No vision of the Retrofuture would be complete without a revisit of the 1964 Futurama II exhibit at Flushing Meadows in New York. Keen to promote the burgeoning space race and emergent technologies, engineering companies went to great lengths to promote their ideas and facilities to an eager public.
General Motors Futurama II exhibit was one of the most exciting and immersive, offering a powered train ride around the exhibit, visiting dedicated areas devoted to futuristic developments - in the Ocean, Antarctic, Desert, City and Space.
Using animatronics and motorised exhibits, each world provided a glimpse into a possible future as the passenger vehicle toured the complex, as a narration played to the viewers.
Large six wheeled rovers trundled across a large moon diorama, as rockets lifted off and astronuts bounded across the lunar terrain. In these photographs of the display, you can clearly see the tracks which contain a hidden drive train beneath the landscape, pulling the models along and over the mountains.
In a separate part of the Worlds fair Pavilion, space technology was demonstrated by virtue of a large scale mock up a Lifting Body, suspended above the display, which simulated docking with a space station module.
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| Publicity Artwork for Exhibit |
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| Preliminary Artwork |
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| Actual Display Model in situ |
The General Motors display ventured into deep space with a large dual wheel space station, attended by supply rockets.
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| GM Futurama Space Station Model |
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| Preliminary Artwork |
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| Final Artwork Design |
Its interesting to speculate whether any of the exhibits influenced either Gerry Anderson or the Century 21 toy division, given the similarities to of vehicles in Thunderbirds and Project SWORD to some of the amazing designs on show.
This was a future that I grew up with being born in 1967, the idea that that any country should put on a world's fair now seems bizarre, I've personally become a fan of the fair that happened in San Francisco before WW2, levis did a commemorative shirt and t-shirt and I bought the tee, it was supposed to represent the free trading countries of the Pacific that were not under the yoke of suppression of the Japanese! Ironically the bombs that were dropped on Japan a few years later were stored on the man made island (treasure island), it's been used as a film location (Indiana Jones 3) now it's affordable housing for poor people that aren't bothered by radiation poisoning! -Mark J Southcoast Base
ReplyDeleteThats an appalling abuse of public trust.
DeleteYep!! Apparently 10 foot of ground soil was eradiated which has now been removed, there's still a military presence on the island, a marina and then the affordable housing. Google it - treasure island, San Francisco,- Mark J Southcoast Base
DeleteJust realised 'Treasure Island' is featured in William Gibsons Bridge Sequence, specifically 'Virtual Light', when following a massive quake San Fran is devasted and "something crawled out of a can on the military base on Treasure Island" - i.e some biological agent affects the residents, making them feral and wild. Ill look into that more closely!
DeleteOh boy, does this bring back memories. Went to this exhibit at the Worlds Fair in '64 with my parents. Loved every single minute of it! That big crawler with the balloon tires had me obsessed for awhile, and you know how I feel about Space Wheels. Those were the days, my friend...
ReplyDeleteWow im really envious that youve actually seen the show! I was only 2 at the time, so it only really appeared on my radar about 10 years later. Ill do a little more on Futurama again, soon. Have you any memorabilia or home movie from it Rob?
ReplyDeleteI took no 8mm footage of that Worlds Fair - my first movie camera was yet two years away - but I do still have my Worlds Fair T-Shirt! Riding the little indoor tram around some of the exhibits was as cool as the exhibits themselves. It really felt like "the future." The Disney-GE "Carousel of Progress," at Disneyland in Los Angeles circa 1968, was another FAB memory for me. A future I dearly miss...
DeleteSend me apic of your T!
DeleteAh! 1964 -when all things were possible!
ReplyDelete