Expo 67 - Back To The Future

[@HenriThibodeau]

This is an episode of the 2004 CBC series Canadian Experience: Season 1, Episode 5.

[@steveskare7026]

Born and raised in Montreal was the best. Went to Expo 67 a lot of times with friends. Then off to the Bars.

[@husqv5147]

I made it there 7 times and it was always a great time, will never forget it. So crazy to think it was 57 years ago! How the years tick by when we aren't paying attention.

[@kirmussaudio7578]

Bravo Jean Drapeau!

[@robbpowell194]

Right? He pulled off a miracle.

[@kirmussaudio7578]

@@robbpowell194 yup

[@paulkennedy927]

The engineers and architects he roped in pulled off the miracle. He orchestrated it, no question. It was a generation that wanted to show what it was capable of. Sadly, the miracle was not repeated in 1976,

[@claudiocorleone7856]

Absolutely stunning. I am so happy to have been a young wide eyed 10 year old back then. This to me was/is .....heaven...

[@kirmussaudio7578]

Me too@

[@DarkMetalOmega]

Imagine telling these people back then the shit-show of a degenerate culture we have today...

[@johngore7744]

As a 62 year old Montrealer. I remember this so well. I was 6 in 1967 and went lots with my family. I remember the line ups and the mini rail and the monorail ( blue and yellow respectively). It was so cool. My older siblings would stay for a concert at Place des Nation and I’d go home with my folks. Damn missed Jefferson Airplane. They find their way back to the West Island some time much later. I still live around Montreal but haven’t been to the site for years. The French Pavillion is now Casino du Montreal.

[@HawkFest]

42:15 the other legacy is another engineering and operational feat, permanent and as great as the Eiffel Tower if not much more complicated: building an artificial island and then a whole "town" with all the necessary and utterly innovative communication requirements, amenities, project management technique etc, flawlessly and in 4 years! An that island is still there, beautiful along La Ronde, Habitat 67, the Biodome, the Casino...

[@danielcarroll3358]

Two of us recent college grads went from San Francisco to Seattle. Then the ferry to Victoria and later to Vancouver. THEN the train to Montreal in First Class. But the other people our age were at the other end of the train. We got our exercise. We Listened to classical music on a battery powered record player. State of the art. :) We ended up in an apartment in town listening to the children playing in the back alley, in French of course. And Expo was a hoot. Good times.

[@enriqueleon5917]

I was lucky enough to be born in Montreal and in '67 when I was age 11, the world came to our party. It was a celebration of humanity, art, science and we were proud to be hosts. It was a summer like no other. Indeed, we were blessed.

[@paulkennedy927]

My eldest sibling was your age and she remembers Expo in the same way. I was only a foetus in 1967, but have many happy memories of visiting "Man and his World" in the early 70s. I actually witnessed the American pavillion burning from a window of my primary school in 1976 from the south shore of the Saint Lawrence.

[@dougmarshall4010]

I was 9 yrs old. I remember going up the escalator from the St Helene metro and in front of me was the Geodesic dome of the US pavilion and across on Ile Notre Dame, the USSR pavilion.

[@Desjardins50]

I was 17. Most beautiful summer of my life. Life changing experience.

[@frederickfunk4561]

It was a wonderful experience for our family. We stayed for a week and camped with our travel trailer on a small airport runway. I always smile when I see the wings of a 1967 Canadian penny. In the heat of the day we cooled our feet in the park fountains and they were always full of those shiny new pennies. Thank you for bringing back fond memories.

[@samuelglover7685]

Mine went the following year, and it will always be among my favorite childhood memories. Seeing Montreal was really terrific, too.

[@crankychris2]

Yes, we camped our way up from miami in a small half ton dodge van, we were amazed how clean and beautiful the expo and the city were...too bad the crowds were so overwhelming!

