in an unassuming New York City Park are the bizarre remains of fixtures rotting outside
the context of their time these are the remains of the 1964 World's Fair offering a theme of peace
through understanding and its many captivating exhibits the 1964 World's Fair brought in guests
from all over the world even now it remains in history as one of the United States's most
significant exhibitions of all time filled with exciting displays such as the Sinclair
oils dinosaur sculptures the Hall of Science and even General Motors Futurama 2 but what
remains now well there's a massive stainless steel Globe called the unisphere which sits
near a giant bronze statue called the rocket thrower which captures the image of a man
with his hand outreached as he launches a rocket into the sky a series of space-age
towers Loom over the Pavilion of pillars known as the tent of Tomorrow empty but
enduring even after almost six decades have passed today we discover the 1964
World's Fair I'm your host Ryan sokash and you're watching its history [Music]
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now and help support the channel to set the stage for this Monumental event let's first take a look
at why and how the World's Fair first got their start well some might think these exhibitions
were all about entertainment the World's Fair had much more to them than just a fun day out
we can split World exhibition history into three main areas industrialization cultural exchange and
National branding the era of industrialization focused on showcasing the latest Innovations
in industry and Manufacturing the World's Fair later saw a shift towards sharing culture and
cultural issues around the beginning of the 20th century and it experienced another shift
towards the end of the 20th century to countries using their exhibits to establish their National
identities some later fairs even Blended the three spotlighting Global topics and new technology the
start of World's Fair exhibitions can be traced back to the early Regional agricultural Affairs
and festivals held by farmers and other producers to show and sell their goods to the public these
Trends carried over into The Artisans and mechanics Industries who began organizing
fairs and festivals starting in the 17th century moving into the 19th century and thanks to the
great leaps of industrialism entire festivals were held to celebrate Feats accomplished by mechanics
the first World's Fair came about in 1851 as the great exhibition of the works of Industry of all
Nations also called the Great exhibition or the Crystal Palace exhibition it was held in London's
Hyde Park and was the first International exhibition of manufactured products setting
a precedent for the international exhibitions to come the exhibition Hall was so breathtaking that
it was called The Crystal Palace it's masterfully built and designed sculptures made of cast iron
and glass allowed natural light to flow in during the day to illuminate the displace the great
exhibition displayed many amaze amazing things from Ornamental Iron Work from the Cole Brookdale
Ironworks of England to elaborate furniture from Austria to porcelain from Germany they
even displayed the world's then largest diamond in total there were 100 000 exhibits housed there
more than half of which were from Britain or the British Empire thanks to the new Railways built
across the country it became possible for many more people to visit London the fair ran from
May to October of 1851 and attracted 6 million people it was an incredibly successful event
that became a defining point of the 19th century and his story survives today but not everyone was
happy with the industrial revolution's progress let me explain the Industrial Revolution also
brought about significant bouts of public unrest it caused many people to be displaced
from their farms and the first case of industrial depression happened in 1871 one people were highly
uncomfortable with the idea of common goods being made by machines instead of people organizers of
later International exhibits thus aimed to remedy this the 1893 Colombian exhibition in
Chicago was among the first to try an entirely different approach instead of Simply showing the
attendees the finished products they would let them see how they were made from start to finish
companies would set up small-scaled versions of their factories called process exhibits
at various events these process exhibits would not only reassure the public of the product's
quality but also let the company show off how complex and capable their Machinery was on April
the 30th 1939 the world's fair opened in New York with much Applause and even speeches by President
Franklin D Roosevelt and the then governor of New York the 1939 World's Fair was held at Flushing
Meadow Park in Queens and 63 Nations took part it boasted exhibits from the trilon and purses
fear to fluorescent lighting Robotics and even FM radio the event was an incredible success and Drew
in many crowds until the start of World War II disrupted it and just 25 years later one of the
