Editing 1964 New York World's Fair (section)

== Impact ==
=== Reception ===
[[File:US NY NYC 1964-65 Worlds Fair General Motors Pavilion (processed 06-1965) 24 CE Family Coll (51906486967).jpg|thumb|alt=A foggy aerial view of city shows a long, white, low-rise building with the words General Motors on its roof.|The General Motors Pavilion]]

==== Contemporaneous ====
Before the fair opened, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called it a "mixed boon" to New York City because BIE members had boycotted the fair.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 20, 1961 |title=World's Fair Mixed Boon To New York |work=The Washington Post, Times Herald |page=A3 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|141392737}}}}</ref> In late 1963, just before the fair opened, an [[Associated Press]] reporter called it "a big city cousin to the familiar county fair" and said it was becoming one of the United States' most comprehensive exhibits of industries and businesses.<ref name="Lane 1963" /> A British newspaper called the fair "a great big grown-up Disneyland".<ref name="Newsweek 1964a p. 43" />

After the fair's opening, ''Life'' and ''Ebony'' magazines called it one of mankind's largest expositions, and ''Newsweek'' wrote the attractions and pavilions were "hard to resist".<ref name="Samuel p. 38" /> Several writers criticized the large number of industrial exhibits at the fair, and observers complained about the wastefulness of the pavilions' temporary nature.<ref name="Samuel pp. 95–96">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=.|pages=95–96}}</ref> During the second season, ''Time'' magazine wrote the fair was unsuccessful because of long queues, meager exhibits, high prices, and the overwhelmingly large number of attractions for visitors.<ref name="Time 1965 d891">{{cite magazine |date=July 16, 1965 |title=Fairs: What the Matter Can Be |url=https://time.com/archive/6627843/fairs-what-the-matter-can-be/ |access-date=June 7, 2024 |magazine=Time}}</ref> When the fair closed, a ''Wall Street Journal'' reporter wrote it had failed because it "lacked coordination, a common purpose that could be transmitted to the community".<ref>{{cite news |last=Schmedel |first=Scott R. |date=October 15, 1965 |title=World's Fair Lesson: New York Exposition Points Up Difficulty Of Attracting Attention in Today's World |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=16 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133007427}}}}</ref> [[Russell Lynes]] said the concept of the fair was flawed because instant communication between countries was already possible.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1055" /><ref name="Lynes p819">{{cite magazine |last=Lynes |first=Russell |date=October 1, 1965 |title=Goodbye to World's Fairs |url=https://harpers.org/archive/1965/10/goodbye-to-worlds-fairs/ |access-date=June 7, 2024 |magazine=Harper's Magazine}}</ref>

