The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activities, performances, films, art, and food presented by 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and nearly 350 American companies. The 646-acre (261 ha) fairground consisted of five sections: the Federal and State, International, Transportation, Lake Amusement, and Industrial areas. The fair was themed to "peace through understanding" and was centered on the Unisphere, a stainless-steel model of the Earth. Initially, the fair had 139 pavilions, in addition to 34 concessions and shows.
The site had previously hosted the 1939 New York World's Fair. Several businessmen devised plans for a 1964 fair in the 1950s, and the New York World's Fair 1964 Corporation (WFC) was formed in 1959. Although U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the fair, the Bureau International des Expositions refused to grant the fair formal recognition. Construction began in late 1960, and over a hundred exhibitors signed up for the fair over the next three years. The fair ran for two six-month seasons: April 22 to October 18, 1964, and April 21 to October 17, 1965. Despite initial projections of 70 million visitors, the fair had just over 51.6 million guests. After the fair, some pavilions were preserved or relocated, but most structures were demolished.
The fair showcased mid-20th-century American culture and technology. The different sections were designed in various architectural styles, though anyone could host an exhibit if they could afford to rent the land and pay for a pavilion. The fairground had several amusement and transport rides, as well as various plazas and fountains. The fair had 198 restaurants at its peak, and dishes served at these restaurants, such as Belgian waffles, were popularized through the fair. There were more than 30 entertainment events at the fair, in addition to 40 theaters and various music performances. Exhibitors also displayed sculptures, visual art, and artifacts, along with consumer products such as electronics and cars. The contemporary press criticized the event as a financial failure. Nonetheless, the fair helped influence 21st-century technologies and popularized consumer products such as Belgian waffles and the Ford Mustang.
The site of the 1964 World's Fair, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, was originally a natural wetland straddling the Flushing River.[13] The site was the Corona Ash Dumps in the early 20th century[14] before it was selected for the 1939–1940 World's Fair.[15][16] The 1939 fair was themed to "the world of tomorrow"[17][18] and was highly unprofitable, recouping only 32% of its original cost.[18][19] After the 1939 fair, the site was used as a park,[20] although the site fell into disrepair due to a lack of funds.[16][21] The development of the 1964 fair coincided with social upheavals in the early 1960s, including the civil rights movement, Vietnam War protests, and the aftermath of U.S. president John F. Kennedy's assassination.[22]
The idea for the 1964 fair was conceived by a group of businessmen.[23][24] Among them was Robert Kopple, a lawyer who first discussed the idea at a family dinner in 1958[24][25] before suggesting it at a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society the following year.[26] The year 1964 was nominally selected to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the British conquest of the Dutch colony of New Netherland.[17][23][27] Kopple and two friends, Charles Preusse and Thomas J. Deegan, met with 35 potential financiers at the 21 Club restaurant.[28] New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. and parks commissioner Robert Moses formally endorsed the proposal in August 1959,[29][30] and seventy-five businessmen formed the New York World's Fair 1964 Corporation (WFC) that month.[31] Moses, who saw a 1964 fair as a means to develop the Flushing Meadows site,[32] offered to let the WFC use Flushing Meadows for a nominal fee.[28] The fairground would include not only the 1939 World's Fair site but also a part of the nearby Kissena Corridor Park.[33]
The bid still needed approval from the United States Congress and the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the French organization that was in charge of approving world's fairs.[34] With Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., submitting competing bids,[35][36] U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed a committee to review the 1964 world's fair bids in October 1959,[37][38] and Eisenhower approved the New York bid later that month.[8][39] Seventy-five nations had informally indicated an intention to attend the fair by late 1959,[40] and the WFC began looking for a president and three additional managers in early 1960.[41] Moses was tentatively selected as the WFC's president that March,[42] despite Kopple's objections that Moses was too old.[17][43] In turn, Moses would not take the job unless Kopple resigned,[44][45] as the two men had disagreed bitterly over the canceled Mid-Manhattan Elevated Expressway.[44][46] After Kopple quit the WFC,[45][47] Moses formally became the WFC's president that May.[48] Moses wanted the fair to run for two years,[49] and consultants for the WFC predicted that the fair would have 70 million visitors during that time.[50][51]
Moses traveled to Paris to ask for the BIE's recognition of the fair.[52] Although the BIE had allowed the WFC to begin planning the fair in November 1959,[53] BIE officials decided not to give formal recognition to the fair.[54] Under BIE rules, world's fairs could run for only one 6-month period,[55][6] though the WFC had tried to request an exemption.[56] The New York fair would also charge rent to foreign governments, contravening another BIE rule that prevented rent from being charged to exhibitors.[55][57] In addition, the BIE allowed only one exposition per country every ten years.[6][58] These rules were not immutable; for example, the BIE had recognized the 1939 fair, even though the previous exposition had run for two seasons.[57] However, Moses refused to negotiate with BIE officials and treated them derisively,[59][60] belittling the BIE as a "bunch of clowns in Paris".[54][6] As such, the BIE instead decided to approve the 1962 Seattle World's Fair,[6][58] and the BIE directed its members to not host official exhibits at the 1964 New York World's Fair.[54][60][61]
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The WFC planned to issue $500 million in bonds,[29][62] which were later decreased to $150 million.[63] Moses proclaimed that the 1964 fair would be a "billion-dollar" event, though this included expenses for related projects such as roads and the nearby Shea Stadium.[64] The WFC leased about 646 acres (261 ha) from the city government in May 1960.[3] Moses hired former lieutenant governor Charles Poletti and military engineer William Everett Potter to organize the exhibits.[65] A design committee had proposed one massive, doughnut-shaped pavilion.[45][66][67] Moses rejected the plan,[67] and the design committee had been forced out by the end of the year.[66][68] Moses did not devise any master plan for the fair;[57] he wanted to save the WFC money by having exhibitors erect most of their own pavilions,[45][69] The city government implemented a building code and health code,[70] which Potter enforced.[69] Nearly all buildings were to be temporary structures.[49][50]
The 1964 fair was to be themed to "peace through understanding".[17][71] WFC member Jerome Weinstein had suggested the motto, which was inspired by an ideal that Kopple had wanted for his daughters.[71] Moses wrote that the fair was meant "to assist in educating the peoples of the world as to the interdependence of nations and the need for universal lasting peace".[72] Exhibits were to be divided into five areas,[73][74] including a transportation area operated by the Port of New York Authority.[57][75][76] The original plans called for an amusement park area,[73] which was canceled after the WFC could not find an operator.[77] By August 1960, the first ten exhibitors had applied for space at the fair,[78] and architectural blueprints had been submitted for the fair's first pavilion.[79] The WFC began sending delegations abroad to invite foreign governments to the fair.[80][81]
The group began issuing $67.5 million in promissory notes in late 1960 to fund construction;[82] the WFC later reduced the amount to $64 million (consisting of $40 million in notes plus $24 million from the city).[83] At the time, the WFC's finance chairman predicted that the fair would earn over $200 million.[84][85] By the end of 1960, seven countries had agreed to sponsor exhibits.[86] and one-third of the industrial pavilion sites had been leased.[87] Moses announced in early 1961 that the Unisphere would be built as the fair's symbol,[88] and the WFC also hired the Pinkerton agency to provide security and first-aid services.[89] A report published that January indicated that the fair itself would cost $768 million,[74] although much of the cost would be paid by individual exhibitors.[90]
Exhibitors designed their own pavilions, and the construction contractors hired members of local labor unions to build the structures.[91] Wagner predicted that 10,000 people would be employed during construction.[92] The WFC hosted "preview days" where selected guests could view the construction.[93] The Travelers Companies built information centers across the U.S. to promote the fair,[60][94] and local chapters of the Elks, Kiwanis, and Rotary clubs promoted the fair nationwide.[60] The WFC issued collectible bronze and silver medallions,[95] manufactured by the Medallic Art Company.[96] Commemorative postage stamps were issued to celebrate the fair, both in the U.S.[97] and in other nations.[98] Some New York license plates also had slogans advertising the fair.[99][100] Several hotels were built nearby to accommodate fair visitors,[101] and public transit and roads to the fair were also upgraded.[102][103] The WFC opened an information office to answer visitors' questions.[104] Private businesses promoted their products for the fair,[105][106] and discounted tickets were also sold in advance of the opening.[107][108]
William Whipple Jr., the fair's chief engineer, said in September 1960 that exhibitors would be able to begin erecting pavilions by 1962.[109] Construction of the first building, an administration structure, began in August 1960[110] and was finished in January 1961.[111] In early 1961, almost all of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was closed to accommodate the fair's construction,[112] and the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) World's Fair station opened.[113] Workers also moved trees[114] and diverted parts of the Flushing River into tunnels.[115] By April 1961, thirty-four countries had accepted invitations to the fair,[116] and the city agreed to spend $24 million improving the park.[83][117] Moses obtained additional funds secretively from the city government; according to Moses's biographer Robert Caro, the city government may have spent as much as $60 million on the fair.[117]
The WFC announced in May that it would proceed with the planned amusement area around Meadow Lake,[118] hiring the billionaire H. L. Hunt to operate the rides.[119] By mid-1961, the WFC had privately raised $25 million and was predicting a $53 million profit.[120] The groundbreaking ceremony for the first 1964 Fair pavilion took place that June.[121] The WFC struggled to sell the remaining bonds[122] and had sold around $30 million in promissory notes (three-fourths of the total) by the end of 1961.[123] During the fair's construction, civil-rights activists expressed concerns that that the WFC's leadership included very few African Americans.[124][81] Even after Moses met with activists, he still did not appoint African Americans to leadership positions,[125][126] which attracted controversy amid the ongoing civil rights movement.[124][126] The WFC eventually hired an African American executive to the fair's international division in 1962.[127][128] Later that year, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller formed a committee to investigate persistent complaints about discrimination within the WFC.[129]
Meanwhile, by the beginning of 1962, more than 60 nations, the governments of 30 U.S. states, and 50 companies had agreed to exhibit at the fair.[130] The WFC also created a scale model of the fairground.[131] The LIRR constructed a siding from the Port Washington Branch, allowing trains to deliver material.[132] At a luncheon in March 1962, Moses lamented that construction had fallen behind schedule.[133] The WFC had allocated $6 million to advertise the fair by mid-1962, and Deegan predicted that the fair's participants would spend another $75 million of their own money on promotion.[134] The WFC also tried to attract Latin American countries to the fair.[135] By late 1962, exhibits for the fair were being finalized, and many pavilions were under construction.[136] Either 68[137][138] or 71 nations had announced plans for exhibits at the fair by then,[139] though only 35 countries had formally leased space.[140] Additionally, 125 businesses had expressed interest,[138] and the WFC had finished installing utilities on the fairground.[139] At the end of 1962, a small number of state and international pavilions were being built, while work in the industrial and transportation areas was further along.[141] Groundbreaking ceremonies were hosted for many of the international pavilions.[7]
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The World's Fair Housing Bureau was formed in early 1963 to coordinate the development of hotel rooms for the fair.[142] Despite commitments from various state and national governments, only some of these governments were actively constructing pavilions.[143] The WFC also wanted to hire 40 concessionaires and sell 70 intellectual property licenses, which the corporation hoped would raise $130 million.[144] On April 22, 1963, exactly a year before the fair's opening,[93] U.S. President John F. Kennedy activated a countdown clock to the fair's opening.[107][145] At the time, only 48 of the 200 proposed buildings had even started construction,[146] even though all major structures had to be under construction by the following month.[143][146] The press building opened that May,[147] and an insurance syndicate was formed that June to protect the exhibits.[148] By mid-1963, civil-rights groups were protesting the lack of racial diversity in the fair's development[128][149] and filed a lawsuit to halt construction.[150] That July, Moses denied rumors that construction had fallen behind schedule.[151][152]
Materials from overseas began arriving in August 1963,[153] though work on 50 structures still had not started by the next month.[46] Moses became increasingly hostile toward journalists who doubted that the fair would be completed on time.[152] There were also disagreements over whether students should receive discounted tickets; Moses opposed the plan,[154][155] though the city government ultimately forced him to sell discounted tickets.[154]