Scenes From the Fair

Say! Why don't we take a look at some scans from the wonderful New York World's Fair? All of these are from the second season (1965).

The Fair was chock-full of interesting and impressive buildings, each one trying to lure guests in their direction, but come on... that giant Uniroyal tire Ferris Wheel is about as great as can be. Whoever thought of it should have been given the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Pillsbury Bake-off Prize. We also see the swoopy SKF "parasol", shooting up 82 feet into the air, like a rocket trail made solid. That's apparently where guests would get sample ball bearings which they later threw at Mr. Lincoln to see if he flinched. There's also the green cheese moon dome from the Travel and Transportation pavilion.

From the undulating Moon Deck of the Eastman Kodak pavilion we get a nice view of the Tower of the Four Winds, beloved by many, but disliked by the man who actually designed it (Rolly Crump, as you know). It lacked the delicacy that he'd hoped for, basically. Hey, it looks great to me. It was part of the Pepsi Cola pavilion, where guests could see "It's a Small World". Behind the Tower of the Four Winds is the Better Living Center.

We are all familiar with Disney's various Monorails, which ride on top of their elevated tracks, but for many years the idea of monorails had them suspended from an overhead track. And you know what? It's not bad! Two-car trains circle the Lake Amusement Area 40 feet in the air in the latest refinement of a concept that has been called the transportation idea of the future. On the World's Fair monorail, built by American Machine & Foundry Company, trains ride below the track, suspended from overhead power units with rubber tires. The route is a loop 4,000 feet long, with three trains traveling in one direction while four others travel in the opposite direction on a parallel track.

And here's a great view of the Avis Antique Car Ride, from Arrow Development. Open-topped antique cars, reproduced to five-eighths scale, provide a pleasant ride through an old-fashioned country setting. Each car seats up to five, and anyone 10 years or over can drive. A single pedal - accelerator and brake combined - controls the one-cylinder engine that pushes the cars along at a top speed of four miles an hour; the ride takes four minutes. Avis also operates a rental service for automobiles and power boats at the Marina landing.

Here's the backside of the Belgian Village, as seen from the Meadow Lake Bridge that crossed over the Long Island Expressway to the Amusement Zone. Imagine seeing this unusual sight as you commuted to work every day! It seems inconceivable that any New Yorker could resist at least one visit to the Fair.