Among the great pleasures of maintaining this daily web log: connecting with people, learning more about all of us, learning new things on a daily basis, and bearing witness to our lives and times. Just yesterday, I learned that my friend Evan (we've been friends since the early 1970s) visited the World's Fair in 1965, as I had with my family. As a follow-up, here are some of his memories of that occasion (by permission) . . .
I remember a good bit - I was pretty excited about going and spending three days in New York with just my father. I can distinctly recall:
1) Seeing the big Unisphere - the globe that is still there on the site, I think. [It is].
2) The life-size dinosaurs at the Sinclair Oil Company exhibit. That was one of the big draws for me and we went there all three days, I think.
3) Riding the big tire-shaped ferris wheel thing - it had closed gondola-style cars instead of seats. We were in one with another man and his little girl about my age. Every time there was a bump, he'd say "There's another screw coming loose" and his daughter would look scared. . .
4) Going through the Ford Pavilion - we had to stand in line forever but it was cool. You rode through the exhibits about the history of life on earth in a big new Ford convertible.
5) We tried to get up into the New York Pavilion to see the fair from up high, but missed closing time and ended up never getting to do that. Think we ate dinner there instead.
I distinctly recall posing for [this photo] with the big tire and the New York Pavilion towers in the background. Check out my crew-cut...
Thank you, Evan! Now, for Michiganders and anyone traveling I-94 between Metro Airport and Detroit, here's an extra treat. That Big Tire pictured above is the same one! See the gondola on the right side of the tire above?
From Roadside America: This 12-ton, 80-foot-tall behemoth was built to withstand hurricane-force winds, and served as a ferris wheel (and a huge advertisement for Uniroyal) at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Twenty-four gondolas circled the tire where the treads are today, carrying nearly two million people. The tire was moved to Allen Park in 1966 . . . (source: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8258)
Today's Rune: Fertility.
5 comments:
Erik, cool info about our landmark. I love how approaching it from the east, it appears on the right side of the road, but it's an illusion. The tire is on the left--every time!!!
Growing up on Long Island, we often passed the site. My bro & I would marvel at it as we passed...and imagine "The Jetsons" in real life.
Cool memories. They are great treasures.
A few years back they removed a nail from that tire. Realtor Roberts bought it (the same guy who helped get two convicts out of prison & Macomb County prosecutor Carl Marlinga in hot water). Last time I saw the nail it was parked on Gratiot in New Baltimore.
Thank you very much. I had thought the the tire much longer in Allen Park than that, but as soon as I saw it in the photograph I recognized it. Thanks for filling in a blank spot on it's history.
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