Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 13:16 Gateway from 1915 SF, 1933-'34 Chicago, and 1939-'40 NY will be at Shanghai 2010: english.eastday.com/e/0628/u1a4465603.html #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:56 @Kreesox Yes. 2010's will be the largest world's fair (area, countries, and probably attendance) in history: www.ExpoMuseum.com/ #
• 10:25 RT @paleofuture Official Guide Book: 1939 World's Fair bit.ly/p4kkX #
• 12:47 Made backup hotel reservations in Shanghai for Expo 2010 in May/June 2010: 14 days, 4 people in 2 rooms... just $616! #
• 12:49 RT @worldexpo2010 About 1.7 million tickets to Shanghai World Expo have been sold en.expo2010.cn/news/newsncenter.htm #expo2010 #
• 16:15 Anchorage Daily News: Racism and Seattle's 1909 A-Y-P Expo (try to ignore the headline typo): www.adn.com/opinion/story/844074.html #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:34 RT @worldexpoblog Ever wanted to smell like a French pavilion? Soon you can tinyurl.com/m8hs5m #expo2010 #
• 11:20 25 June 2009: 5 days until Expo 2010 US Pavilion deadline, 310 days until Expo 2010 opening day #expo2010 #
• 11:22 RT @edmontonexpo17 Lunch event, open house, staff/special meeting? #EXPO2017 can customize presentation to meet needs: bit.ly/CuVDq #
• 15:36 Excellent site from Hungary (but in English) about Expo 2010: www.expo2010china.hu/ #expo2010 Great source for specific pavilions! #
• 15:56 Huffington Post on the 1909 A-Y-P's NYC-SEA car race: bit.ly/fKQpl #
• 16:53 Posted about my trip to Seattle for the 1909 A-Y-P Expo Centennial and my visit to the 1962 Century 21 site: ExpoMuseum.com/blog/ #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Visiting Seattle... and Going Back to 1909 and 1962

It's always a great pleasure to visit Seattle. Last weekend, I was in Seattle for a symposium about the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI).

The 1909 A-Y-P isn't well known, particularly outside of Seattle, so it was a great opportunity to learn more about this small world's fair and, in my own mind, fill in the gap between 1904 St. Louis and 1915 San Francisco. The expo was on the site of the University of Washington campus. Not much of the original architecture is left from 1909, but the basic layout of the campus is a legacy of the Olmsted Brothers. The A-Y-P attracted 4 million visitors and claimed to have been the first world's fair to turn a profit. It was the Pacific Northwest's first world's fair. Seattle later hosted the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, Spokane hosted Expo 74, and Vancouver hosted Expo 86.

If you consider Edmonton or Calgary to be in the Pacific Northwest, you could say that Expo 2017 could very well be the fifth expo in that region.

Attendees seem to be attracted to the symposium for a variety of reasons. Some were primarily interested in world's fairs, but I think most were interested in Seattle history, landscape architecture, and the arts and crafts movement. Speaking with some of the attendees that weren't familiar with the whole breadth of world's fair history, some were not aware that they were still held, a situation I've mentioned before in this blog.

I took a few photos at the Museum of History and Industry as well as the University of Washington campus:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expomuseum/sets/72157619709861329/

The five speakers and the campus tour were excellent.

Saturday, Leland Roth of the University of Oregon in Eugene spoke about the world's fair that preceded the A-Y-P, covering the era 1851 to 1904. He focused mostly on the architectural aspects of the fairs. Landscape historian David Streatfield spoke about the City Beautiful movement and how the A-Y-P related to that. Brooks Kolb spoke about the Olmsted Brothers, the landscape designers behind the fair.

Sunday's portion of the symposium featured Michael Herschenson, who spoke mostly of the A-Y-P in the context of Seattle, and the University of Washington. Historian Gray Brechin, for me, highlighted the symposium talking about the 1909 A-Y-P in the context of other West Coast fairs and how they reflect the social and political aspirations of their times and locations. Mr. Brechin jokingly said he hoped San Francisco wouldn't get another exposition given that big wars always seem to follow them. Here, I disagree. I'm willing to risk a 2020 World's Fair.

I thought the panel discussion was particularly interesting and it was here that we heard the only mention of world's fairs as a living, continuing medium.