There was also commentary on the conflicting architectural styles,<ref name="Bernstein 2014">{{cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Fred A. |date=April 18, 2014 |title=Architects Remember the '64–65 World's Fair |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/3121-architects-remember-the-64-65-worlds-fair |access-date=May 31, 2024 |website=Architectural Record}}</ref><ref name="Samuel p. 42; Tirella pp. 208–209">{{harvnb|Samuel|2007|ps=|page=42}}; {{harvnb|Tirella|2013|ps=.|pages=208–209}}</ref> which were controversial even before the official opening.<ref name="Schmedel 1961" /><ref name="Samuel p. 99" /> In 1961, John Canaday of ''The New York Times'' wrote he would be surprised if the fair were not "a mess and disaster architecturally".<ref name="nyt-1961-07-30">{{Cite news |last=Canaday |first=John |date=July 30, 1961 |title=The World's Fair; Architects and Critics See a Monster Developing for 1964–65 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/07/30/archives/the-worlds-fair-architects-and-critics-see-a-monster-developing-for.html |access-date=May 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After the fair opened, [[Ada Louise Huxtable]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote the fair was architecturally "grotesque",<ref name="Bernstein 2014" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 22, 1964 |first=Ada Louise |last=Huxtable |title=Architecture: Chaos of Good, Bad and Joyful; Grotesque Contrasts, Wholly Unplanned, Give Fair Charm; Few Ideas Are New—State Pavilion Is Star of Show |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/22/archives/architecturechaos-of-good-bad-and-joyful-grotesque-contrasts-wholly.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512191449/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/22/archives/architecturechaos-of-good-bad-and-joyful-grotesque-contrasts-wholly.html |archive-date=May 12, 2024 |access-date=May 12, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> while other critics criticized the structures as befitting [[Coney Island]] or a [[street fair]].<ref name="Samuel p. 422"/> The critic [[Vincent Scully Jr.]], in a ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine article, wrote: "If This Is Architecture, God Help Us".<ref name="Bernstein 2014" /><ref name="Samuel p. 42; Tirella pp. 208–209" /> In June 1964, ''Time'' said the fair had "grace and substance" despite the presence of some "tacky" attractions,<ref name="Samuel p. 422"/><ref name="Time 1964 p823">{{cite magazine |date=June 5, 1964 |title=Fairs: The World of Already |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,938607-1,00.html |access-date=May 30, 2024 |magazine=Time}}</ref> a sentiment repeated in ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]''.<ref name="Shipp 1964" /> The [[American Institute of Architects]] gave awards for excellence in design to several pavilions.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 12, 1964 |title=Architects Praise 4 Pavilions at Fair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/12/archives/architects-praise-4-pavilions-at-fair.html |access-date=June 3, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A ''[[Newsday]]'' reporter described the fair as "both garish and subtle, tawdry and tasteful, ephemeral and lasting".<ref name="Schwartz 1964" /> After the fair closed, architectural critic [[Wolf Von Eckardt]] said the fair was "a frightening image of ourselves" because of its "chaotic" architecture.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1055" /><ref name="Von Eckardt q189">{{cite book |last=Von Eckardt |first=Wolf |url=https://archive.org/details/placetolivecrisi00vone |title=A Place to Live; The Crisis of the Cities |publisher=Delacorte Press |year=1968 |publication-place=New York |pages=217–218 |oclc=321361 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

==== Retrospective ====
In 1967, ''New York Times'' reporter [[Robert Alden]] wrote the 1964 fair benefited from "participation of private industry on a massive scale" and that more countries were participating in Expo 67.<ref name="nyt-1967-05-01">{{Cite news |last=Alden |first=Robert |date=May 1, 1967 |title=The World on Display; Montreal Fair Outshines New York's In Some Respects, But Not in All |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/05/01/archives/the-world-on-display-montreal-fair-outshines-new-yorks-in-some.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Another ''Times'' writer said in 1989: "The 1964 fair was not as self-conscious a portrayal of the future so much as a display of contemporary American achievements".<ref name="nyt-1989-03-02">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Patricia Leigh |date=March 2, 1989 |title=Fifty Years After the Fair, Where Is Tomorrow? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/02/garden/fifty-years-after-the-fair-where-is-tomorrow.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The same year, a ''Newsday'' reporter wrote the 1964 fair had occurred at a time when audiences were no longer awed by cultural and technological innovations.<ref name="p278141630" /> Robert A. M. Stern wrote in 1995 the 1964 fair had been so attractive in part because "it was out of place amid the realities of life in the nuclear age".<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 1055" />

[[David W. Dunlap]] wrote in 2001 the 1964 fair was still ingrained in the public imagination, even though it had been "a tailfin-tacky celebration of jet-age technological hubris" and an "unhappy final chapter" to Moses's career as New York City's main urban planner.<ref name="nyt-2001-08-26">{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=August 26, 2001 |title=A Queens Park's Past Shapes Its Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/26/realestate/a-queens-park-s-past-shapes-its-future.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to the author Lawrence R. Samuel, the fair's motto "peace through understanding" was overshadowed by the fair's focus on profits,<ref name="Samuel p. 11" /> and a ''Bloomberg'' reporter wrote in 2013 the fair had been dominated by corporate exhibitors.<ref name="Byrnes 2013 o626">{{cite web |last=Byrnes |first=Mark |date=October 17, 2013 |title=New York's 1964 World's Fair Was Actually Something of a Failure |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-17/new-york-s-1964-world-s-fair-was-actually-something-of-a-failure |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> In the same year, Joseph Tirella wrote although "peace through understanding continues to elude us", the United States had become more ethnically diverse due to the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], which was enacted just before the fair ended.<ref name="Tirella p. 329">{{harvnb|Tirella|2013|ps=.|page=329}}</ref>

