San Francisco World's Fair 1939

[@roibrown8313]

I attended the World's Fair in both 1939 & 1940. Upon returning from Korea in 1953 we landed there. I still have found memories as well as amazement for the Fair.

[@Chunkawunka]

Thank you for your service🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 jealous you got to go to the fairs

[@dennykempen1]

St. Louis World's fair also know as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was the largest fair ever covering 1270 acres. Had 12 huge palaces. Largest was 1/3 mile long and 500 feet wide. Fair had 1500 buildings. Had 17 railway stops to get around. Festival Hall was the center piece , with the world's largest Pipe organ in domes building that sat 3500 people. Also only world's fair that had the Olympic with it. (first u.s. Olympics).

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

Does it feel right to you that they spent all of that time, money, and effort only for it to be torn down?

[@richard1849]

all temporary too, cough cough.

[@Zhimantas]

Thank you for posting this

[@DeanStephen]

If I recall correctly, Herb Caen described the fair design as “WPA Egyptian.”

[@lonewulf44]

thanks for posting ... I wonder if this fair was modeled to be somewhat like the 1893 chicago worlds fair. A lot of common elements.

[@dennykempen1]

This was only 400 acres. Nice but in 1904 St. Louis had the largest and best with over 1,270 acres. Had the world's largest dome & pipe organ. Had over 950 buildings. Largest was 500 feet wide and 1/3 of a mile long. Entertainment area called the pike was one mile long. I love all Fairs.

[@ivanr6921]

Dennis Kempen I was looking at my towns wiki and I looked at history and it said there was a church at The fair in San Francisco in 1939. It was dismatled and shipped by train to my town. I wanted to learn more but I cound't

[@SymphonyBrahms]

The 1893 Chicago World's Fair was huge as well.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

It was bigger than that. Much of the World's fair was in San Francisco proper as opposed to only Treasure Island. Though SF can't compete with St. Louis (or essentially all other cities) in terms of land size.

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

Why waste the resources? No way they made more money than they spent building and demolishing it. We would be outraged if our governments did something like this today.

[@Trasheater]

I'm living here, on Treasure Island for the last 4 years!

[@thekokoko_show5774]

Ah the treasure island suburb... i thoght the prison was west of treasure island, not its west side!

[@pierrevalentino5250]

@@thekokoko_show5774 is Treasure Island usually filled with tourists or just people in general trying to get a view of the city skyline?

[@jasondownsnet]

@@pierrevalentino5250 nah, it’s pretty dead on treasure island. My buddy has lived there for years. It’s super quiet. It’s actually pretty cool to live there. You’re only five minutes from busy SF, but then have the silence of treasure island.

[@MBM1117727]

Actually it was I just saw a documentry on BBC 4 in which it was shown. The documentary is about historical colour footage from the 1930s.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

The buildings were all temporary, built pf plaster of paris and meant to be torn down after the fair was over. Most world's fairs are temporary. Two that are not are San Diego 1915 and 1935, and Seattle 1962. Those buildings still stand and are used as museums, theaters, and exhibit halls.

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

And that sounds.. right, to you?

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

Many of the buildings built for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition are still there and in use today (such as the Palace of Fine Arts).

[@jasonodell79er]

Boooooolshheeeeit

[@teijaflink2226]

When did they stop having these world fairs, they seem so amazing, inspiring and fun but really expensive too.

[@miltonmilne9201]

I was there, and have of a man in a phone booth, with a gas mask on, filling up the booth gas. I have no idea why. I was 4 years old.

[@applejax19562]

Never again...the announcer was right. A shame this was not shot in color.

[@JDvorak2009]

why were there 2 worlds fairs in 1939? the one I am familiar with is the New York Worlds fair. never heard of one in San Francisco

[@SymphonyBrahms]

There were two World's Fairs in 1939. One in New York and one in San Francisco. The San Francisco was an exposition, as are all world's fairs. It had exhibits from many of the Pacific Ocean countries. Any exposition that has foreign pavilions is an official world's fair.

[@mikeos1]

That statue of Pacifica was pulled down and destroyed by the army when WW2 started. They used some of the the buildings for barracks.

[@Trasheater]

Of course it's fucking army, who destroy all of this beauty! ☹️

[@SymphonyBrahms]

@@Trasheater It was a temporary statue. All of the buildings were made of plaster of paris. They were temporary buildings which were meant to be torn down after the fair. Treasure Island actually belonged to the military.

[@Trasheater]

@@SymphonyBrahms "Treasure Island was originally intended to become a second airport for San Francisco, augmenting the existing San Francisco Municipal Airport, now SFO. But with war looming, the Navy moved in. Naval Station (NAVSTA) Treasure Island began under a 1941 war lease as a United States Navy "reception center". On April 17, 1942, the U.S. Navy cut short an ownership dispute with the city by seizing the island."

