WEBVTT - What's the Greatest World's Fair of All-Time? 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.279 I guess, well, well, what's that mango? So last summer 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:04.920 we took the family on a night out to the 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:08.600 Flushing night Market and it's like this big Asian food 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.680 fair that is so delicious, and it was one of 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:13.920 those gorgeous summer nights I'm sure you've had these two 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.639 where the kids actually behaved and we listened to this 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:20.319 beautiful live music. There's like a cool breeze. We ate 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.480 all sorts of foods on skewers. It was really magical. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.880 And as it got darker and we were walking back, 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.520 we ended up under the Unisphere, which is that giant 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.640 globe from when the World's Fair took place in nineteen 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:34.920 sixty four. Yeah, that's the thing out in Queens. I 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.519 feel like you fly right over that whenever you're coming 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.559 into the LaGuardia, right. Uh, that's right. But as we 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.240 were sitting there, you know, instead of just enjoying the moment, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.199 we immediately got our phones and started looking up the 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.120 World's Fair to see what a debut there and uh, 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.920 and it turns out that nine sixty four introduced the 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.920 world to electric toothbrushes, computers that would match you to 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:00.400 international pen pals, and for some reason do Pots answered 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.440 this musical review called The Wonderful World of Chemistry, which 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:08.119 I'm sure raised off the Billboard charts. But the whole 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:10.240 thing made me wonder, like why haven't we done an 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.280 episode on the world Spare before? So like how did 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.480 they start? When was there Heyday? And do they still exist? 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.560 So that's what we're talking about today. Let's dive in 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.759 hey their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:45.920 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.120 friend man guest shot Ticketer and on the other side 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.160 of the soundproof glass double fisting a can of cherry 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.680 coke and a box of milk. It's actually kind of 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:56.880 hard to watch because this is such a strange combo. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.760 But that's our friends and producer Tristan McNeil. And if 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.360 you're under why Tristan chose that particular combo, it's because 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:07.240 he's celebrating his very favorite World's fair. Honestly, Mango, I 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.200 didn't know he had a favorite World's fair, but he's 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.600 pretty passionate about this. That was, of course, the nineteen 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.840 two fair in Knoxville, and that's when both cherry coke 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.000 and boxed milk made their public debuts. It was a 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.679 banner year for beverages Mango. Well, you know what else 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.560 debuted at the eighty two World's Fair The Sun Sphere, 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.120 and it was the twenty six story tall tower. It 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.400 had a big golden glass sphere at the top. It 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.280 was actually the symbol of the fair that year, but 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.079 Simpsons fans might remember it better as the Whigs Spheres. 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.480 So gave reminded me of this episode where Bart and 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.160 his friends go on a road trip but they choose 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.280 their destination from this like outdated triple A guide I think, 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.239 And and they wind up at the fairgrounds decades after 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:50.880 the event, and the whole places run down, but the 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.400 caretaker offers the let them into the sun Sphere so 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.760 that they can see quote sixteen thousand boxes of unsold wigs. 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:00.880 Act I do remember for this one, And if I 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.400 recall correctly, they ended up with some pretty sharp looking wigs, 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.160 if I'm not mistake, and that's you know, actually looked 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:08.960 into this, and it turns out the Sun's fears now 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.040 in much better shape than it was in that Simpsons 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.520 episode I think it was, you know, back in two 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.440 thousand seven. If I'm not mistaken, it was completely renovated 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.600 and restored, and and the observation deck there is actually 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.320 open to the public again. So you know what's funny 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.640 is that it's actually done much better than a bunch 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.000 of other World's Fair exhibits, because, you know, while the 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.720 symbols of some Worldfares have done really well for themselves, 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:31.880 like if you think about like the Eiffel Tower or 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.440 I guess the Seattle Space Needle, others have really fallen 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.280 into disrepair. In fact, there's a photographer named Jade Dosco, 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.760 and she spent the last decade actually documenting all the 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.800 abandoned sculptures and these icons from past Worldfares, and looking 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.000 at our photos you can actually see that these are 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.560 still these amazing surreal bits of history, and in a way, 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.040 they're like looking at monuments to our old visions of 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.720 the future, which I find really fascinating. Yeah, it is 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.600 kind of interesting how World Fairs were once this, you know, 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.720 kind of like symbolic of our hopes for the future, 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.280 and and it's reverse of that now, like we're mostly 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.800 thinking of them in these nostalgic ways, kind of looking 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.760 at them almost like time capsules, and you know, their 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.280 significance is really kind of flipped at this point, and 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:17.640 instead of being all about the future, they're really more 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.760 about these relics of the past. And I mean, obviously 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.160 world's fairs in general have lost a lot of their 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.920 luster over the years, but that's all going to change today, Mega, 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.560 because we're we're gonna take this deep dive into the 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.600 history of world's fairs, including how and why they started. 