Peg-Leg Pete

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Peter Stuyvesant was exhibited at The Fair outside the Netherlands pavilion (Stuyvesant was Dutch, of course). Another Fair original, this statue, which depicts Peter Stuyvesant with his famous peg-leg, now stands--interestingly enough--in Stuyvesant Square (17th Street and 2nd Avenue) in Manhattan. 

The White Mana Myth

It is an assertion repeated all over the internet. Lent credence by no less than The Gray Lady herself, The New York Times, it appears to be almost universally accepted, and wholly unchallenged. I am speaking of the common belief that the White Mana Diner in Jersey City, New Jersey, made its debut at The Fair as "The Diner of the Future".

Like probably dozens before me, I made the pilgrimage. After a ride on the PATH train, and a short walk through some rather dicey areas on a very hot day, we enjoyed some sliders that were certainly tasty, even if they could hardly lay claim to the title "Burger of the Future"!

I wanted it to be true, I really did. I wanted to believe that I was actually sitting and eating in a restaurant that had been at The Fair. That the burgers I was downing were the direct descendants of that first ground beef served up to hungry Fair-goers in 1939!

But, you know what? I don't believe it. In the three years since my visit to Jersey City, I have not been able to find one shred of documentary or corroborative evidence that the White Mana Diner (or any other diner, for that matter) was ever at The Fair.

It does not appear in any guide book. It does not appear in Crosby Gaige's "Food at the Fair". It does not appear in lists of places to eat distributed at The Fair. Surely, something as important as "The Diner of the Future" would have been advertised and promoted.

Where's the BEEF!?



Then there is the question of time. By all (the accepted) accounts the diner was bought and moved to Jersey City in 1946--a full six years after The Fair closed. While it is certainly possible that the diner operated somewhere else between 1940 and 1946, this begs the question: where was it during the War? The "official" account makes no mention of this period, and with all we know about war-time economy and rationing, I find it nearly impossible to believe that such a heap of metal was allowed to lie about undisturbed and untouched for the duration, when even the Oscars were made of plaster because every ounce of metal was needed for the War effort.

So here's the challenge, and remember, I'd really love it if the White Mana myth were proven to be true. I will give $100 to the first person--any person--able to provide documentary and corroborative proof that the White Mana Diner in Jersey City (or its sister in Hackensack, for that matter) was, in fact, at The Fair in 1939.

Now the fine print: documentary and corroborative proof MUST be in the form of a PHOTOGRAPH of the diner in situ at The Fair, and recognizable as such (i.e., another establishing landmark or landmarks such as the Trylon and/or Perisphere must be visible), and/or a LISTING of the diner in an official Fair publication, one that is generally recognized as authentic by the average Fair enthusiast and/or collector. Good luck!

Jagiello: Poland's Ex-Pat King

The equestrian statue of Poland's King Jagiello is one of Central Park's most imposing monuments.

The first Fair relic I became aware of was the statue of Poland's King Jagiello by Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski which now stands in New York's Central Park. Jagiello, along with dozens of his countrymen and women, became a refugee in 1939 after Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II. Interesting is the fact that the park pedestal (not original to The Fair) was designed by Aymar Embury II, architect of the Fair's New York City Building.

City of New York III: The Fountains Mystery

Although the wonderfully detailed architect's model of the New York City Building in the collection of The Queens Museum of Art and photographs from 1939 show working fountains on either side of the building's main entrance, I have never seen any pictures from The Fair during operation that show the fountains actually turned on. Why is that?

Two views of the northwest corner of the building.
Photo above from the New York Public Library.

Also missing in 1939 are the flagpoles. Does anyone know when these were added? My guess is '64, though they could be from the building's days as headquarters to the UN.

What's Left of The Aquacade

The New York State Amphitheatre (aka Billy Rose's Aquacade) survived 2 Fairs, only to be demolished in 1995. Though preservationists lost the battle to save the Aquacade, a few relics were salvaged and incorporated into the sad, sorry little snack bar that now squats on its former site.

I believe these gates are original
from the Acquacade.

I have never seen this snack bar open for business!

No comment.

Next Stop, Iceland

The statue of Leif Erikson (or Leifr Eiriksson in the modern, more "authentic" spelling) from the Iceland Exhibit at The Fair now stands at the entrance to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Iceland was one of a number of smaller countries that did not have their own pavilions at The Fair; rather, these were allotted space in The Hall of Nations, which bordered The Court of Peace in front of the (U.S.) Federal Building.

The Fair statue is a larger copy of an original that stands in Reykjavik. Sculpted by Alexander Stirling Calder, the Reykjavik statue was a gift from the U.S. to the people of Iceland in 1930.

Leif Erikson in situ at The Fair

My view of approximately the same angle

We didn't see the inside the museum, because it is closed on Tuesdays. By the way, there's an excellent chronology of Erikson statues, including the Calders, here. (Who'd've thought there'd be so many?)

Signing off from Williamsburg, Virginia.

Meet Me at the Belgian Pavilion

We arrived in Richmond at about noon, right on schedule. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, as you can see from the photos. To finally get to see the Belgium building...what a kick! The building shows its age, for sure; there's noticeable erosion of the brick, and damage and deterioration to the reliefs. But, wow, what a kick!  I even got to go inside!

A view from inside

(There are more to come...)

If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium

So right now we're packing up the car and getting ready to leave for a week's vacation: Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens (we're history buffs, and coaster enthusiasts--it's perfect).

