#WorldsFair64: Sid & Marty Krofft’s Naughty Puppet Show

Before they conquered Saturday morning TV, the Krofft brothers came to the World’s Fair with a racy puppet show.

by Rich Watson 

During the seventies, puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft created live-action children’s shows that made them superstars of Saturday morning television. Before that, their puppets entertained adults in prime time. 

Their live theater show played World’s Fairs. A show that featured more risqué material.

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#WorldsFair64: Uniroyal’s Giant Tire Ferris Wheel Was a Hit in New York and Later, Detroit

This giant tire was born as a World’s Fair Ferris wheel and became a Motor City icon.

by Rich Watson 

Due to a dispute between the international sanctioning body in charge of world’s fairs and New York Fair Director Robert Moses, corporate sponsorship dominated the 1964 Fair. Lots of major businesses created pavilions for the event.

Among them included the U.S. Rubber Company, known today as Uniroyal. They took a creative approach into making something common to fairs everywhere: a Ferris wheel in the shape of a tire.

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#WorldsFair64: “Parable” and “To Be Alive!” Were Unconventional Films That Generated Buzz

Among the films screened at the World’s Fair include these two, which delighted and divided audiences.

by Rich Watson 

During the 1964 World’s Fair, the Protestant and Orthodox Pavilion played Parable, a short film. The Johnson Wax Pavilion showed To Be Alive!, another short.

These two films had different agendas, to say the least, and had different receptions. One bewildered audiences. The other won an Oscar.

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