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:35.960 And so we're gonna follow Tristan's lead and we're going 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.920 to talk about a couple of our personal favorite fairs 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.640 and and dip into some of the weird exhibits and 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.719 and new inventions that have debuted there. But all right, Mago, 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:46.960 why don't we start with the basics. Do you mind 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.599 just going back to the beginning and explaining what the 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.599 World's fair is exactly. Yeah, So it's kind of weird 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.320 to think about it this way, but a World's fare 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.839 is basically an international trade show, but not one that's 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.080 restricted to any single industries. So if you were to 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.760 attend one, you see lavish exhibits from all kinds of 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.640 companies and organizations from around the globe, and they'd be 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.520 showing off upcoming products, you know, new scientific advancements or 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.040 just spitballing ideas for the future of agriculture or aviation 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.600 or whatever. But compared to trade shows, worlds fars cast 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.000 a much wider net in terms of appealing to the public. 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.000 But the fairs do have some differences from trade shows. Like, uh, 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.839 world's fairs aren't just trying to be commercial. They're also 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.680 these high minded adventures, you know, where they have all 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:32.279 these aspirations for the world. Yeah. Like I've sometimes heard 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.520 world fares compared to the Olympics kind of in that regard. 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.200 I mean, they're both these world spanning events. They're meant 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:42.320 to celebrate human achievement and camaraderie and I guess progress 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.240 in a lot of ways. And at the same time 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:48.000 they highlight all the cool stuff from other cultures. Yeah, 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.280 I mean, there's some other similarities to the Olympics, too, 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:53.159 including the fact that neither than make a bunch of money. 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.719 I mean, the companies at the fair would ideally make 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.640 money in the long run, I guess from the visibility 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:00.800 and marketing they get from the air. But for the 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.320 most part, world s fares tend to lose money for 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.039 the cities and countries that host them. In fact, you 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:08.480 know that eight two Knoxville Fair we were talking about. 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.239 It was a rare exception in that it actually managed 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.799 to turn a profit, but not much of a profit. 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.760 It only I think earned fifty seven dollars in the 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.320 in the long run, which has insane. But I mean 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:22.520 the appeal of running a World's fair has a lot 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.839 more to do with, I guess, the prestige and the 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:28.840 potential to boost tourism and invest in fund structures, rather 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.480 than actually making money off the event. So if if, 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.920 if their money pits, Like how did world's fares take 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.280 off in the first place? So modern world s fair 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.440 has really got to start in eighteen fifty one, and 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.200 that's when Britain hosted the Great Exhibition to the Works 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.760 of Industry of All Nations in London. That's what it 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.600 was called. I feel like maybe that's not quite as 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.680 catchy as World's Fair. I don't know about you. No, 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.080 it's catchyer, I think, but it almost reminds me of 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.159 like when they used to call the Super Bowl the 0:06:56.520 --> 0:07:00.880 NFLFL World Championship Game. You like super Bowls so much catchier, 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.960 Like why did they think that long title would work? 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.719 But uh, you know, what's weird is we're we're pretty 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.440 much the only country to call these events world's fairs. 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:14.239 Great Britain describes there's as exhibitions, UM, most of Europe 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.720 and Asia have opted to call him international expositions, and 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.720 most other countries just referred to them as expos So 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.000 while those names are interchangeable, it all amounts to the 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.920 same event and the end. Alright. So so how are 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.120 these things organized? I mean, if they're all called by 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:33.120 different names, is there not a single governing body that 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.760 oversees these like you would find for something like the Olympics? 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.240 So actually there is. It's called the Bureau of International 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.360 Expositions the b i E, and it's a Paris based 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.520 organization that's run all the shows since it was established 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:50.480 in so they helped with the scheduling for the events. UM, 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.920 they set guidelines and responsibilities for the host cities. You know, 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.880 it's things that the participants have to abide by. Actually 0:07:57.840 --> 0:07:59.680 I never knew that, but you said the first fair 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.400 was in eighteen fifty one, So so who was in 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.760 charge of all of this for those years before the 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.360 b i E came along? Um. In the early days, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.480 the events were mostly government enterprises, so they were organized 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.480 by the rulers of whoever was hosting. So if you 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.720 think about England, London was actually where the first fair 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.000 was