Going back to when I first visiting Seattle when I was 19 and traveling to Vancouver for Expo 86, I make at least one pilgrimage to Seattle Center, the legacy site of the 1962 Century 21 Exposition.

I took photos of the site, naturally:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expomuseum/sets/72157620084208405/

I'm always pleased by the site and how its used by the public.

Everyone knows the Space Needle, of course, and most folks discover the Pacific Science Center, originally the United States Science Exhibit from the 1962 fair. The monorail still runs, even after a few problems a few years ago when they managed to run them into each other. It's always a thrill to ride the monorail, imagining what it was like to ride it 47 years ago.

The Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum are now on the site, as well, with the Alweg Monorail running through it.

With plans to refresh the site in the coming years, I keep thinking some sort of world's fair museum (such as, perhaps, an ExpoMuseum, eh?) would make a great and appropriate addition. I was pleased to discover the Center House (the Food Circus during the fair) had, in one corner, a small World's Fair Gallery, showing images and memorabilia from the Century 21. If anyone knows about who is behind this exhibit, please let me know. I'm hoping it expands beyond its current single exhibit. In the aforementioned Flickr set, I've included photos of the exhibit.

2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Century 21 Exposition and I suspect they'll be far more interest in this anniversary in Seattle. I can't wait to go back for events surrounding that celebration. It will even be worth the trip from Yeosu, Korea, host of Expo 2012!

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:25 Expo 2010 float at Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena: english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6685318.html #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:17 Jade Dowkow has recently been photographing old world's fair sites and is featured at tr.im/ptqc and at tr.im/ptpU #
• 10:36 23 June 2009 marks the one week mark until the United States must confirm participation in Shanghai's Expo 2010. #
• 11:07 RT @arthubasia "Beams of Light Radiating from" World Expo 2010 Chinese Pavilion tinyurl.com/n25hay #
• 11:08 RT @onetwomusic Quincy Jones composes Shanghai Expo 2010 theme and predicts who the saviour of music industry is. viigo.im/ZRK #
• 11:38 RT @edmontonexpo17 116 yrs ago today, ferris wheel debuted at Chicago world's fair. What could Edmonton's legacy be? #
• 11:41 @tat2dqltr I find that folks under 40 in the United States don't know what a world's fair is anymore... point them to www.ExpoMuseum.com #
• 17:23 RT @edmontonexpo17: Come learn about Edmonton's bid at the open house on now. Come for cupcakes too! #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 12:39 Open question: How can we best educate the American public that world's fairs still happen and are just as relevant? #
• 12:50 China Pavilion gets painted and reminds me of some of my Lego block creations I made as a kid: en.expo2010.cn/a/20090622/000002.htm #
• 15:20 Great home video of the 1964-'65 New York World's Fair: bit.ly/24D2Bg #
• 15:28 Music for Expo 2010's Poland Pavilion parts 1 & 2: bit.ly/2tJCY3 & bit.ly/SQxlm #
• 16:06 Always great to see even tiny, tiny countries preparing for their pavilions. In this case, Samoa: bit.ly/pbptq #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 16:49 Excellent presentations of world's fairs from 1851 to 1940 at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo Centennial! Folks still don't know about 2010. #
• 21:45 @worldexpoblog Most Americans over 40 don't know world's fairs still happen. Those under 40 don't know what they are. How do we educate? #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 07:44 Visiting Seattle's Museum of History and Industry for symposium about the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:48 Visiting Seattle Center, site of the 1962 Century 21 Exposition... including the Space Needle and Monorail. #
• 15:28 Tomorrow: symposium on Seattle's 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expositon. Has it been 100 years already? #
• 17:50 AmCham Shanghai Releases Expo 2010 USA Pavilion Paper: tr.im/p7xW (small error, though: law says STATE Dept. can't spend funds) #
• 23:36 Updated page for Expo 2017/Expo 2018 bids: www.ExpoMuseum.com/2017-2018/ #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Edmonton Expo 2017 Bid Video

The Edmonton Expo 2017 Bid folks have posted this great video which includes footage from past expos.



I spot images from 1889 Paris, 1893 Chiago, 1900 Paris, 1939-'40 New York, 1958 Brussels, 1962 Seattle, 1967 Montreal, 1986 Vancouver, 2005 Aichi, and 2008 Zaragoza.

