Today’s post was written by Caitlin Hucik and James Konicek. Still taken from US The first World Exposition sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions was named the Great Exhibition and held in 1851 London, England. Since then, over 30 sanctioned expos have been held every 5 to 10 years. In 1968, San Antonio hosted … Continue reading HemisFair ’68, When The World’s Fair Came to Texas
This post was co-written by Audrey Amidon and Ashley Behringer. On the Streets of San Francisco Next on our summer tour of the National Archives’ non-textual holdings, we move on from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The city has featured prominently in 20th Century American culture and history, from the devastating 1906 earthquake, to the Haight-Ashbury district’s … Continue reading Summer Road Trip 2019: San Francisco and Yosemite National Park
Before the Super Bowl became the showcase for ambitious advertisements that would be seen and enjoyed by millions, we had the World’s Fair. At World’s Fairs, industry could show off its wares in increasingly elaborate displays. Symphony in F, part of the Ford Collection, fits into this category of advertainment. https://youtu.be/5RBU3Uz66uc Symphony in F (Local … Continue reading Symphony in F: An Industrial Fantasia for the World of Tomorrow
One century ago, San Francisco's 1915 World’s Fair closed its doors, ending one of the most unique events in American history. For 288 days, the fair brought together an odd array of individuals that seemingly belong in different chapters of the history textbook. Civil War veterans could watch as Henry Ford produced a car every … Continue reading A Fair to Remember: Colored Lantern Slides at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
The launch of Sputnik and the space race led to an era of optimism which influenced pop-culture in America and overseas. We imagined where we might live, the clothes we might wear and the cars we might drive. Words and phrases such as astro and space age entered our vocabulary as a way to describe … Continue reading Looking to the Future: Space Culture on Film
The 1939 New York World's Fair opened 75 years ago this week. The international exposition was partly a trade show where companies like General Motors and Westinghouse showcased their newest technology, like the latest car models or home appliances, and partly a venue for sixty foreign governments to display their national art, culture, and industry. … Continue reading The World of Tomorrow: The 1939 New York World’s Fair
The 1964 New York World's Fair opened fifty years ago this week, on April 22nd, with the theme of "Man's Achievements in an Expanding Universe." If this extended Universal News story leaves you with the impression that the fair was not a runaway success, that's because it wasn't. The fair was not sanctioned by the Bureau of … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The New York World’s Fair Opens, 1964