held. It was actually Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.080 who spearheaded the exhibition. He had actually spent some time 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.560 abroad in his youth and the experience gave him the 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.240 idea to host an event like this. And at the time, 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:31.920 Parliament had actually warmed to the idea of free trade, 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.800 so Albert had hoped that his exhibition would help boost 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.360 the sales of British goods in other countries. Alright, so 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.200 I'm curious what were the main draws to that very 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.800 first World's Fair. Well, sadly it didn't have a sun 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.959 sphere or a whig sphere, but it did have its 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.040 own showy architectural icon. It was called the Crystal Palace, 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.520 and this is actually the building where the different exhibits 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.760 were held. It was this enormous iron and glass structure 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.400 designed by this greenhouse builder named Joseph Paxton, and his 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.880 design beat out a ton of other entries. In fact, 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.200 it was such a hit with the public that Paxton 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.840 was later knighted for his contribution but aside from that palace, 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.880 the fair also boasted arts and crafts exhibits from different 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.000 countries as well as you know, science displays. They had 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.720 this boat race that eventually morphed into the America's Cup, 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.040 which is pretty awesome. And in total, the various displays 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.720 attracted to stunning six million visitors, which is right around 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.360 a third of Britain's population. Right, that's incredible. I mean, 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.480 most recent World Spairs aren't very profitable, but that first 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.120 one definitely was. Like Britain made so much money off 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:38.360 the event that they established not one, but three national museums, 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.360 the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, and the 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.760 Natural History Museum. Holy cow. So I'm guessing it's that 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.160 success that got all these other countries interested and getting 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.920 in on this expo action. Yeah, and and the US 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:52.280 was the first one to line up and give it 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.880 a try, though our first attempt wasn't that great. We 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.599 actually copied the Crystal Palace exhibition and we built it 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.960 in Bran Park in New York City, oh, right, where 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.200 we used to work. And that's uh, that's interesting that 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.280 there was actually a World's Fair there. I know, it's 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.120 hard to believe. But despite the fact that they pretty 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.240 much stuck to London's formula, New York's exhibition was way 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.160 less successful. In the end, the organizers lost so much 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.240 money that the US didn't host another event like that 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.800 for over twenty years. Yeah, you know, probably the earliest 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.320 World's fair in the US. I remember hearing about I 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.840 think would be the eight Expo in Chicago, and you 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:30.720 know that's the one where the city was really looking 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.959 to celebrate reconstruction. This was following the Great Fire, so 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.840 they went all out with the fairs design in the 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.320 exhibits Like yeah, I think they got the same guy 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:41.920 who designed Central Park that you know, Olmstead, of course, 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.920 to lay out the grounds, and supposedly his work on 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.760 the project was so impressive that L. Frank Baum later 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.320 used it as inspiration for the Emerald City and The 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.120 Wizard of Oz. Yeah, I mean that fair sounded super 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.840 fun for so many reasons, Like uh I I had 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.839 read that Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison were competing that 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.880 with their own electric lighting exhibits, which would have been 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.280 so fun to see. Um. Plus, a bunch of famous 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:10.160 snacks came out that year, like juicy fruit gum cracker jacks, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.320 and you know you gotta braise yourself for this one 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.680 cream of wheat. Cream of wheat. Now I hesitate to 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.200 admit this, but actually, as a kid, I was a 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.680 big fan of cream of wheat. But it's a good snack. 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.200 But as exciting as instant porridge must have been for 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.680 those fair goers. I mean, we can probably agree that 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.600 the real show stopper of that year was the debut 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.000 of the world's first ferris wheel that was invented by 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.400 this thirty three year old guy from Pittsburgh. It was 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:40.079 an engineer. His name was George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.719 Quite the name, but the wheel was two d and 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.000 sixty four ft tall, could hold about sixty people at once, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.200 and the Ferris wheel was a huge success, not surprisingly. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.040 I mean, I can only imagine what this must have 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.199 looked like to people, and thousands of people ponying up. 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.840 I think it was fifty cents of peace to take 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.680 this twenty minute ride on the new contraption. I mean, 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:01.880 any minutes. Can you imagine being on one of these 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.439 things for that long? Was? It's pretty crazy? I mean 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.080 that sounds torturous to be but to be fair, the 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.640 public hadn't actually seen anything like that before. Even the 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.520 European fairs to that point hadn't had these feature attractions 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.960 that were just fun for fun's sake, like the ferris wheel. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.880 But the Chicago Fair changed all of that, and from 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.680 then on, nearly every World's Fair has included a fund zone, 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.760 dedicated rides and attractions that you might see it like 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.680 theme parks or amusement parks. And actually, we should just 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:28.480 put a pin in that for now, because we'll get 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.600 back to that theme park connection a little later. All right. Well, 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.080 I do have to say that I kind of liked 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.160 that America's first big contribution to these events was adding 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:39.080 fun stuff like the rides and the games. I do 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.560 only wish that that the games had brought in enough 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.880 money to make the fair more sustainable, you know. Yeah, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.040 so I was actually stunned by the numbers. There have 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.160 been a little over a hundred Worlds Fairs held in 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.640 over twenty countries since that first one in the mid 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.760 nineteenth century, but their golden age ended quite a while 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:57.760 ago once World War One hit. They never really regained 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.360 their popularity, and I think that's because as fun as 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.760 the fairs have become After the Ferris Will, entertainment gradually 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.760 got easier and easier to come by. In terms of transportation, 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.520 you had stuff like highways and planes and high speed trains, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.840 all of which made it possible to travel to far 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.200 away places rather than waiting for the world to come 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.679 to you. And the kind of life changing futuristic gadgets 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.600 that the fairs have become famous for showcasing like TV 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.400 and radio changed all of that. Instead of that fuss 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.839 and that expense of going to an expo hundreds of 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:31.040 miles away, you got that information brought right into your home. Yeah. 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.120 I know, if you think about, you know, fast forwarding 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.800 to today, we have the internet on top of everything else. 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:39.240 So I guess there's also this attitude of, you know, like, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.880 why bother attending anything when you can get live updates 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.640 on your phone or just watch these videos of of 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.559 just the best bits you know of the fair online exactly. 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.280 And I want to make sure we circle back to 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.920 this idea of world's fairs kind of going obsoletely because 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.240 there's so much more to say about it, but for now, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.840 let's just revel in the nostalgia and and talk about 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.559 some of our all time favorite expos. All right, that 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.120 sounds fun. But before we get to it, let's take 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:18.160 a quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.080 we're talking about the world's greatest World's Fairs. Okay, well, 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.800 so we obviously haven't had the chance to attend one ourselves. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.680 But based on everything you've heard and read, what would 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.680 you say was your favorite World's Fair? Well, I mean, 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:31.760 of course, it's tough to pick just one, because they 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.040 all brought something strange or cool to the table. But 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.560 just looking at this in terms of historical interest, I'd 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.600 probably have to go with the nine World's Fair that 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.520 was held in New York. And you know, of course, 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:45.880 what's unique about this one is that the planning for 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.480 it really began at the height of the Great Depression, 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.160 and the fair itself was opening at the tail end 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.280 of that era, and it was really seen as a 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.040 way to boost morale and sort of get the nation 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.280 back to thinking positively about the future. And it was 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:03.720 a coloss whole effort from everything from government agencies to corporations, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.400 all of these other smaller organizations from all over the world. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:09.920 And it was such a big effort that when all 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.680 these pavilions and exhibitions were finally finished. The project spanned 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.240 over twelve hundred acres and queens and it was formerly 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.080 an ash dump in that spot. In the total cost, 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:22.520 just looking at this, it was over a hundred and 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:26.880 sixty million dollars. I mean, first of all, acres just 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.600 sounds like so much space, that's the sanity to me. 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:31.920 But also that budget, like if you think about a 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.240 hundred sixty million dollars, that's a crazy amount to spend, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.440 especially during the depression. Oh absolutely. And you know, in fact, 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.040 FDR gave the opening address at the fair and he 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:45.600 described the country's participation as America having quote hitched her 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.640 wagon to a star of goodwill. So there was a 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:50.960 lot riding on the success of the World's Fair, and 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.640 at least in terms of public reaction, it was a 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:57.360 huge success. There were more than forty four million people 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.840 who attended the fair over this two season run. Of course, 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.840 there were some very famous guests, including you know, visits 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.760 from King George the sixth and Queen Elizabeth and they 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.000 made a special presentation at the British Pavilion during that visit. 