New York World's Fair Official Souvenir Key Ring, In Original Box.
New York World's Fair Official Souvenir Key Ring, In Original Box.
The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was the second World's Fair to be held at Flushing Meadows Park in the Borough of Queens, New York in the 20th century. It opened on April 21, 1964, for two six-month seasons concluding on October 21, 1965.
It was the largest World's Fair ever to be held in the United States occupying nearly a square mile of land. Truly a "Universal and International" class exposition, it was not sanctioned by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) and is often overlooked by historians because it was not an "official" World's Fair. This lack of BIE endorsement meant that many large European nations including Great Britain, France, and Germany, as well as Canada and Australia, chose not to participate in the Fair. Most international exhibits were sponsored by tourism and industrial concerns and not officially sanctioned by their governments.
More important to this exposition than international participation was the extensive involvement of United States corporations as exhibitors. American industry spent millions of dollars to create elaborate, crowd-pleasing exhibits. Critics of the Fair charged that the heavy influence of industry created an overly commercial atmosphere.
The Fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe" and was often referred to as an "Olympics of Progress." The theme centre was a 12-story high, stainless-steel model of the earth called Unisphere with the orbit tracks of three satellites encircling the giant globe.
By the time the gates closed more than 51 million people had attended the exposition; a respectable attendance for a World's Fair but some 20% below the projected attendance of 70 million. The exposition ended with huge financial losses and amid allegations of gross mismanagement.
Today the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair is remembered as a cultural highlight of mid-twentieth-century America. It represents an era best known as "The Space Age" when mankind took its first steps toward space exploration and it seemed that technology would provide the answers to all of the world's problems. The exhibits at the Fair echoed a blind sense of optimism in the future that was prevalent in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Its architecture can be labelled as "Populuxe" or "Googie" where flying saucer shapes, vast cantilevers, and towering forms make up the majority of pavilion design.
Item Code - MEMSOU11C204FD
Length: 3 5/8" Width: 7/8" Weight: 16 g
