Artist's conception of The Coca-Cola Company
Pavilion. A feature of the building will be a 120-foot "Tower
of Music" rising from a center court. The tower will house
the world's biggest and finest electronic carillon. The theme
of the exhibit will be "World of Refreshment." Another
attraction will be a seventeen minute trip around the world. A
three-position sending and receiving station will be installed
for operation by members of the American Radio Relay League.
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SOURCE: Groundbreaking
Brochure, The Coca-Cola Company
Excerpts from transcription of
remarks made by executives of The Coca-Cola Company and World's
Fair officials at dedication ceremonies, New York World's Fair,
Tuesday, May 7, 1963.
RICHARD C. PATTERSON, JR. [Chief
of Protocol]: Distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen.
It's a great pleasure to be here today for the announcement and
dedication of the Coca-Cola "World of Refreshment."
Our first speaker has a dual
relationship. He's chairman of the executive committee of the
World's Fair, in which role he has seen this beautiful spectacle
grow from its infancy; he was one of the three or four who coined
the idea of a World's Fair four years ago. He is also a particular
friend of the Coca-Cola Company. He graduated from Fordham University,
has been a newspaper man, a prominent business executive, has
practiced public relations for over twenty-four years, and at
present serves on the board of many large companies. He is chairman
of his own firm, which has its headquarters in New York, and
offices in Washington, Los Angeles and Paris. And in 1962 President
Kennedy appointed him to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval
Academy. I have pleasure in giving you Thomas J. Deegan.
THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR.: Thank
you, Mr. Ambassador. That's a tremendous buildup for a fellow
who is just going to be a catalyst here for about thirty seconds.
We reach now the "Pause
that Refreshes" in this great project of the World's Fair,
and I am sure that the seventy million persons whom we expect
to come during the two years of the Fair will almost reach the
seventy-one million Cokes which are consumed around the world
every day. So we do have a great deal in common.
I will now introduce someone
who needs no introduction, the chairman of The Coca-Cola Export
Corporation, a walking symbol thoughout the world of The Coca-Cola
Company, Postmaster General James A. Farley.
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America's
Junior Miss Diane Sawyer and James A. Farley, chairman of the
board of The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, look over the site
of the Coca-Cola Exhibit at the Fair.
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JAMES A. FARLEY: Mr. Deegan,
Commissioner Moses, Mr. Gimbel, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
including our prize winner from Mobile, by way of Louisville,
Kentucky. It is a pleasure to be in the Coca-Cola business and
to be with you today, and to share with you our plans and enthusiasm
for the Fair. As a New Yorker, I take great pride in witnessing
the increased tempo which ultimately will result in the finest
international exhibition ever conducted anywhere in the world.
It takes a great vision, courage
and perseverance to deliver such an achievement. A similar vision
has been required though the years by the leaders of our company,
because today we are the most internationalized product in the
history of man, available in over 118 countries throughout the
world. We anticipate that this achievement in a free society
will not be lost on all the visitors to the Fair, including many
thousands who will come here from foreign lands. It would thus
be essential that plans for Coca-Cola at the Fair be universal
in concept, appeal to people of all ages, all nationalities and
from all walks of life.
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As you can see by this model,
we will erect a landmark at the Fair -- a 120-foot "Tower
of Music." It will be the musical voice of the Fair. In
this tower will be installed the largest and finest carillon
in the entire world. Its tones will be heard throughout the Fair.
Leading carillonneurs from all over the world will come to the
Fair to entertain visitors.
The carillon will strike the
time of day, it will participate in the official functions of
the Fair and will participate in the events of the various nations,
states and cities. The setting and the use of the carillon will
be exciting, and add to the festive overtones of the Fair.
We are honored to announce that
the American Radio Relay League will install a communication
center for amateur operators, with the finest such facility ever
installed for use in communication between amateurs throughout
the world. An announcement of this ceremony today will be sent
to 350,000 amateur operators tonight on a special broadcast.
Because we are international
in our thinking, it is only natural that we should include a
foreign theme in our pavilion to be known as "World of Refreshment."
The actual contents of the building will remain a secret until
a future date. However, I can say this: The Coca-Cola Company
Pavilion will provide additional communications constantly with
the rest of the world. A fabulous foreign land surely awaits
our visitors.
Commissioner Moses, we of Coca-Cola
are glad to be here, and to look forward to a most exciting exposition
and it will be great because you are in charge, because I know
of no one else who could make this possible. Good luck and God
bless you.
