Upon crossing one of the bridges over the Grand Central Parkway I saw a bit of reality - a contact with the real world. The cars below reminded me, in my young mind, that as great and fun as the Fair was we couldn't live there. Oh, how I wished we could! The centerpiece of the Fair loomed ahead in the Federal and State Area - the Unisphere. I recall the wide open plazas and avenues converging on this huge globe with the beautiful fountains and pool where we cooled our hot feet. Unlike any other exposition I've visited, the New York Fair had a grand, formal design, with all main roads and avenues eventually leading to, and converging at, the Theme structure of the Unisphere. It stood right smack at the center of the sprawling Fair. A vista that is not easily forgotten was the Fountains of the Fairs pointing from the Unisphere right through the heart of the Fair to the Fountain of the Planets in the Industrial Area.

Directly in front of the Unisphere was the New York City Pavilion which housed a helicopter-type ride over a huge scale model of the City. This ride pales when compared with today's simulators but in 1964 it was thrilling. Next door the Hollywood Pavilion displayed a Yellow Rolls Royce outside - a great memory-maker since so many photographs were taken beside it. Disney was the star of the Illinois Pavilion. An eerie audio-animatronic Abraham Lincoln spoke to us all. To see him sitting on stage and then rising and speaking was a hint of the magic of technology. A memorable Illinois souvenir was a small bust of Lincoln.

One of the "stars" of the Fair was housed in a huge square pavilion elevated on columns - the unforgettable USA Pavilion - definitely the best our country has done in any fair since. As hot as the day was it was cool under the pavilion as we proceeded to the inner courtyard where the entrance was located. We first viewed a short black-and-white film on immigration, I believe, and then proceeded through a long exhibition hall to escalators to take us to one of the greatest experiences of the Fair. The entire second floor was devoted to the wonderful "Challenge to Greatness" ride where the entire grandstand moved from theater to theater as screens appeared, disappeared, moved side-to-side and up-and-down. It was all very patriotic and thrilling and forever impressed upon this 11 and 12 year old boy the wonders of this great country of ours. Another exhibition hall downstairs, and a JFK exhibit, ended this pavilion's wonders.

The New York State Pavilion loomed over the whole Fair from the other side of the Unisphere. I vividly recall the pod elevators skimming up the tall towers to the highest point of the Fair where all the wonders of the world of a young boy were in view. The adjoining Tent of Tomorrow was a huge suspended fiberglass roof of muli-colored glass. The sun streaming through was simply beautiful. The huge floor had an inlaid map of New York state and bands seemed to be always playing there. The mezzanine walk provided a quick tour of the state. If every fair needs a meeting place, this seemed to be the spot.

Before proceeding further, another general memory was that of the many Brass Rail refreshment centers topped with huge fiberglass "clouds". There was no orderly food/souvenir service centers as later expositions had; but the chaos added to the fun and enjoyment of the experience.

Memories of some other pavilions in this area include the huge cheese in a tractor trailer in the Wisconsin Pavilion, the igloo-shaped Alaska Pavilion with the huge stuffed Kodiak bear inside and the gleaming Time Capsules at the Westinghouse Pavilion (including displays of the Capsule's contents).

The central part of the Fairgrounds was the International Area. With all the other things to see we did not spend too much time here; though there were a few memorable features. I recall the flying, spinning Mexican acrobats, suspended from a tall pole, next to the Unisphere. I also recall eating on an outdoor patio restaurant at the Polynesian Pavilion adjacent to a giant Tiki statue. High over the International Area hung the Swiss Sky Ride which provided grand vistas of a grand Fair from end to end - from the huge GM and Ford Pavilions to the low-hung Bell Pavilion.

The immensely popular, and always crowded, Vatican Pavilion was the highlight of the International Area. After entering beside a long facade we entered a long, festive exhibition hall draped with banners, colors, and profound pictures and quotes. Then, at the end of the hall, the highlight of the Pavilion - the Pieta. We entered on the moving walkways which took us very slowly, in a dark surreal room, past the sublime Pieta. Everyone seemed to be quiet and reverent in there - definitely a lasting memory in a chaotic, loud Fair. Another exhibition hall followed and a visit to an upstairs chapel led us to a statue of David as a shepherd. A very moving well-executed Pavilion.

The huge Industrial Area - the largest at the Fair - provides most of my lasting impressions and memories. It all begins with the Pool of Industry and the spectacular Fountain of the Planets. During the day - a great way to get cool, just observing all the water; at night - a veritable wonderland of color and motion and fireworks. Directly in front of the Pool, in 1965, Pennsylvania erected a small exhibit featuring a replica of the Liberty Bell. Something grand and wonderful - like the Fountain of the Planets - right next to something small, hastily built and with little impact. That is the magic of any exposition ... and especially in the chaos of Flushing Meadow.

