#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.

#WorldsFair64: The Taste of Belgian Waffles

This delicacy from an unfamiliar part of the world dazzled World’s Fair audiences.

by Rich Watson 

Belgian waffles didn’t debut at the 1964 World’s Fair, but it was where they were popularized. 

A wider variety of exhibiting nations came to the Fair than in previous years. As a result, dishes we take for granted today—falafel, tandoori chicken, hummus, and kimchi, among others—first made a splash with an American audience there. 

The biggest hit may have been this dessert from Brussels.

#WorldsFair64: The New York State Pavilion and Its Second Chance at Life

This architectural oddity from the New York World’s Fair still stands today.

by Rich Watson 

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park hosted two World’s Fairs, in 1939-40 and 1964-65. Evidence of their existence remains, but as a kid growing up in Queens, I didn’t recognize it as such. 

Later in life I learned about the Fairs. I discovered the New York State Pavilion, one of the 1964 Fair’s biggest attractions, was being resuscitated from obscurity.