most ambitious exhibitions yet would take place the 1964 World's Fair ran over two years its first
season was from April the 22nd to October the 18th 1964. the second was from April the 21st to
October the 17th 1965. like its predecessor it was held at Flushing Meadow it featured 140 Pavilions
and represented 21 states and 36 foreign countries as well as many american commercial companies
these commercial companies invested over a billion dollars in their Pavilions so now let's take a
look at some of its most incredible and unorthodox exhibits one of the most unusual and impressive
exhibits was Disney's Great Moments with Mr Lincoln it was centered around a life-sized
audio animatronic of President Abraham Lincoln that recited parts of his speeches with its 250
000 combinations of movements with arms legs and mouth the animatronic was so lifelike that many
attendees believed an actor played him the New York State Pavilion is by far one of the world
fair's most iconic structures made up of three main parts the tent of tomorrow three observation
towers and the theater Rama its wide open space and two observatories gave attendees plenty of
way to admire the exhibits and the park and we can only imagine how Lively and breathtaking
that view must have been in its prime another popular attraction was the Vatican Pavilion
built by the architectural firm York Sawyer and Associates it even included a famous sculpture by
Michelangelo loaned from the Vatican other key parts of the Pavilion included early Christian
sculptures from the catacombs a replica of Saint Peter's tomb and exhibit of color transparencies
of the Sistine Chapel Vatican coins and even a statue of the Good Shepherd it was housed near
the Belgian Village a large-scale replica of a medieval Flemish town the town was a remarkably
faithful Recreation with over 100 buildings and cobbled streets it also included many of
those who visited to Belgian waffles the Johnson Pavilion was intended to be a quote totally unique
Pavilion by Herbert Frisk Johnson Jr and with its towering white arches and giant gold ufo-like disc
they certainly succeeded in making it stand out it contained a 500 seat Theater which had
showings of Francis Thompson's 18-minute Color Film to be alive showcasing the daily lives of
people worldwide the 1964 World's Fair was also the site of the largest non-production Tire scale
model ever built the US Royal tires Ferris wheel was shaped to look like a massive tire wheel
complete with the company's logo it's gondolas carried over 2 million passengers up to admire a
360 degree view of the park and its attractions and with that being said we can't discuss the
World's Fair without mentioning progress land the Carousel of Progress carried the audience
in a revolving Auditorium on an immersive Journey Through the history of electricity this revolving
Auditorium design made it so that the audience could stay seated through the whole ride this
in turn kept it seamless during scene changes as opposed to having the immersion broken by
audiences having to walk between stages sadly there were so many exhibits that it's impossible
to include them all other honorable mentions include the port Authority's heliport which
was the first building to open at the World's Fair site and general mode voters incredible
Futurama 2 exhibit which took attendees on a trip to the Year 2064. by now you might be wondering
what remains of these exhibits well let's have a look well it's true that many exhibits have
either been removed or lost others have remained right there in Flushing Meadow as relics of the
world's fair if you were to walk through you'll undoubtedly notice the 12-story unisphere Still
Standing proudly in its spot the globe is so large that it's visible from just about anywhere in the
park alongside the ferris fountains many Street markers sit halfway buried along curbs such as
the Avenue of progress the New York Pavilion still stands in place and was even part of a
refurbishment plan though its future and purpose still remain uncertain as for exhibits that exist
in other places the US Royal tires Ferris wheel sits in Allen Park Michigan following the fair
Progressive land was relocated to Disneyland in California but later found a permanent home
in 1975 at Walt Disney resorts in Florida it has been updated multiple times to keep it
in operation though the days of the 1964 World's Fair are well behind us there is still much we can
admire and learn from its remnants though these are just a small taste of what The Grand Event
had to offer looking back at the past through our modern lens brings a sense of nostalgia and truly
makes you wonder what it must have been like to see all of those buildings and attractions in
their Heyday we'll leave it right there for today guys but uh before you go make sure
you join the channel for more fascinating history send me your episode ideas on Instagram and don't
forget to check out our New York history playlists until next time this is Ryan silkash signing off