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RICHARD PATTERSON: Thank you,
Jim. Like Jim Farley, the next speaker literally needs no introduction,
but I'd like to say just one word, and that is that he is well
known throughout the world for having dedicated his life to the
service of the public, city, state and nation -- I give you the
Honorable Robert Moses.
ROBERT MOSES: The older I get
to be, the less patience I have -- the less confidence I have
in forms of government and charters and constitutional amendments
and things of that kind. We have to depend upon people -- men,
to do things. And as some sage has remarked, every successful
institution is the lengthened shadow of one man. And Jim Farley
is my idea of the right kind of lengthened shadow to have. Jim
Farley has not only intelligence, which isn't so rare in the
world; he has courage, and he has loyalty, and he's never found
it worth while to speak anything but the truth.
We're all familiar with Coca-Cola's
international
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Diane
Sawyer of Louisville, Kentucky, America's Junior Miss is shown
kissing James A. Farley, chairman of the board of The Coca-Cola
Export Corporation, while J. Paul Austin, president of The Coca-Cola
Company, and Robert Moses, president of the Fair Corporation look
on.
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appeal. It has been suggested
by a shrewd observer that the unifying impulses of the world,
the ties that bind all peoples, are soft drinks and beer. At
the Fair, we like to think of your carillon as echoing -- as
Jim has said -- beyond Flushing Meadow to the utmost reaches
of the globe. We are pleased also that The Coca-Cola Company
is providing space for Bill Leonard and his numerous ham radio
friends. Ham and Coke are as close as the wall paper and the
wall. Congratulations, Jim Farley.
RICHARD PATTERSON: I have pleasure
in giving you Mr. Paul Austin, the president of The Coca-Cola
Company.
PAUL AUSTIN: Thank you very much,
Mr. Patterson. I love the brevity of these speeches and I will
be right in conformity, but before we present a little token
of our esteem for Mr. Moses, I'd like to give one or two statistics
about the carillon which might be of interest to you.
It will have 610 electronic bells,
almost 100 more than have ever been put into this type of musical
instrument. Were these bells to be made of the traditional cast
type of bell made of bronze, the instrument would have to weight
500,000 lbs. So we are using electronics, in order to achieve
the same effect.
We will, of course, make the
instrument available to the Fair officials, and in order that
we may all realize what this instrument means, you would be interested
in knowing that there haven't been too many of them made, and
they have been placed in some of the most outstanding spots in
the world. Let me tell you of just a few to give you an example:
the Bok Singing Tower in Florida; the U.S. Air Force Academy
in Colorado Springs; the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,
Virginia; the national shrine of Immaculate Conception in Washington,
D.C.; the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California; the Vienna
Opera House; and the North American College in the Vatican in
Rome.
Our company, The Coca-Cola Company,
exists for only one reason: to be a service organization. We
exist to service the bottlers of Coca-Cola in various ways, and
I was interested in Mr. Patterson's very brief and very appropriate
introduction of you, Mr. Moses, that your life had been dedicated
to service. This carillon is designed to be of service to you,
sir, and to the Fair. I'd like now to give you a little token
of the carillon. That is not an electronic bell. You can put
that on your desk to call your secretary.
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Now it is a pleasant duty of mine to introduce some of our
people who will be active here at the Fairgrounds, but first
I'd like to present a very lovely young lady, Miss Diane Sawyer,
who is America's Junior Miss.
DIANE SAWYER: Thank you. First
let me say how excited and grateful I am that I was included
in the preview of the Coca-Cola Pavilion. In a few minutes, in
the model room, Mr. Moses will be telling us more about the plans
for 1964 and 1965. I'm as interested in this as you are, but
before we go, may I say that I as well as my entire generation
realize the contribution Coca-Cola has made to youth and education.
And I regard this pavilion as a step in that direction in that
it will provide not only wholesome entertainment but stimulating
education as well.
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Robert
Moses accepts token of carillon from J. Paul Austin, president
of The Coca-Cola Company.
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During the coming summer, I'll be touring the United States,
and I'll be able to spread the word about the New York World's
Fair and the Coca-Cola "Tower of Music" will get top
billing.
May I take this time to thank you Commissioner Moses, on behalf
of my contemporaries, for working so hard to insure us such a
wonderful, wonderful exposition. Thank you very, very much.
PAUL AUSTIN: And now I'd like
to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Harold Sharp, president of
our activity here at the Fair. I'd also like to introduce Mr.
Henry Kahrs, vice president of "Refreshment at the Fair,"
who is in charge of our building, and Mr. Ted Duffield, vice
president in charge of all that goes into the inside of the building.
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