We're going to stop en route in Richmond to see the Belgian Pavilion from The Fair. The pavilion, as many of you probably already know, was dismantled after The Fair and re-assembled on the campus of Virginia Union University. The original plan was to send it all back to Belgium, but the War interfered with that!

Left: the current configuration of the Belgium Building; Right: the original layout (model photo from the New York Public Library

I can't tell you how excited I am to be finally able to see the pavilion! Some time ago I actually met the architect that was heading up a renovation of the building. He offered to give me a private hard-hat tour, but, alas, I was not able to take him up on that.

While we're down there, we're also planning to zip on over to Newport News to see the Alexander Stirling Calder statue of Leif Erikson that stood outside the Iceland exhibit at The Fair. It's a genuine Fair survivor, a larger copy of an original (1930) still standing in Reykjavik.

Of course, I'll be sure to post new photos as soon as I can!

City of New York II: The Blob That Ate Queens!

This UNSPEAKABLE HORROR was actually (ACTUALLY!) the winning design for the renovation of the Queens Museum of Art (formerly The City of New York building) a decade ago! 

Someone somewhere said it looked like the building had been bombed during the London Blitz. I think it looks rather more like a giant oozing slime has overtaken the building and dissolved everything it its path! 

Amazingly, the architect still lists this as a "project" at his site. I don't want to name names or besmirch anyone's reputation, but you can read about this "project" here. (WARNING: graphic image.)

THANK GOD the museum had the good sense (to say nothing of taste!) to scrap this plan and start afresh!   

How Original Is Original?

The Boathouse during its 2011 "restoration"

At the far southern end of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, along the edge of Fountain Lake in what was formerly the Amusement Section of The Fair, sits the Boat House, frequently cited as the second of only two original Fair structures still standing in their original locations. This status seems to be universal in its acceptance by historians and Fair enthusiasts alike.

But I'm not so sure about this. Compare today's Boathouse with photographs taken in 1939: the differences are striking. Most notably what looks like a limestone facade with classical elements has been replaced with brick. Anyone looking at two photographs side by side doesn't need me to elaborate on the differences. But this begs the question: how much of the original structure is actually still standing? How original does original have to be to actually be original? Let me know what you think.

1939 photos from the
New York Public Library

City of New York

Most everyone who knows anything at all about the 1939-40 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows knows that only two buildings from The Fair remain in situ.

The first and most important of these is the New York City Building, the only building from The Fair intended to be permanent. Designed by Aymar Embury II, it served as home to the UN from 1946-50 and more recently housed an ice skating rink, now departed, in order to allow expansion by the building's other tenant, The Queens Museum of Art.

This 1939 View of the New York City Building Remains Largely Unchanged Today

This expansion will be completed by the end of next year. In the meantime visitors can view a model of the renovations. The building's future once looked rather precarious, but the current project seems to be a reasonable compromise between the Museum's present needs and a healthy respect for the past. 

We shall see. At least the Museum had the good sense to scrap the bizarrely Solomonic proposal of splitting the building in two down the center!

The New York City Building's Cornerstone

Come Back To The Fair

I only became interested in The 1939 New York World's Fair after my Dad died, which is longer ago than seems possible. In search of tangible mementos, talismans as it were, I dug into a beat-up old footlocker that had sat undisturbed for a very long time in my parents' (now just my mother's) basement. Inside were a few Fair souvenirs, nothing out-of-the-ordinary or especially valuable, but charming, nonetheless, particularly since my grandmother (my father's mother) had carefully and thoughtfully saved, for instance, even the cardboard shipping box that the Fair tray and coaster set had been mailed in.

At the Kodak exhibit: (left) my Uncle Buddy's 
girlfriend Stella and my grandmother; (right) my Dad

Over the years I've added to that collection, and I suppose I'll share the pieces here eventually. I haven't any one-of-a-kind items that you won't see anywhere else on the internet, just the usual and expected plates and pins, spoons and glassware, and the like.

From collecting I moved on to experiencing; I rode the 7 Train out to Flushing, dragging along good-natured and willing friends on frigid winter days to see the site where The Fair had stood, to see if I could feel The Fair. I tried to imagine what it was like to stand beneath the Trylon and Perisphere, which apparently would have dwarfed the Unisphere (symbol of the 1964-65 World's Fair) which occupies their former site. (Luckily for enthusiasts of the '64-'65 Fair, a visit to Flushing Meadows affords a much more evocative experience.)

Plenty has been written about the history and design of the Fair that was; my focus has been on the Fair that still is, however little that may be. A wonderful piece some years ago by David Dunlap in The New York Times gave an overview of what remains of The Fair (and also of the '64-'65 re-incarnation), which alas, is not much. But my own research has uncovered even more than Mr. Dunlap's excellent article, and I have been very pleased and very surprised to discover many remnants of The Fair that can still be seen and visited and enjoyed today.

Of all the souvenirs and mementos I have from The Fair, the most precious to me, the one I wouldn't part with even for all the money in the world, is my Dad's ticket book. It bears his 8-year-old's signature, and still has 15 unused tickets inside. It's my ticket back to The Fair; I invite you to come along.

Farewell to The Fair

 

 
This October will see the 72nd anniversary of the closing of what was arguably the world’s greatest World’s Fair. The New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 closed its gates forever on October 27, 1940. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be taking a tour ‘round the globe to discover just what remains from this auspicious and historic event when the World came to New York.

You may be surprised by what we find!