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  1. The World's Fair Community

    1. Announcements

      Find out what's new at The World's Fair Community.

      1,073
      posts

    2. Introductions

      New to the World's Fair Community? Long-time reader but never posted? Take a moment and say hello!

      974
      posts

    3. Suggestion Box

      Submit ideas for The World's Fair Community here.

      813
      posts

    4. Affiliated Websites

      2,463
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  2. The Great Fairs

    1. 1851, London, England - The Great Exhibition

      The Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, London, England from May 1 to October 11, 1851 and is considered the first world's fair. It took place in the Crystal Palace designed by Joseph Paxton.

      72
      posts

    2. 1889, Paris, France - Universal Exposition of 1889

      The Exposition Universelle de 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from May 6, to October 31, 1889. Remembered most for the Eiffel Tower.

      64
      posts

    3. 1893, Chicago, United States - World's Columbian Exposition

      The World's Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago, Illinois, United States from May 1 to October 31, 1893. It celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World.

      190
      posts

    4. 1904, Saint Louis, United States - Louisiana Purchase Exposition

      The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held in the St. Louis, Missouri, United States from May 1 to October 31, 1904. The Fair celebrated the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase.

      117
      posts

    5. 1915, San Francisco, United States - Panama-Pacific International Exposition

      Staged to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, and drawing over 19 million visitors in only nine months, the Pan-Pacific International Expo rose like a literal jewel from the ashes of San Francisco's 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

      136
      posts

    6. 1933-34, Chicago, United States - A Century of Progress International Exposition

      A Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Chicago, Illinois from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation. Its motto was "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms".

      584
      posts

    7. 1939-40, New York, United States - The 1939-40 New York World's Fair

      The 1939-40 New York World's Fair, located on the current site of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, was one of the largest world's fairs of all time. The fair ran for two seasons and over 44 million people attended.

      8,505
      posts

    8. 1939-40, San Francisco, United States - Golden Gate International Exposition

      The Golden Gate International Exposition was held in San Francisco, California to celebrate the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. The exposition's first season ran from February 18, 1939 through October 29, 1939 and its second season was from May 25, 1940 through September 29, 1940.

      289
      posts

    9. 1958, Brussels, Belgium - Expo '58

      Expo 58 was held in Brussels, Belgium from April 17 to October 19. It was the first major World's Fair after World War II.

      213
      posts

    10. 1964-65, New York, United States - The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair

      The 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair, located on the current site of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The fair ran for two seasons and took place without sanctioning from the Bureau of International Expositions.

      68,530
      posts

    11. 1967, Montreal, Canada - Expo 67

      Expo 67 was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with over 50 million visitors and 62 nations participating.

      3,375
      posts

    12. 1970, Osaka, Japan - Expo '70

      Expo '70 was held in Osaka, Japan from March 15 and September 13, 1970. This was the first World's Fair held in Japan, 77 countries participated and over 64 million visitors attended.

      196
      posts

    13. 2010, Shanghai, China - Expo 2010

      World Expo Shanghai 2010 will be held in Shanghai, China from May 1 to October 31. Its theme is "Better City, Better Life."

      381
      posts

  3. World's Fairs & Expositions

    1. 1840 to 1859

      89
      posts

    2. 1860 to 1879

      49
      posts

    3. 1880 to 1899

      23
      posts

    4. 1900 to 1919

      176
      posts

    5. 1920 to 1939

      341
      posts

    6. 1940 to 1959

      8
      posts

    7. 1960 to 1979

      1,078
      posts

    8. 1980 to 1999

      782
      posts

    9. 2000 to 2019

      312
      posts

    10. 2020 to 2039

      • No posts here yet

    11. World's Fair Bids

      41
      posts

  4. Something for Everyone

    1. Fairs That Never Were

      Many fairs have been proposed over the years. Projects start with great fanfare and then fade away. These are their stories.

      149
      posts

    2. Events

      Do you have a free world's fair related event you'd like to publicize? A picnic or get together? Post your event here.

      2,678
      posts

    3. Community Chat

      General discussion, something for everyone.

      16,566
      posts

    4. Festival of Laughing Gas

      It's a cavalcade of comedy! A parade of parody, delightful deadpan and silly slapstick. Something funny for everyone.