Next door to the Fair's Main Entrance was the American Express Pavilion. Memories here include the "Money Tree" outside and a large scale model of the Fair within. Down the road was the Mormon Temple, with tall spires and an artificial cloud behind them. Across the street was the World's Fair Pavilion which in 1965 housed the memorial exhibition on Winston Churchill, a name I knew little about at 12 years of age. The Festival of Gas Pavilion was an exciting, open-air Pavilion underneath a soaring fiberglass roof. I recall there a Ferris Wheel of appliances and a revolving turntable showing the uses of gas. At New York even the commercialization was fun!

Adjacent to the Pool of Industry was a gem of a Pavilion - one of the all-time best from any exposition before or since - the IBM Pavilion. The entire site was so different from most other pavilions, being covered by a grove of artificial metal trees with a huge egg-shaped ovoid theater sitting on top. Oh, the memories of IBM are so fresh even after 25 years! The Pavilion was so popular (the concept began here where tickets are issued for a later time for a film adventure)! The maze of walkways to the People Wall was unbelievably convoluted - you went up, then down, then up again - you had no idea where on the People Wall your particular "maze path" would lead. I shall never forget the image of the People Wall, [a grandstand] with 500 people overlooking the crowds and the Fountains. The anticipation was so intense for what would come next! A tiny pod descends from above, in front of the People Wall, with your host, like an angel, introducing you and preparing you for the Information Machine. As he ascended again the whole People Wall rose and disappeared into the base of the theater above. What a vision that was of seeing 500 people, so visible one moment, suddenly disappearing. Oh, the magic of Flushing Meadow! In the theater who should re-appear but our reliable, friendly host! He rises up through a hole in the stage floor and narrates the spectacular presentation of the Information Machine as it is displayed on multiple screens with a barrage of visual images to last a lifetime. One of the most memorable was entering a woman's mind as she plans a dinner party, especially as related to the seating configuration. This was a show that really molded me in many ways. Back on Terra Firma we witnessed a marvelous Probability Machine, demonstrating the laws of averages. The uniqueness of architecture, the intelligence of the exhibits linked with its whimsy made IBM a crowd-pleaser and a standard by which to judge all World's Fair pavilions.

Next door to IBM was Equitable Life with its huge census counter constantly changing and the Hall of Education with a "Schoolroom of the Future". Though I have few memories of these pavilions, I do have many of the Bell System Pavilion at the head of the Pool of Industry on a direct axis with the Unisphere and the Heliport. It was an elevated "wing" of fiberglass with long escalators taking the visitor up. Once on the wing level there were great views of the entire Fair. Upon boarding continuously moving seats we entered the World of Communications, an exciting ride and an exciting theme for a young boy. Down the other side of the Pool of Industry was the Parker Pen Pavilion where I sat at long desks to obtain a foreign pen pal. Though I do not recall ever writing to him it was exciting to actually see a name of a boy like me somewhere else in the world.

A plethora of star attractions, in a small area, will finish off these impressions. The first: one of the major draws at the Fair was Disney's GE Progressland. All day long there were always huge crowds lined up, weaving back and forth under canopies, to enter the Pavilion. It was a huge dome with the outside wall rotating. This was novel and without equal in 1964 - a revolving theater where the audience moves. The four tableaux depicted generations of a single family and how they used or did not use electricity. There was a lot of humor and good story-telling. But this was just a warmup - literally! From the theater, we proceeded through a mirrored corridor with faces of inventors and scientists all around. Then we entered the circular room right under the center of the immense dome. We first witnessed a spectacular show projected into the dome roof - I particularly remember the power of the suns' flames. Then - the highlight! In the center of the room was some apparatus in glass. After a preparatory talk we witnessed a fusion experiment with an awesome noise and a bright flash of light. Noise and light - the hallmarks all over the New York Fair were both on display here at GE.

A short walk away was the Better Living Center, a veritable Fair within a Fair. It was an immense building of some five floors or so chock full of pleasant surprises and kitsch. We rode the outside glass elevator up to the roof where an observation deck provided some of the best overall views of the Fair. We then proceeded via escalators and ramps down through various display floors with an abundance of major attractions and pure commercial sales-pitches all with themes such as food, fashion, home decorating, etc. What I recall is how crowded and noisy and "busy" the whole building was. I especially remember a few major attractions - Borden's Elsie the Cow in a musical show that was sugary sweet, Dorothy Draper's Dream House and the large scale model railroad layout on the ground floor. I remember the building seemed endless - so much to see with so little time. That was the story for the entire Fair.