New York World's Fair 1964-1965

Opening day at the fair was 57 years ago today. One of my fondest family road trips from childhood was traveling with my parents and aunt to this fair when I was 6 years old. Most of my memories are vague, but I do remember seeing a lot of things for the first time—color TV, picture and push-button telephones, and Disney's "It's A Small World". I also rode in the 1964 Ford Mustang with my father and we put our feet in the pool around the Unisphere, which was the official symbol of the fair.

The first-year run was April 22-October 18, 1964 and the second-year run was April 21-October 17, 1965. The fair had 140+ pavilions from 36 nations and 21 US states, and most of the pavilions were sponsored by commercial companies right here in America. It was located at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the NYC borough of Queens. The fair grounds covered 646 acres and also included numerous amusements, fountains, pools, and restaurants.

The theme of the fair was "Peace Through Understanding", which was devoted to the concept of “Man on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe.” Just like its predecessor, the New York World's Fair 1939-1940, Westinghouse deposited another time capsule under the fair grounds to commemorate this event on October 16, 1965, the day before its two-year run came to an end.

We came home with several souvenirs but unfortunately, no pictures were taken. Because I was so young at the time, I decided to do a Google search for information, memorabilia, and photos in the hopes of recreating what I forgot, revisiting what I remember, and getting a better understanding of the things I couldn't comprehend in 1964. I created a nice photo album on Facebook and really enjoyed the walk down memory lane in the process!