According to ''[[New York Daily News]]'' in 2012, the remaining structures from the fair "have provided [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park] with some of its most striking structures".<ref name="p1462680741">{{cite news |last=Colangelo |first=Lisa L. |date=June 14, 2012 |title=Park Administrator Has Community Touch |work=New York Daily News |page=7 |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|1462680741}}}}</ref> For the fair's 50th anniversary, ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'' magazine wrote the fair's "limitless faith in material and social progress" had been counteracted by the social upheaval in the U.S. that took place during the mid-1960s.<ref name="Abel 2014 v185">{{cite web |last=Abel |first=Allen |date=August 20, 2014 |title=The Great Big, Beautiful Tomorrow |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/great-big-beautiful-tomorrow-180952395/ |access-date=May 27, 2024 |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> In 2018, ''The New York Times'' wrote the fair was a showcase for futuristic technology and a place where "foreigners could broadcast their best wares and fairgoers could catch a glimpse into their far-off cultures".<ref name="nyt-2018-04-24" />

=== Influence ===

==== Economic and regional influence ====
[[File:Unisphere in summer.jpg|thumb|The Unisphere, one of the fair's remaining structures|alt=On a sunny day, in a pool with a  fountains, sits a huge, skeletal representation of Earth, with North and South America visible.]]

The fair was credited with increasing [[tourism in New York City]], even before the formal opening.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1964 |title=Manhattan Still Remains the Attraction as the Tourists Start Pouring Into the City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/14/archives/manhattan-still-remains-the-attraction-as-the-tourists-start.html |access-date=May 31, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The city's hotels and garages were often overcrowded during the fair's 1964 season.<ref name="The Sun 1964a">{{Cite news |date=July 3, 1964 |title=Fair City Has Number of Problems: New York Seen More Foul-Up Than 'Festival' in Some Ways |work=The Sun |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|533657040}}}}</ref><ref name="Samuel p. 55" /> [[Broadway theater]]s recorded increased ticket sales,<ref name="The Sun 1964a" /> as did other visitor attractions such as the [[Empire State Building]] and [[Radio City Music Hall]].<ref name="Alden 1964" /><ref name="Samuel p. 58" /> Though major department stores and restaurants saw increased business,<ref name="Samuel p. 55" /> other merchants reported the fair had not had a measurable effect on their businesses.<ref name="nyt-1964-07-03">{{Cite news |date=July 3, 1964 |title=Fair No Big Boon to City's Business; Visitors Spend Little Here, Many Merchants Report |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/03/archives/fair-no-big-boon-to-citys-business-visitors-spend-little-here-many.html |access-date=June 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> To avoid crowds, many residents left the city during the fair.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 9, 1964 |title=The Talk of New York; Invasion of Kinsfolk; New Yorkers Are Erecting Defenses Against Hordes Arriving for the Fair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/09/archives/the-talk-of-new-york-invasion-of-kinsfolk-new-yorkers-are-erecting.html |access-date=June 2, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Attendance at local amusement parks declined during the fair and some parks, such as [[Freedomland U.S.A.]], permanently closed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=McCandlish |date=May 8, 1966 |title=With Fair Over, Amusement Parks See a Big Year |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/08/archives/with-fair-over-amusement-parks-see-a-big-year.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

