HistoryLink Essay:Century 21 Exposition — Forward Into the Past! :
This is a Cybertour of the Century 21 Exposition, better known as the Seattle World’s Fair of 1962. It was written by Alan J. Stein and designed by Chris Goodman.
Your Fantastic Journey Begins
We start our day in downtown Seattle, more than a mile from the Seattle World’s Fair. Don’t worry, the futuristic Monorail will take us there in the blink of an eye. The Monorail has been described as a preview of mass transit of the future.
At Westlake Mall, moving sidewalks, or “speed ramps,” will glide you up to the Monorail Terminal. Fares are 50 cents one-way, and 75 cents round trip. Kids ride for 35 cents one way and 50 cents round trip.
The things that came to pass — “micro-mail” (email described quite nicely) — were successful based on their military-funding roots and the fact they served an audience that was able to work through teething troubles. The other improvements — monorail to the airport? nuclear powered cars? — were not so easily finessed.
An interesting look at the kind of predictions people have made and still make. It seems we want the same things but never agree on them enough to get them done.
Now playing: Pavlov’s Bell by Aimee Mann from the album “Lost in Space”
[composed and posted with ecto]