[@richard1849]

um....... you may want to revisit this....@@SymphonyBrahms They say every fair was all Plaster of Paris and temporary yet so many buildings stand today and I can attest to that fact as Ive been in many of them and there is nothing temporary about granite. Check the Palace of Fine arts above for example (do some digging, same building stands), or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago or its adjacent Science museum.... I am a New Yorker, tons of old stuff around me and I went to school there, nothing temporary about those structures I assure you. peace.

[@andyli44]

Ngl, this video is kinda awesome

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

Look into mud floods and tartaria

[@mereborn1]

That wasn't an accent. All the newscasts were narrated like that when I first went to the movies in the early 50's.

[@densealloy]

mereborn1 I know your post is old and a response to the comment below but.... it is called the Mid Atlantic or Trans Atlantic accent. It was taught and used as an attempt to blend UK and US accents and was a way for announcers and actors to sound "regionless".

[@Fahkyutuub]

Am I the only one that notices out of place artifacts this is obviously an ancient civilizations Temple or something because you can see it in the building there's no way a bunch of people coming out of world war I built this

[@michaelpurity7002]

A man with common sense!

[@rkmugen]

San Francisco needs to have something like this again, complete with the pomp and circumstance, the grandeur, and the fanfare. The only problem is.. there's just too many residential areas and no parking... there's no space for it! (and of course... no money!)

[@Trasheater]

Great redevelopment project going on right now here.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

It costs a fortune to stage a world's fair. The Expo 2015 in Milan cost 1 billion Euros (1.25 billion U.S. dollars). I don't think that San Francisco or California would finance that kind of expenditure.

[@sinceninetyeightysixgustof8122]

how was there a world's fair in New York and San Francisco in the same year?

[@jan8919]

Ppl in California did have accents at that time For awhile until 1960's but after that the accent is gone

[@gxramirez]

accent?

[@cyclos12]

You Rock! thanks for your memories!

[@andyli44]

Love the music

[@psykosel]

dam n why couldnt it still look like this, id be there every weekend

[@jessonlee1453]

5''8

[@jerryseller4881]

I have a watch fob from this event I found with a metal detector

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

Watch fob?

[@markbender49]

Score!

[@OneManOnFire]

To bad we dont have this anymore

[@popbaron]

This is the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939... not a World's Fair.

[@dennykempen1]

Same thing

[@cyclos12]

My god! Who wrote this guys script!? love his accent...

[@awstethic]

Was all of this treasure island???

[@scottmckague7526]

Tore it down then had a military base during ww2 tore that down now.next there putting a high end small City high-rises stores etc your even going to have to pay a toll to get into the island . I'm sitting hear now looking at the progress there making

[@chucklozoya9632]

Damn ten years after the Great Depression huh

[@unknown5555]

what? all torn down?

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Most World's Fairs are built of temporary materials like Plaster of Paris. They are meant to be torn down after the fair is over.

[@rodeofrancisco6130]

Waste of time, money, and effort. Doesn't make sense

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

It's a shame they tore all this down (building all of this infrastructure only to tear it down).

[@stemsofwisdom1515]

what happened to the world

[@TimBabcock64]

Its a shame that most of the architecture was destroyed for military use. Only one building stands today.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Most of them were built of plaster of paris, like at most world's fairs, and were meant to be torn down after the fair was over. The island actually belonged to the military, and was just being used temporarily for the fair.

[@Trasheater]

Actually, three or even four! Both hangars, building №1 and chapel/church (not sure about this one).

[@Trasheater]

@@SymphonyBrahms "Treasure Island was originally intended to become a second airport for San Francisco, augmenting the existing San Francisco Municipal Airport, now SFO. But with war looming, the Navy moved in. Naval Station (NAVSTA) Treasure Island began under a 1941 war lease as a United States Navy "reception center". On April 17, 1942, the U.S. Navy cut short an ownership dispute with the city by seizing the island."

[@lupusdei0819]

Nothing on 1915

[@kayokayo2520]

Who build this your telling me my grandparents build all this

[@THEBIGKUSH420]

@00:09 fukr jabs the steer , we are treated no different .

[@FunnyMoviee]

no wonder it's haunted

[@syater]

The triumph of asphalt, steel and (mostly) cement! 😉

[@tomashelm5247]

Unübersehbar der Einfluß von ArtDeco in der Hauptarchitektur der Ausstellung, oft leider gedankenleer, monströs, man mag meinen, daß dem Land die Perspektive abhanden gekommen war...

[@jeroenjansen2709]

Pure propaganda

[@SymphonyBrahms]

Ridiculous statement.

[@jasonodell79er]

​@@SymphonyBrahmsshutit

[@jamessanford2026]

The year my grandma was born.

[@kryptocake]

lolol 2:48