38 The Courier sun • world’s fair • MAY 8, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Readers share their World’s Fair memories BY KATRINA MEDOF [email protected] In anticipation of NYC Parks’ World’s Fair Anniversary Festival, which will be held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend on Sunday, May 18, readers of The Queens Courier have been sharing their World’s Fair memories and memorabilia with us. Reader Barbara King of Hollis Hills wrote to The Queens Courier to share her World’s Fair memories: “I was 18 and working at my first full time job in Manhattan when the Fair opened. I convinced my girlfriend to play hooky from work and attend the first day of the World’s Fair. We were so excited we didn’t care it was a rainy, dark, dreary day. Walked all over and marveled at the different country pavilions remarking to each other that we would visit all the countries. When we got to the Pepsi Cola pavilion and went into the boat with the song ‘It’s a Small World,’ we thought we really were in a different world. The technology of all those moving, singing dolls was quite innovative in 1964. “My mom started working at the Fair that summer embroidering hats. Being the friendly, talkative person she was, Mom just thrived on meeting and talking to people from all over the country and world. She was a wonderful representative for all New Yorkers. “I remember taking my little brother, Stephen (who is now a 60-year-old man), to the Fair on a weekend. Little did we know that going home on the Flushing IRT, perched on the steps, we had a bird’s-eye view of the Beatles coming to the U.S. “I remember the World’s Fair and the promise of a better world through understanding with other countries. We sure could use some of that hope and understanding now.” Judy Lucania of Whitestone said that her parents, Stella and Nathan Yagoda, went to 1939-40 fair when they were 29 and newly married. The couple lived in Flushing at the time. “My sister wasn’t born until 1941, so they were kind of courting at the fair — they were married but they went as a young married couple,” Lucania said. Her parents told her about the Fair “many, many times,” and the stories were always accompanied by black-and-white photos that her father took. They also told her about the Trylon and Perisphere, the symbols of the 1939-40 World’s Fair. “I just remember them telling me what a magical place it was to be,” she said. Lucania “always kept this memory” of her parents telling her about their Fair experiences, so when the 1964 Fair came around, Lucania was excited to go with her friends. “It was a very special place for me to be,” she said. “It was a big connection between my parents and myself to have another World’s Fair.” Lucania sent The Queens Courier her memories about the Fair: I found my ‘Peace Through Understanding’ at the World’s Fair “The beginning of the 1960s was a rough time in my life. In December of 1961, my dad passed away the day before my 14th birthday. Fast forward to November of 1963. I was a senior at Flushing High School when I heard about the assassination of our young and optimistic president. Where was the hope for the future? “Then a wondrous event occurred. In April of 1964, in Flushing Meadows, the gates opened to the New York World’s Fair. Just a subway stop away was a world of promise unlike anything I had ever seen or will probably ever see again. There, just on the other side of the Queens Botanical Garden, was an international exposition symbolized by the now-iconic Unisphere. “How many times did my friends and I walk to the Fair? How many times did we wait on long lines to be admitted to such amazing pavilions sponsored by Westinghouse, General Motors, IBM, Ford Motor Company or Bell Systems, just to name a few? How many Belgian waffles did we eat? The possibilities of adventures at the Fair were endless. I can remember each one. Yes, it was also a great place for teenage girls to meet boys. “Last summer, my husband and I took our family to Disneyland. We accompanied our daughter and then-5-year-old granddaughter on the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride. As we rode the gondola through magical lands inhabited by animated dolls and animals, I couldn’t help but tear up as we all sang, ‘It’s a small world after all.’ It took me back to 1964 and I was on the Pepsi ride at the Fair. I felt I was now sharing it with two more generations. “So as we approach the 50th anniversary of the New York World’s Fair, I say ‘thank you’ to the visionaries who made it possible. During tough times, the Fair gave me hope for the future. Its motto, ‘Peace Through Understanding,’ should guide us all for decades to come.” The Trylon and Perisphere, the symbols of the 1939- 40 World’s Fair. Photo by Nathan Yagoda. Photos courtesy of Judy Lucania The United States Steel building at the 1939 World’s Fair. Lucania’s parents, Nathan and Stella Yagoda, who attended the 1939-40 World’s Fair.
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