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.480 That's pretty cool. Actually, I remember from when we were 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.800 at Metal Flaws like, uh, FDR through a picnic for 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.280 them when they came, and he served them hot dogs 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:20.360 and it's the first time the King and Queen that's right, 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.880 which I love. But you know, considering the origins and 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.600 that it started with Prince Albert, you'd almost expect like 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:28.880 more royals to visit these things. Yeah, I think it 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.640 happened from time to time, but the ninety nine fair 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:34.760 was a special case because it didn't focus only on 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.920 the current achievement of nations. Instead, the theme of the 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.280 thirty Fair was the world of tomorrow. So you know, 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.760 this idea was to really highlight the possibilities of the future, or, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.520 as FDR put it, the hope that quote the years 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.200 to come will break down the many barriers to intercourse 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.160 between nations. I mean, that's actually kind of heartbreaking when 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.200 you remember that World War Two was just around the 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:57.960 corner at that point. Yeah, the Fair in New York 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.680 probably would have actually stuck around for a third season 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.760 if things hadn't escalated so quickly in Europe at that time. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.240 I mean, you know, war was looming on the horizon, 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.159 and the fair ended up closing earlier than some had hoped, 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.639 and it ultimately left the event over budget as usual, 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.280 but still most exhibitors and attendees would say that the 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:19.040 fair was a resounding success. So what kind of exhibits 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.159 were people responding to so positively? Well, one of the 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.119 biggest raws was a GM exhibit. It was dubbed Futurama, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.919 and this was this expansive model of the city of 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.080 the future, and and they were looking at the far 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.439 flung year of nineteen sixties, so who knew what was 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:35.639 going to happen then, And so you had things like 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:40.000 skyscrapers and multi level highways and plenty of landing pads 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.720 for helicopters and low flying planes, and guests would board 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.400 this little train and take a fifteen minute tour through 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.800 the model city, and honestly, the public went crazy for it. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.040 There was something like twenty five million people actually had 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.560 taken the ride by the time the fair closed. I mean, 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.919 it's funny because like skyscrapers and highways, like none of 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.840 that feels super future wristic, or like people are even 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.040 using their imaginations. All that stuff obviously would come around 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.440 and like the next twenty years, So where's this hankering 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.440 for things? Like? Uh, I don't know, Jeff propelled sneakers 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:14.560 or robot butlers. I don't know about rockets shoes, but 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.760 there was definitely one robot at the nineteen thirty nine fair. 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.919 His name was Electro the Moto Man, and he was 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.240 the main attraction of Westinghouse exhibition and according to reports, 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.600 crowds routinely waited in these three hour lines for their 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.280 chance to meet Electro. And really, if you, if you, 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.600 if you look at the timing there, he's widely considered 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:37.240 to be one of the world's first recognizable robots. So 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.520 this wasn't just a guy in a costumers something like. 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:43.679 It actually performed robotic functions, Oh man, could it? Ever? So, 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.119 just reading the list of the things it could do, 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:47.800 I mean, first of all, actually, just to back up 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.640 a little bit, this thing was seven ft tall, wait, 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:54.400 two and fifty pounds, so even on just size alone, 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.840 the crowds were probably dazzled by this thing. But so so, 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.159 here's what he was programmed to be able to do. Think, 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.040 there were twenty six mechanical tricks for the audience to see. 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:09.320 They included walking, talking, counting, blowing up balloons, and mango 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.879 the biggest of all, even smoking a cigarette. So but 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.200 not enjoying it. Elector actually came loaded with corny jokes 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.240 to amuse your buddies, so it was pretty impressive to 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.399 see what he could do. But actually just looking at 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.040 all the features, there was a record player embedded in 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.240 his chest and it gave him access to a pretty 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:31.360 impressive seven hundred word vocabulary, so the robot could carry 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.959 on conversations with audience members, and these talks would include 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.639 some low key insults like my brain is bigger than 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.040 your brain, which was not only funny but probably maybe 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.680 even a little unnerving for somebody back in nineteen thirty 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.760 nine if you think about it. I love the idea 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.160 of this, like robot insulting you and then like taking 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.400 upuff of a cigarette and then insulting you and taking 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.360 up off his cigarette. But it sounds like the visitors 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:56.560 weren't too put off by him, right, Like I mean 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:58.960 they kept turning up to waiting these three hour long lines. 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.399 I guess, right, yeah, and so and and and he 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.000 wasn't the only feature there. I mean, Electro actually brought 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.439 a friend when he returned for the second season, and 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:11.679 this was this robotic English terrier named Sparko. Sparko could bark, 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:14.800 could sit, could beg just like a normal dog. And 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.639 then when the fair eventually packed up shop in nineteen forty, 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.560 they weren't done. Electro and Sparko took their show on 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:22.879