      3,561
      posts

  5. Commerce Zone

    1. The Souvenir Shop

      Have a Fair collectible you would like to sell? Are you trying to find a buyer for a one-of-a-kind item? Do you buy and sell world's fair memorabilia? The Souvenir Shop is the place for you.

      1,507
      posts

    2. Commercial Events

      Want to promote a world's fair related commercial event? Are you having a collectibles show? Is there an admission fee? Commercial Events is the place for you.

      310
      posts

  • Posts

    • Craig Bavaro
      Opening Day Tidbits

      By Craig Bavaro · Posted

      The following bits of information were gleaned from the Fair Corporations records at the New York Public Library during one of my many fact finding missions over the years: Robert Moses entire Yale graduating class of 1909 was invited. Robert Moses lamented the passing of his fellow classmates. One assistant to Roberts Moses said remove a name from the list because "He's dead." Fair officials were very concerned that President Lyndon Baines Johnson wouldn't come to the opening ceremonies. Former President Eisenhower wouldn't come from Palm Springs because it was "Too much of an effort to travel across the country". Fair officials asked him to write a statement, which he did. Former President Hoover was too frail to come. He was also asked to send a statement. Former President Truman was in attendance and did speak. President Johnson's assistant (possibly Kenny O'Donnell) actually asked fair officials to move the opening date of the fair to 4/20 to accommodate the president’s schedule. Fair officials politely declined by explaining that was just not possible given the complexities involved. Fair officials debated whether or not to invite Grover Whalen's widow. They did and she wrote a very grateful thank you letter to Robert Moses. Many people made personal pleas for tickets to the opening ceremonies and fair officials went out of their way to accommodate most, if not all of the requests. The invited guest list quickly grew from 5 to 10 to 15 thousand people in the last 2 months leading up to opening day. Fair officials were very concerned about how it would "appear" if the former or current presidents didn't all accept their invites. Fair officials worked with presidential intermediaries to get a feel if The White House would accept if an "official" invite was sent. The letter sent to President John F. Kennedy on 11/21/63 about attending the fairs opening had a note attached to it dated 11/22/63 saying that it was retrieved from the mail room before it could be sent. A two thousand guest official party was planned for the Top of the Fair restaurant, but it was canceled once fair officials found out that President Johnson wouldn't be attending. Robert Moses table at the official party would have been 11 people instead of 10 at all the others. The centerpiece on Robert Moses table at the official party was to have been a certain kind of flowers in a round black basket. Fair official (possibly Ernestine Haig) pointed out that the fair is the star of the show, not any politician that the public can see on TV at any event or holiday.
    • icedstitch
      Queen of Television beauty pageant

      By icedstitch · Posted

      ...The Pageant had "X-Appeal".... ...30 pulchritudinous finalists.... 
    • Larry L
      Some of my 64-65 worlds fair stuff

      By Larry L · Posted

       " What ever advice he got from the bus driver turned out to be pretty good"   It must have been someone else he talked to then.    It bugged me then how everybody asked me questions. Now of course i wish i could go back in time and do it again,  just for one day.   I remember that man who approached me when i was driving the gar in 64 and said whistfully that he drove one of those in the last fair,  25 years before in 39. I made some smart aleck response.  Anyway,  i'm  glad you had a good time and got to see everything,  which was more  than i did!
    • waynebretl
      A Tale of Two Guide Books

      By waynebretl · Posted

      I agree it's a nuisance for planning a route through the grounds to your must-see exhibits, or evn for seeing what's nearby you rcurrent location, but on the other hand, there are people who can't make the connection from their location to a visual map and vice-versa anyway.  I had this driven home (no pun inteneded) when I sent out a map with the route to my house for the camera club, and one person managed to drive by my house twice without recognizing where she was, gave up, and went back home. Given written turn by turn instructions, she found it fine. 
    • sunguar
      A Tale of Two Guide Books

      By sunguar · Posted

      My whole point to this topic is:  Couldn't the map in the first edition of the Guide book be a little more descriptive? Could you see someone getting this edition, looking at this map and saying, "I'm not going, it's too confusing".  

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