs just don’t seem to be a thing anymore.
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