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

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 01:04 1880's quote found in the book Eiffel's Tower: (world's fairs) are "out of date. Their inconveniences are not balanced by their advantages" #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 19:21 Visited Jackson Park in Chicago, site of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition: www.ExpoMuseum.com/1893/ #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 01:48 CCTV video: Shanghai Science and Art Exhibition opens: english.cctv.com/20090517/101166.shtml #
• 16:09 Seattle Times: Northwest Folklife Festival celebrates 100th anniversary of A-Y-P: tinyurl.com/ayp090521 #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:25 Will "Eiffel's Tower" do for interest in 1889 Paris what "Devil in the White City" did for 1893 Chicago? tinyurl.com/eiffels #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 16:15 New York Worlds Fair memorabilia on display and for sale in Queens hotel 07 June 2009: tinyurl.com/ocawm4 #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 15:28 The Atlantic has a follow-up article about USA at Expo 2010: bit.ly/Ntyra #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 14:50 On Treasure Island in SF for '39-'40 San Francisco walking tour and speech by original Theme Girl: www.TreasureIslandMuseum.org #
• 18:22 RT @msittig Is Adam Minter doing all this Expo 2010 investigation pro bono? First rate stuff shanghaiscrap.com/ #
• 18:26 Seattle Times on 100th anniversary of A-Y-P Expo: bit.ly/Gka9A #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 02:12 16 May 2009: 350 days until the opening of Expo 2010: www.ExpoMuseum.com/2010/ #
• 11:30 @jinnyp World's fairs still go on... just not in the USA in 25 years. 2010 Shanghai, 2012 Korea, 2015 Milan: www.ExpoMuseum.com/ #
• 11:32 Toronto's loss of Expo 2015 a big gain for sister city Milan: www.thestar.com/gta/columnist/article/634710 #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter

Yesterday's ExpoMuseum Twitter Posts

• 09:22 Christian Science Monitor article about Expo 2010: bit.ly/psS2Y #
• 16:26 NY Times: Mysterious 1964-'65 New York bus shelters researched: bit.ly/18fEhW #
• 16:28 Expo '74 and the Spokane Falls: bit.ly/EF8LF #

ExpoMuseum on Twitter