At the end of the 1964 season, the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated the city had earned $400&nbsp;million due to the fair.<ref name="Schmedel 1964a" /><ref name="nyt-1964-10-14" /> ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' wrote in 1965 the fair had only partially benefited the area's economy.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hornaday |first=Mary |date=July 14, 1965 |title=New York: What Kind of Future?: Crime and Crowding Budget Soars Major Problems Noted |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=1 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|510739085}}}}</ref> After the fair ended, ''The New York Times'' estimated it had increased local restaurant profits by eight percent, while stores in [[Midtown Manhattan]] saw their profits increase by approximately four percent.<ref name="nyt-1965-10-17b" /> The highways leading to the fairground remained in use after the fair's closure, and residential development in Queens increased.<ref name="Samuel p. 86" /><ref name="nyt-1966-05-01">{{Cite news |last=Porterfield |first=Byron |date=May 1, 1966 |title=Fairs Come and Go but Growth They Spawned Goes On in Queens; Borough 'Discovered' by the Visitors to Expositions—New Roads Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/01/archives/fairs-come-and-go-but-growth-they-spawned-goes-on-in-queens-borough.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==== Cultural influence and media ====
At the fair's 50th anniversary, a writer for ''[[amNewYork Metro]]'' wrote it helped influence 21st-century technologies and highlighted Flushing Meadows–Corona Park as an attraction in itself.<ref name="Pereira c053">{{cite web |last=Pereira |first=Ivan |date=April 21, 2014 |title=World's Fair 50th Anniversary Brings Renewed Push for Pavilion Restoration |url=https://www.amny.com/news/world-s-fair-50th-anniversary-brings-renewed-push-for-pavilion-restoration-1-7783882/ |access-date=June 7, 2024 |website=amNewYork}}</ref> The fair helped popularize several consumer products such as Belgian waffles and the Ford Mustang.<ref name="Bonanos 2014 v186" /> The 1964 World's Fair included several exhibits and technologies that were later included in [[Disney parks]];<ref name="Antos 2020 e982">{{cite web |last=Antos |first=Jason D. |date=February 26, 2020 |title=How The 1964 World's Fair Influenced Walt Disney Explored In New Book |url=https://www.qgazette.com/articles/how-the-1964-worlds-fair-influenced-walt-disney-explored-in-new-book/ |access-date=May 24, 2024 |website=Queens Gazette}}</ref><ref name="p426610123" /> for example, the Illinois Pavilion's [[Audio-Animatronic]] of [[Abraham Lincoln]] was so popular Audio-Animatronics were later added to many Disney rides.<ref name="Variety 1966">{{cite magazine |date=February 9, 1966 |title=Disneyland Sets $23-Mil Expansion; To Install N.Y. World's Fair Exhibits |magazine=Variety |pages=47 |volume=241 |issue=12 |id={{ProQuest|1032431899}}}}</ref><ref name="OCR s872" /> [[Walt Disney]] designed exhibits at the World's Fair; [[It's a Small World]], the Progressland carousel, and the Magic Skyway were later incorporated into Disney parks.<ref name="OCR s872">{{cite web | title=Disney history: Disney rides open at World's Fair | website=Orange County Register | date=April 20, 2014 | url=https://www.ocregister.com/2014/04/20/disney-history-disney-rides-open-at-worlds-fair/ | access-date=June 5, 2024}}</ref>