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:52 Cargill now a part of Expo 2010 US Pavilion effort... but will it be enough? tr.im/oWIJ (just 12 days left for US to sign up) #
• 11:31 Novelist of The Millionaires and Knoxville's 1982 World's Fair: tr.im/oXtv #
• 11:35 @tat2dqltr Might I humbly suggest they visit www.ExpoMuseum.com #
• 11:36 RT @LouPickney The 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville -- I was there! Check out this commercial promoting the event: is.gd/15vV1 #
• 11:37 RT @moniquebeaudin Blog item: Montreal out of the running for World's Fair, Expo 17 promoter Barham laments tinyurl.com/mn5hof #
• 11:40 Shanghai Scrap continues its great Expo 2010 US Pavilion Coverage: shanghaiscrap.com/?p=3103 #
• 11:44 RT @stefquad Milan introduces free Wi-Fi. Access points to cover 25% of the territory by Expo 2015. bit.ly/9jVTH (link in Italian) #
• 13:37 RT @edmontonexpo17: Check out our new look: edmontonexpo2017.com #expo2017 #
• 14:49 Open House: Edmonton's Expo 2017 Bid: June 23, 3 to 8 pm, Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre, 11834 Kingsway Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:58 Angola confirms it will be at Shanghai's Expo 2010: tr.im/oQMN (Still waiting for the United States to confirm) #
• 15:23 Indian Country Today: "Indigenous artists respond to Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in new exhibit" tr.im/oQVc #
• 15:25 "abandoned World's Fair sites scattered across the country?" www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/17/ap/strange/main5094238.shtml #
• 15:50 RT @fonstuinstra: Credibility and the US Expo 2010 Pavilion ff.im/-463a8 #
• 16:28 1893 World's Columbian Expo virtual tour this weekend in Chicago: www.msichicago.org/whats-here/events/explore-the-white-city/ #
• 16:30 Some great images from the (aforementioned) 1893 Chicago virtual tour: chicagoist.com/2009/06/17/msi_simulates_1893_worlds_fair.php #
• 19:25 RT @edmontonexpo17 Drop by June 23 open house, and learn about EXPOs and Edmonton bid bit.ly/XtK5Z #yeg #
• 19:32 RT @History_books New release: The 1939-1940 New York World's Fair (Images of America) by Bill Cotter bit.ly/130jqj #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 11:31 At the '64-'65 New York legacy site's Hall of Science: Astrophysics Mini Golf: www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/science/16tier.html #
• 12:21 More news about Calgary and Edmonton and Expo 2017: tr.im/oHCv tr.im/oHCC tr.im/oHCZ tr.im/oHER #
• 12:40 ExpoMuseum Blog: Expos Have "Seemingly Disappeared?" bit.ly/HfZRa #
• 15:23 Clearing the Huangpu River bottom in preparation for Expo 2010 (which is on both sides): english.eastday.com/e/0616/u1a4439257.html #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Expos Have "Seemingly Disappeared?"

Every so often, I run into someone who'll adamantly proclaim that they don't hold world's fairs anymore.

It always saddens me to hear that, but it's really disturbing when a national newspaper basically says the same thing.

In writing about Calgary and Edmonton's potential bids for an Expo 2017, Canada's National Post on Friday, they proclaimed that expos "seemingly disappeared after Vancouver's Expo lands went condo."

That's just sloppy reporting. True, the word "seemingly" is in there, but for a newspaper of record to say that, it says that events that happen in other continents don't really "seem" to happen.

Since Expo 86, there have been eight world's fairs on three continents:

- 1988 Brisbane,
- 1992 Seville,
- 1992 Genoa,
- 1993 Taejon (Korea),
- 1998 Lisbon,
- 2000 Hanover,
- 2005 Aichi Prefecture, and
- 2008 Zaragoza (Spain).

In the next few years, we'll see:

- 2010 Shanghai (70 to 100 million visitors on 1300 acres),
- 2012 Yeosu (Korea), and
- 2015 Milan.

By this measure, Winter Olympics have also seemingly disappeared since Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics. After all, there have only been five since then and only one is planned in the next four years!

