A View From the Bridge

The Bridge of Flags in 1939;
from the Richard Wurts/Dover paperback

As previously noted, anyone who knows anything about The Fair knows that there are two structures from 1939 still standing in situ in Flushing Meadows: the New York City Building and the Boat House. But it's curious to me how many overlook an important third Fair structure from 1939--the Bridge of Flags. Also referred to as the "Spillway" bridge, it led from the Town of Tomorrow to "Gardens on Parade" and into the foreign zone, which lay to the northeast.












Perhaps its anonymity can be attributed to the fact that the bridge lay on the periphery of the fairgrounds, and does not seem to be indicated by name on any Fair maps. And while one can purchase postcards of the "Bridge of Wings" (one of two bridges that spanned Grand Central Parkway and provided access form the main fairgrounds to the Transportation Zone, the other being the Bridge of Wheels) on eBay, it would seem that the Bridge of Flags was not deemed important enough to be immortalized on a postcard.

December, 2012

To what porpoise?

Today the bridge goes by the name "Porpoise Bridge", which is the name I am assuming was assigned to it for the '64-65 Fair. Why, I cannot imagine...just how many porpoises show up in Flushing Meadows?

Abe Goes To The Fair

Though not created for The Fair, Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s Abraham Lincoln: The Man (aka Standing Lincoln) was displayed at The Fair as part of the Illinois exhibit. Not surprisingly, the Saint-Gaudens Lincoln was one of a number of sculptures (I know of at least 4) depicting the 16th president, both at the Illinois exhibit and throughout The Fair.

The Fair statue was an artist-authorized reduction (one of only sixteen known to exist, and one of the first two produced) of the original, created for Chicago’s Lincoln Park in 1887. I am quite certain that the cast exhibited at The Fair is now on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

According to the Met's press release, the bronze, acquired from a private collector, was originally owned by Clara Stone Hay, the widow of Lincoln’s onetime private assistant secretary, John M. Hay. The note on the back of the photo of the statue in the New York Public Library's Fair collection (below) indicates that it was lent by the children of John and Clara Hay. So, unless the Hays had several casts of the statue (which is unlikely), the Met statue is the one exhibited at The Fair.

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. 

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.

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!