[@Mapleleaf587]

Best summer of my 18th year. Pavilions during the day, dancing and dining evenings with friends

[@2manyspruces]

I still have my passport. I was 11 years old at the time. I keep it with all of my important documents. A great moment in Canada’s history, and more than enough variety to keep this kid intrigued all summer.

[@shnibby69]

I remember reading the Life magazine article about Expo 67 while growing up in Indiana!

[@peterlojewski7057]

Was in the Canadian military, station in Ottawa. Visit expo 2 times. Great time .

[@keithmartin542]

Back in the summer of 1971, my father Ron drove us (Mom Joan, brother Ronald, sister Darci and me Keith from our home in Monroe New York (about 50 miles north of NYC) up to EXPO '67 in a small 3 cylinder 2 stoke SAAB. Since it was several years after 1967, it was renamed Man and His World with almost all of the pavilions still open. I remember my father getting pissed when the Canadian border guard made fun of the buzzing chain saw noise the engine made and asked if we thought that the car would make it. We previously stopped at Frontier Town in upstate New York and then caught a drive-in movie that we all wound up hating. It was called Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? My parents were the typical 1960's era type that would hang out at the beer tent all day (both smokers who hadn't a clue what second hand smoke was) while we went out on our own and did whatever we pleased. Those were the days. No helicopter parents back then! Imagine today allowing your kids 10, 12, and 14 years old to wonder around by themselves in a huge exhibition in a strange city in another country without so much as a cell phone. Anyway we had a blast and managed to all meet up safety at the end of the day. Even at my young age I was hoping to meet a cute French girl.

[@maryrafuse3851]

The visit to man and his world is almost an echo of our family visit in 1973.

[@janetbowe3307]

Went to the world's fair in 1967 Long lines, it was marvelous. Had 2 little ones, swapped them for our niece and nephew who were young teenagers, we camped and had so much fun. They were excited to think they were leaving the country never mind the town they lived in. We vacationed in Canada for several years a

[@4ever242]

24:32 Wow, our pavilion of Czechoslovakia! So that's right, my father was there as a cook and said that there were long queues in front the pavilion. Not only to a great restaurant, but also to the first interactive film, the so-called KINOAUTOMAT.. 31:17 Thanks for the beautiful document.

[@crankychris2]

I was very impressed with the Russian pavilion and quite disappointed in the US dome, which was mostly empty.

[@saltyroe3179]

We came up from USA and stayed with an English speaking family in the suburbs. It was fun and happy place but on the outside I learned about the French / English divide on the outside. Mom as a multilingual made us welcome in the French city outside . I learned the beauty of "Oh Canada" and learned to sing it in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

[@Habsbsbgirl1909]

I turned 4 that year still,have all the expos passports I remember some things but I was young

[@backblaise1255]

A very well made film. Thank you.

[@Jay-vr9ir]

The last good days of Quebec and I missed it . I recall people that did go to Expo 67 , I listened to them talk about Expo 67 with envy .

[@paulkennedy927]

The last good days of Quebec? Sounds like you have been living in a backwater for the last 55 years. The population of Montreal has doubled in size since 1967. It's a pretty interesting place. Shame that you've never visited.

[@Jay-vr9ir]

Yes Quebec has been finished for many years . I work in H R and interview many Quebec applicants , that have left Quebec for good . Montreal and Quebec is a use to be place.Start by blaming The FLQ, let me show you the facts , roads that need to be repaired , bridges that have collapsed , The Olympic Stadium with falling concrete , The Expos left , no basketball team ,an amphibious tour bus that sank and too many more failures in Quebec to mention.People in other parts Canada , do not say I want to move to Quebec . Many people in Quebec want to leave Quebec.No more good days in Quebec , do what people in Quebec do best,drink, stay drunk and Quebec shall look very good to you .

[@paulkennedy927]

@@Jay-vr9ir I gave you an uptick just because you sound so passionate! But most of the points you raise are very outdated. I'm 55; you sound like you're 65. Regardless, if you ever feel like visiting, I'll give you a tour of any number of neighbourhoods that will leave you reeling with pleasure and a new regard for Quebec. Keep in mind, I'm an Anglo, so I don't have a full capacity for all the attributes of my province. But, as a city dweller, I've lived in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Halifax. All fine places, but my heart beats most strongly in Montreal.

[@Jay-vr9ir]

@@paulkennedy927 Montreal and Quebec are yesterday's news .They hung themselves with their own rope .

[@skierpage]

​@@Jay-vr9ir I visited Montreal last year and had a great time. Art in the park, video projections downtown, VR at the Phi gallery, good vegan food, nice botanical garden, good public transportation. Not as distinctive and different as Quebec City, but a lovely cosmopolitan place. Every city has problems.

[@vincentlussier8264]

Our Formula One race track is there now which Mayor Drapeau also brought to Montreal!

[@skierpage]

I was there as a kid, I remember the crazy inverted roof pavilion, other striking architecture, and the minirail going through the USA dome. The video brought back other memories, like the multi-screen movies, getting your passport stamped, and the irritating Young Canadians song ("We love you Now we are 20 million") and the Ontari-ari-ario song. Expo 86 in Vancouver was good but not as good.

[@peterhogan9537]

I went there in May.

[@hasbeengood]

Waw! this actually brought tears to my eyes. Where have we gone wrong? What happened to our newly found "greatness"? Why do we not use common sens as a guide anymore?

[@gogogo39]

Looks like a lot of fun from here in 2024

[@hojoinhisarcher]

I went. It was fun. I was 18 from anglo Ontario. I went for my first drink.The maitr'd asked for my ID in the rooftop bar at the French Pavilion. I proffered a library card that I had forged in pencil portraying me as 21 .I expected to get turfed out. Instead he bowed and left me to my Cointreau. Vive La France!

[@peterhogan9537]

Ed Sullivan had the seekers on that show from expo.

[@dondawson3377]

AND Petula Clark where she introduced the song "Don't Sleep in the Subway" :)

[@nordique59]

Pierre Burton summed 1967 up as; ‘Canada’s last good year’.

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

⚜️

[@streetcarjay]

It was the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs son the Stanley Cup. Constant reminde.

[@warrenmcgovern8231]

At 25:55 "it was bilingual". Unthinkable. I'm sure today's Quebec language Police would have something to say about that.

[@thepoliticallyambidextrous678]

As an old soul in a 25 yr old body stuck in the 21st century.... I forgot my point. Forget it!

[@maryrafuse3851]

Meat and Potatoes Canada was White Oaks of Jalna Canada, decidedly upper crust Toronto. This conservative Canada had little to do with my upbringing in Nova Scotia. People who lived in Industrial Cape Breton were not WASP in the majority. industrial Cape Breton was the home of ethnic food and people from many nations. Generalizations based on Toronto or Alberta history are inaccurate when applied to all of Canada.

[@jftrottier7376]

A lot has changed since then...oh wait, not so much. The Maple Leafs hasn't won the Stanley Cup!

[@jvd9202]

Canada peaked during Expo67 then voted Pierre Trudeau into the office for almost 18 years!

[@jftrottier7376]

@@jvd9202 Exact, to make it worse, PET's son!

[@steven117]

LOL....opening words; "in summer of 1967 There was only one place to be". Especially if you just got drafted for Vietnam.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

“Back to the Future” was actually a mid-1980’s science fiction movie.

[@rosswatson9144]

Oh wow… what a revelation!

[@calvinguile1315]

Forget San Francisco, this is where you would want to drop acid!

[@trainrover]

as bedazzling as it was for us wee ones, the prospect of Corporateria's invasive predations around Canadia/en schools ought to have signaled their truly wicked audacity...there being nothing as splashy ever since our own fete ought to signify cleptoparasitic corporateers' success at baiting & switching..!

[@smfield]

Is it me or is the introduction guy creepy?

[@gloiven]

misinformation.

[@MrAtomeB]

Why?