The vacation I took with my
parents to the New York World’s Fair in 1965 , still ranks as my most memorable
trip. I was only twelve at that time. An innocent dreamer with my head up in
the clouds. Every summer my dad would get a couple of weeks off from his job
working at the Gulf Oil refinery. We would head out of town on some grand
adventure, maps and pamphlets in tow. We lived in a modest little southeast
Texas town, just an hour east of Galveston. Most of our trips included visiting
relatives that lived in much different terrain than us. Usually up in the
mountains in various states, such as Arkansas, distant from the Gulf of Mexico.
It was always amazed me how hundreds of miles from home, you could already
smell the gulf. How in the horizon, the mountains you had grown accustomed to,
seemed to follow us? I had a very active mind at that time. So this year’s
destination couldn’t have been more perfect.
This year we were going to wind
through the Smoky Mountains and end up in my mother’s hometown in New York
City. The World’s Fair was still open till October of 65, so we decided to take
it in. Little did I realize, it would only take that three-day journey from
Texas to the fair, to unlock a whole new world for me. For within the entrance
of that fair, I would experience a dreamland like no other. Not only would I
get to experience what it felt like to be in other countries. I would travel
back in time to actually see a T-Rex, but journey into the distant future and
partake all of the possibilities that it held. Most of my images of such things
came usually from our local library. I was an avid reader and often could be
found high up in some treetop reading. Some thrill-seeking quest. One moment I
was a pirate, the next learning about minerals and fossils.
I remember back then it had
been very trying times for the United States. The assassination of President
John F. Kennedy had left a nation in shock, and very disillusioned. So I believe many families attended the fair
as a way of moving on. A way of keeping alive the thoughts of Kennedy and his
plans for our space program. Of course me and my parents did the typical
visiting and sightseeing the well know landmarks of New York. Going to the
Statue of Liberty, and visiting Time’s Square, where I went to my first
Broadway play. I still remember the awe I felt attending the fair! Our two
dollar tickets in hand with our camera, sunglasses and sporting comfortable
walking shoes. We came from a very remote city, where most of our entertainment
came from a black and white television with only three channels. So upon
entering, one of the first things I remember seeing was a color television.
Many booths displaying them were set throughout the fair. I can’t express how
thrilling it was to stand back and for the first time in my life see such an
invention. To actually see the color of a flower, the shimmer of a lake as the
sun was setting on a screen. This was advertised to be just around the corner
where most families would be able to afford such a devise. My father also
repaired televisions on the side, so it was also fascinated by the technology
it took to create such a thing. I hungered to see what was inside. Just the
wonder of seeing my first color television would have satisfied my attention
for hours, but it was only the beginning. All around were space aged looking
building inviting you to enter.
The theme of the fair was
“Peace Through Understanding” and it was dedicated to “Man’s Achievement on a
Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe.” The appropriate centerpiece was the
140-foot high, 700,000-pound, stainless steel Unisphere. I still remember me
and my parents posing in our typical tourist stance, while some willing couple
took our photos. Not far from us, a brave soul was jet-packing from the ground.
Hundreds of unique pavilions radiated from the Unisphere, representing foreign
lands, technology, transportation and government. At every turn was a new
venture that challenged and broadened your thinking.
So hour after hour we explored the wide
expanse of the fair. Exploring a mini sized replica of the Eiffel Tower, to
life size models of dinosaurs. General Motors, who was at that time the leading
American visionary, held within its exhibit ‘The Futurama’, many artifacts to
be from our near future. The company promised technology that would allow
humankind to conquer the previously unconquerable. Where there had once seemed
like unsurmountable barriers to overcome. Now there appeared to be none. So living
on the moon, on the bottom of the sea, or even in the North Pole was no
problem. I sat inside that building as a train transported you past glass
showcases. Inside miniature towns flashed by. Colonies on the moon with rovers
and huge machines laying down tracks of roads. Under the ocean, existed
thriving cities. They seemed so real that you could just reach out and touch
them. The creativity and dynamics it took to think up all these different ideas
seemed almost beyond belief. That day opened up a whole other world for me. Way
beyond anything my few thousand miles from my home could do. My imagination now
had images to base my dreams on.
One of the last exhibits
showcased the newly designed Ford Mustang. I remember sitting on the third row
with my parents listening intently. The speaker was saying that somewhere out
in the audience was a lucky ticket taped to somebody’s chair. That ticket was a
free ride in the Mustang that had just pulled up. By then my feet were starting
to hurt, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be so lucky! Yet,
sure enough I won that ride! Over fifty years later in a crumpled cardboard box
I found mementoes from that fair. The ticket from that chair, an old postcard,
and a brochure map of the layout of that fair. Just like yesterday, the
memories from the little girl I had been on that day flowed back like one of
those showcases.
I still have not been to
France, or any other country outside the United States. Nor all these years
past it’s design, owned a Mustang. But somewhere in the deep recesses of my
mind, I have been many places. Then again, I have been to many places yet to
be. From that day on, I totally released any limits upon my dreams. Maybe this
is why I became a writer. Paper is my way of capturing something someplace my
heart travels. Whenever I care to journey I just close my eyes and let that
vison appear in my mind.
Sometimes it’s a tale, or a
poem. Maybe even a song never before heard. Just like the kid in me that
dreamed of one day being a paleontologist in Egypt I see those dinosaurs from
that exhibit. Today I traveled back and stood with my parents under that
Unisphere getting our pictures taken. Dad with his hands trying to balance all
our souvenirs, while mom picked up my baby brother from the stroller. In the
background I could hear the voices and exited laughter all around us. Then the
blast as another brave soul with jet-pack rose upward in the brilliant blue of
those cloud filled skies. So close I could almost touch them.
[MARY
L. PALERMO]
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