# Did anyone here attend the NY World's Fair (1964-1965)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593 "2017-04-30T19:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/1 "2017-04-30T19:23:45Z")
And if so, what are your memories of the Pinkerton Guards? My grandpa worked as one ;p. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/2 "2017-04-30T19:32:41Z")
I was born and raised in Queens and my family has pictures that prove I was there as a little kid… but I don’t remember the World’s Fair at all. I have better recall of Expo 67 in Montreal. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/3 "2017-04-30T20:00:03Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is looking for personal experiences, let’s move it to IMHO (from GQ). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/4 "2017-04-30T20:07:32Z")
I was living in NYC during part of that time, and I did go to the fair. I have no memory of the Pinkerton Guards. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/5 "2017-04-30T20:15:14Z")
I attended several times. I was allowed to wander around on my own. I do remember some of the pavilions. Ford had you sitting in cars as you saw the exhibit and GM had the futurama. “To Be Alive” (Johnson’s Wax) was a highlight. It was shown on three screens. The GE Carousel of Progress was fun. It was later moved to Disney World, but with one big difference: the World’s Fair version had the audience on a carousel (you could see the building move as you waited). The later version had the stage on the carousel. I remember seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta. It sat in the middle of an area surrounded in blue, and you stood on a conveyor belt to see it. For about 30 seconds or so. The Equitable Life Insurance Company always impressed me because it showed US population to the second and a big board. There was also Tad’s Steak House. It was selling steaks for $1.19 – which was a great price even back then. When I went there the next time, it was up to $1.29. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/6 "2017-04-30T20:38:02Z")
I went, but I was only 4-5, so I remember very little. I do remember the GM Futurama exhibit, and I loved the Sinclair Dinosaur-making machine. I really regret destroying my Triceratops. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/7 "2017-04-30T20:53:40Z")
Here is an overview. I had no idea it was so extensive. [New York World’s Fair - 1964 / 1965 - A Report by Lowell Thomas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V41NW5m7Scg) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/8 "2017-04-30T21:59:56Z")
I went. Don’t remember guards. I remember seeing the Pieta, and riding the monorail. Also, a troupe of acrobats who would climb slender flexible poles and do a routine where they would get the poles swaying enough that they could swap poles. They slid down the poles head first and stopped just before smack. A memory which is vivid, but I think maybe false, is honking the monorail’s horn. Dumb thing: from the monorail I could see over a fence where a regular carnival and midway was set up, and wished I was there instead. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/9 "2017-04-30T22:24:53Z")
What, nobody remembers [The Big Cheese](http://www.nywf64.com/wisconsin04.shtml)? After the Pieta, it was my greatest memory. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/10 "2017-04-30T22:51:54Z")
If you want, I could asked my parents and older siblings, they all went. I wasn’t born yet though. I’ve heard them talk about many things, like the Disney displays and seeing Louis Armstrong perform, but they never mentioned Pinkerton Guards. Apparently to them the Fair was a pretty big deal. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/11 "2017-04-30T23:04:54Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Apparently to them the Fair was a pretty big deal. It really was a big deal. But not as big as the 1939 World’s Fair, which my parents went to. That was HUGE. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/12 "2017-04-30T23:14:59Z")
My brother does not recall any guards at all. Pinkerton or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/13 "2017-05-01T00:07:41Z")
I went in '64. I was 15. I don’t remember much about it. I do remember GE Carousel of Progress, but then I’ve seen that later at Disney so I can’t really separate the memories. I think that was where I got to try out a picture telephone. I don’t recall the guards at all. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/14 "2017-05-01T00:57:33Z")
I was 10. My family, including grandmother and aunt, spent 3 or 4 days there. I remember It’s A Small World and the Pieta, and I still have a glow-in-the-dark name badge from the Ford exhibit. But no memories of Pinkerton. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/15 "2017-05-01T01:15:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I attended several times. I was allowed to wander around on my own. > > I do remember some of the pavilions. Ford had you sitting in cars I believe Disney did this for them. They had a couple of other things there too. Lincoln was theirs (and still going at Disneyland). Small World too (also still at Disneyland). > [@RealityChuck](#): > > The GE Carousel of Progress was fun. It was later moved to Disney World, but with one big difference: the World’s Fair version had the audience on a carousel (you could see the building move as you waited). The later version had the stage on the carousel. Went to Disneyland before Disney World (where it still is). And the audience was on the carousel in both Parks. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/16 "2017-05-01T01:20:41Z")
I went at age 4 and 5. It’s one of the earliest memories I have . I lived in NJ at the time. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/17 "2017-05-01T01:23:01Z")
I went. I remember many different things, not the Pinkertons. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/18 "2017-05-01T02:22:54Z")
My father attended. I have the irradiated silver dime he got as a souvenir. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/19 "2017-05-01T02:42:12Z")
I went a couple of times. There was a cheap bus ride down from New Britain, CT. Our folks would let several of us 12/13 year old kids go down together. Faintest memory was a ride we we sat in something like an egg and my idiot friend decided to toss a candy wrapper off. We (guilty by association) all got tossed off. I don’t think it was a Pinkerton operation. The food was great and we were on our own in an exotic local. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593/20 "2017-05-01T03:16:52Z")
We went to it a couple times and I have no memory of any Pinkerton guards. What I remember was some animated Sherlock Holmes film where after he catches the criminal, Watson asks how did he outthink the criminals. Holmes opens his jacket to reveal he is actually a computer. Oh, yeah, Rheingold beer had a village set up to show how life was in 1904. Why they chose that year I am not sure since the company was founded in 1883. Since Rheingold sponsored the Mets broadcasts, they advertised that a lot with things that happened in 1904…like the New York Giants refusing to play in the World Series (and if anything else happened in 1904 besides the Presidential election, I can’t remember) They had parking lots and bus service to the west of the toll plazas for the Whitestone bridge in the Bronx. Belgian waffles were a hit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-attend-the-ny-worlds-fair-1964-1965/785593.md?page=2)