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:13 RT @pto2k twitpic.com/7b5zl - Mascot of Shanghai Expo 2010 in a hospital... #
• 09:17 U.S. Representative Hastings (D-Miramar, FL) introduces legislation promoting U.S. Participation at Expo 2010: bit.ly/bOAcI #
• 14:55 Crosscut's Knute Berger on 2012 events in Seattle including 1962's 50th anniversary: crosscut.com/2009/06/05/mossback/19033/ #
• 15:09 Great footage from Seattle's 1909 A-Y-P Expo, including a great amusement ride I wish they still made: tr.im/aypvid #
• 23:11 15 June 2009 marks the 320 days-to-go mark until Expo 2010. #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:07 RT @SeaTimesLife Lavish "A Timeline History" brings Washington's first world's fair to life: bit.ly/YOw9d #
• 09:11 RT @fansofstlouis Fact of the day: The soft drink Dr Pepper was introduced at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. #
• 09:18 Don't forget to vote for your favorite world's fair mascot: www.expomuseum.com/mascot/ #
• 11:05 RT @archdaily Brazilian Pavillion for Shanghai Expo 2010 / Fernando Brandão bit.ly/11oYfF #
• 11:07 Season Pass Podcast discussion of Kings Island (including EM's Urso Chappell): bit.ly/gnkBd #
• 14:00 Expo 2010's Haibao at Expo 2005 site with Kiccoro and Morizzo: en.expo2010.cn/a/20090610/000001.htm #
• 14:40 Columns Magazine article about the 1909 Seattle Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june09/aype.html #
• 16:09 Expo 2010 competition to design China Eastern planes (but rules seem to only be in Chinese): en.expo2010.cn/a/20090430/000002.htm #
• 16:10 India Pavilion at Expo 2010: bit.ly/l33vG #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 16:57 HippieLight.com asks: Has anyone ever seen this amazing Expo '67 lamp before? www.flickr.com/photos/ksupley/2640662571/ #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 13:07 RT @edmontonexpo17: Judith Rubin on transferring knowledge from one EXPO to another: bit.ly/ZIvL5 #
• 13:15 Calgary Expo 2017 bid details expected in July: bit.ly/GYcRw #
• 14:33 Competition: Photos (altered or not) showing Expo 2010 mascot Haibao (but where are the rules?): en.expo2010.cn/a/20090609/000001.htm #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 02:50 Brilliant! Two excavators perform a ballet for the Expo 2010 Sweden Pavilion groundbreaking: bit.ly/15nVb2 #
• 13:16 30-minute fan documentary about the 1939-'40 New York World's Fair: worldsfair1939.davidsworld.net/ #
• 21:25 With Shanghai's Expo 2010 coming up, it's almost easy to forget about little Yeosu's 2012 plans: bit.ly/PZfS2 #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Expo 2010 Sweden Pavilion Groundbreaking Ceremony

For the groundbreaking of the Sweden Pavilion on 20 April, two Volvo excavators performed.

Music by Anders Rimpi and choreography by Veera Suvalo Grimberg

Expo 2010 on CNBC

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:37 Overly optimistic or a real breakthrough?: People's Daily says Expo 2010 US Pavilion now has funding: bit.ly/gW2T3 #
• 15:08 Expo 2010 US Pavilion sponsors are GE, 3M, Dell, Yum! Brands, UCESCO, and Golden Eagle Int'l Group according to bit.ly/x84By #
• 15:11 RT @ bestym The equivalent of the population of Liverpool will visit Expo 2010 - EACH day ! #
• 22:27 1986 Vancouver's Expo Ernie and 1988 Brisbane's Expo Oz are neck-and-neck in our poll of favorite mascots: www.ExpoMuseum.com/mascot/ #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 16:07 Edmonton mayor: no joint bid for 2017 with Calgary: bit.ly/104ZKQ #
• 16:11 Canada.com's report about the 2017 bid: Calgary vs. Edmonton (but no other Canadian cities, apparently): bit.ly/XLcHY #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 10:22 01 June 2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo in Seattle: www.ExpoMuseum.com/1909 #
• 10:53 Edmonton vs. Calgary for Expo 2017 bid? bit.ly/cDNiR #
• 10:56 New York Times book review of Eiffel's Tower (about 1889 Paris): bit.ly/13tMKq #
• 11:09 Robert Indiana's EAT sculpture from '64-'65 New York State Pavilion returns (in Maine!): www.bangordailynews.com/detail/107234.html #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter