I just love first hand accounts of significant historical events. Here are my Father's memories of the 1939 New York World's Fair.

My memories of the 39-40 New York World's Fair are several. I remember the Ford Exhibition with rides in new Ford cars around an elevated narrow curving track...driven by Ford drivers. The General Motors exhibit with the "World of Tomorrow" theme with a miniature city and cars effortlessly driving through on elevated and sunken freeways. The General Electric exhibit with television, and I was on TV at that exhibit while Dad and Elizabeth went inside to watch. Mother had to stay with me, because at 8, I was too frightened of that huge TV camera to let them all go inside the building to watch.

One of my favorites was the Rhodesia exhibit with a huge reproduction of Victoria Falls, and I'd sneak away from the folks and head back to that exhibit and stand in awe at the tons of water cascading over the imitation waterfall. I remember it had a railroad bridge with an electric train that would travel across the gorge in front of the falls. Also, I remember the Soviet exhibit that depicted life in the USSR. It was open in 1939, but was closed and stood dark in 1940, after World War II started in September 1939. Also, in 1940, the United States had impounded the French ocean liner Normandie, and they gave tours of it at it's New York City dock. I took the tour. Then, a year later they were converting it into a troopship, and it caught fire, burned, and capsized in the harbor. It remained sunken there for most of the war. I still remember what a beautiful ship it was. Somehow, though, my fascination for ocean liners dissipated after coming home from the Far East after the Korean War on a troopship. I know liners are different, but I've never been tempted to take a cruise since. Strange, though, since they flew me over to Japan and I never became disenchanted with air travel.

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