The fair has been the subject of documentary films such as ''The 1964 World's Fair'' (1996),<ref name="p235408685">{{Cite magazine |last=Dick |first=Jeff |date=March 15, 1999 |title=The 1964 World's Fair: Relive the Wonder |magazine=The Booklist |pages=1347–1348 |volume=95 |issue=14 |id={{ProQuest|235408685}}}}</ref> ''After the Fair'' (2014),<ref>{{cite web |date=October 21, 2014 |title=Glenside Couple Creates Documentary About the New York 1964–'65 World's Fair |url=https://www.thereporteronline.com/2014/10/21/photo-gallery-video-glenside-couple-creates-documentary-about-the-new-york-1964-65-worlds-fair/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=The Reporter Online}}</ref> and ''Peace Through Understanding: The 1964–65 New York World's Fair''.<ref name="nyt-1996-03-17">{{Cite news |last=Leduff |first=Charlie |date=March 17, 1996 |title=Neighborhood Report: Flushing; Preserving The Relics Of the Fairs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/17/nyregion/neighborhood-report-flushing-preserving-the-relics-of-the-fairs.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The fair and its structures have been depicted in popular media; for example, the New York State Pavilion and the Unisphere appear in the films ''[[Men in Black (1997 film)|Men in Black]]'' and ''[[Iron Man 2]]''.<ref>For the New York State Pavilion, see {{Cite news |last=De Aenlle |first=Conrad |date=May 1, 2015 |title=World's Fairs and Their Legacies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/arts/international/worlds-fairs-and-their-legacies.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516004843/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/arts/international/worlds-fairs-and-their-legacies.html |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=May 15, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} For the Unisphere, see {{cite web | title=Famous Movie And Television Locations Around The U.S. | website=CBS New York | date=October 8, 2013 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/famous-movie-and-television-locations-around-the-u-s/ | access-date=June 30, 2024}}</ref> Historians have created websites<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fountain |first=Henry |date=January 26, 1998 |title=Taking In the Sites; A Virtual Trip to World Fairs Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/26/business/taking-in-the-sites-a-virtual-trip-to-world-fairs-past.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and written books about the fair.<ref>See, for example: {{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=July 27, 2008 |title=A Fair, A Law and the Urban Walker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/nyregion/thecity/27read.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Colangelo |first=Lisa L. |date=December 1, 2013 |title=In his 'Sphere' Local author flashes back to 1964 World's Fair |work=New York Daily News |page=3 |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|1462680741}}}}</ref> The fair has been the subject of several exhibitions at venues including the [[Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harrison |first=Helen A. |date=July 11, 1985 |title=20-Year Old Perspective on World's Fair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/11/garden/20year-old-perspective-on-worlds-fair.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Queens Museum]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Iverem |first=Esther |date=November 5, 1989 |title=Queens Culture Museum in the Park Recalls World's Fairs |work=Newsday |page=9 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278141630}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=December 29, 1989 |title=In Queens, A Look Back At 2 Visions Of the Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/29/arts/in-queens-a-look-back-at-2-visions-of-the-future.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1996-03-17" /> [[Flushing Town Hall]],<ref name="p2870133300" /> and the [[Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacobson |first=Aileen |date=April 1, 2011 |title=Back to the Futurama and the Ferris Wheel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/nyregion/03artsli.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The fair's 50th anniversary in 2014 was celebrated with six months of parties, exhibits, and other events across Queens.<ref name="p1613089662">{{cite news |last=Colangelo |first=Lisa L. |date=October 17, 2014 |title=50th Anniversary Bash Ending |work=New York Daily News |page=32 |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|1613089662}}}}</ref>

Hobbyists have collected memorabilia from the fair,<ref>{{cite web |last=Brenzel |first=Kathryn |date=April 22, 2014 |title=World's Fair of 1964 Lives on in New Milford Man's Home, Report Says |url=https://www.nj.com/bergen/2014/04/worlds_fair_of_1964_lives_on_in_new_milford_mans_home_report_says.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |website=The Star-Ledger |via=NJ.com |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=November 13, 1988 |title=World's Fair Buffs Gather in Queens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/13/nyregion/world-s-fair-buffs-gather-in-queens.html |access-date=June 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and several collectors have founded the World's Fair Collectors Society.<ref name="p2870133300">{{cite news |last=Caldwell |first=Kelly |date=September 15, 1995 |title=It Happened at The World's Fair: Remembering the 1964–65 Exposition in Flushing Meadows at a Town Hall Exhibit |work=Newsday |page=B25 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|2870133300}}}}</ref> Collectors have preserved objects such as bracelets, medallions, ponchos, purses, and pocketknives.<ref name="Yan 2024 c647">{{cite web |last=Yan |first=Ellen |title=World's Fair collectors say time travel is possible, by way of their 1964 memorabilia |website=Newsday |date=June 11, 2024 |url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/family/worlds-fair-1964-collectors-aqz3swcp |access-date=June 15, 2024}}</ref> The [[Smithsonian Institution]] and Queens Museum also own objects from the World's Fair,<ref name="nyt-1996-03-17" /> and there have been efforts to develop a World's Fair museum.<ref name="p211850935" />