The peach of a boulevard that was, all lined with red flags, hundreds of them.
And what crowds, people from all over the world taking in the sights.
Gosh, it was great.
And see, do you remember the pictures of the sky ride we looked at? Well, I was on it, and did I get a thrill out of that.
Not like the old Ferris wheels.
This was a real ride, with lots of zip to it.
It was built more than 260 feet high.
And when you were in the rocket car, it felt like you were on top of the world.
Down below you could see the fair, all lit up, just like a fairyland.
Boy, what height.
And we took in all the foreign buildings, too.
You should have seen the Chinese temple, with gold all over the roof.
All kinds of wood carving and fancy hangings inside.
The Chinese emperors used to live in one just like it.
The Italian building was swell, too.
Had a lot of stuff in it about old Rome, like we had in school.
But the lagoon was where we had the real fun.
Dad hired a boat one day, and we sailed up and down for hours.
And was that the berries.
The government building, the electrical building, the green radio building, and lots more.
It was great to stretch out in the boat so close to the blue water.
Just like being down in Florida or in California.
There was a lot of things to see on the main drag, too.
I wish you fellas could have seen the government soldiers riding by in horseback.
They looked like a million.
And say, Dead Avenue had a thermometer on it, a mile high.
With numbers on it that were even bigger than my dad.
You could spot it from all over.
Boy, I'd like to see a doctor take a temperature with that one.
Another thing we took in was a show called A Million Years Ago.
It has a dome on it with a map of the world.
Around front on the Midway, it had an awful funny display.
King Kong himself.
And two of those dizzy -looking animals that lived at the beginning of the world.
Two of those long names, you know, like in our history books.
Talking about the Midway, what a street that was.
I was all worn out seeing the sights.
It had everything on it.
Dragon rides, sword swallowers, alligator wrestlers, a midget village, Oriental Village, snake charmers.
Gosh, I can't remember the half of it.
And crowds, I never saw so many people in my life.
Say, I almost forgot about the roller coaster.
And I went around on it three times in a row.
Gee, fellas, you don't know what you missed.
That was a real loop -the -loop.
Then there was Enchanted Island.
A place where all us kids were parked while parents tramped around by themselves on the fairgrounds.
We had a roller coaster out there too.
And each one of us drove his own car.
My dad stayed with me and had as much fun as I did.
They had all kinds of giant figures on this island.
And a house filled with marbles.
You should have seen it.
There were lots of swell -looking buildings all over the fairgrounds.
The kind you never see around here.
One of them, the Travel and Transport Building, had a dome that was supposed to go up and down.
That was because it was suspended by cables, like a bridge.
They called it the Breathing Dome.
It sure was an ock -out.
And do you fellas know what else I saw? Admiral Byrd's ship.
And just back from the South Pole too.
Gee, she was a beauty.
And what a whale of a view we got at the whole north end of the fair.
You could see the lagoon, and all the buildings clear as a whistle.
Right near us was the Hall of Religion.
That's where they had the Holy Grail.
Remember? The cup that all the knights went out to capture for the church.
And all this that I've been telling you is only a drop in the bucket.
There were so many more things that I could never get through telling you all about them.
I'll never forget it as long as I live.
And gee, you should have seen a beautiful firestone building.
And what a show they put on.
They had the best spot at the fair.
Their place was jammed all the time.
One morning we entered the fair at the 23rd Street entrance.
And right before us was the Mammoth Firestone Exhibition.
The buildings and gardens covered several acres.
And I'm not seeing it when I say that the Firestone Factory and Exhibition Building was one of the finest industrial exhibits on the grounds.
To the right and left of the entrance were huge displays in which many of the Firestone products were shown.
One had airplane tires and the other products Firestone makes for the aviation industry.
Another showed race cars and the world's records won on Firestone tires.
Indisputable evidence of Firestone dependability.
There were pictures of the leading race drivers who chose Firestone tires just because of their extra stamina and safety construction features.
In another display, shown the various styles of footwear which are made by Firestone.
Not only rainy weather footwear, but smart, stylish shoes for sport and vacation use.
Firestone boots, galoshes, sports shoes, bathing shoes and canvas footwear are built to the same high standard of quality as Firestone tires.
Next came a unique display of Firestone tires, tubes, wheels, rims, batteries, spark plugs, brake line, anti -freeze, auto cleaner and polish, fan belts, top dressing, radiator cleaner and many other Firestone automotive necessities showing just what part of the car each product serves.
And then a turntable on which various types of rubber products made by Firestone were shown.
These included motor supports and vibration dampeners used to minimize vibration on motors and machines of all kinds.
Rubber flooring and mats, rubber tubing of all kinds and sizes.
You know, they actually vulcanize rubber to metal and Firestone leads in manufacturing rubber parts of this kind.
In the gardens, there were many very interesting displays.
One showed the latest Firestone tire development for tractors.
Thousands of farmers learned that with Firestone low -pressure tractor tires, they could plow more acres per day, save gasoline and do all kinds of farm work better and cheaper.
Firestone pioneered and developed these big tires for tractors which use only 12 pounds of air pressure.
It's amazing how economical and efficient they are.
They save 24 % in fuel and increase the speed from 26 % to 37%.
As we passed through the lovely gardens, we came upon a display of Firestone truck and bus tires.
I was amazed at the size of these giant sturdy tires.
I later saw them on those big greyhound buses that took us from one end of the fair to the other.
I also learned they were on the 131 buses of the Washington, D .C.
Railway and Electric Company, which in 1931 and 1932 ran more than 7 million bus miles without a single tire failure.
Farther on in the garden, there was another interesting display of Firestone rims, wheels and rim parts for all makes of passenger cars, trucks and buses.
Firestone, you know, developed the first demountable rim for commercial use.
And today is one of the largest makers of rims in the world.
Firestone truck rims are used by nearly every truck manufacturer and more of them are used than rims.
You should see the new Firestone wheels and rims for the new Firestone air balloon tires.
Firestone seems to lead in everything.
To really appreciate the size, scope and beauty of the Firestone exhibits, we walked back and viewed it from a distance.
Only from such a vantage point could one fully appreciate what a marvelous ensemble, the combination of gardens and the brilliantly colored building created.
Covered, all framed in a bed of smooth green turf.
Its simple beauty was a symbol of the quality built into Firestone products.
But there was an even greater treat in store for us.
Placed in an exquisite setting of lawns, flowers and shrubbery, were the Firestone singing color fountains.
An indescribable harmony of effects in color and sound.
Six dome -shaped fountains of spray -tipped beauty, emerging from a pool 100 feet long.
We were fascinated by their sheer loveliness.
No visit to the fair was complete without witnessing the beauty of the Firestone exhibit at night.
Instant changing of the color of the Firestone sign and the soft but brilliant reflection of blue, red and orange lights gave one the impression of a mammoth and gorgeous fairyland.
At night the fountain domes were transformed into a fantasy of a thousand hues and shades.
Constantly changing color, these color variations were in perfect harmony with the music brought to this fountain of green.
Actually, these shifts in color and tone were controlled by the vibrations, rhythm of the music.
Day or night there was no exhibit on the fairgrounds that attracted the attention, interest and admiration of the millions of visitors that was accorded the Firestone singing color fountain.
Justly accredited as being the artistic file of a century of progress.
The multicolor shadow sign and the singing color fountain were the only ones of their kind in the world.
They were truly symbolic of the craftsmanship, quality and beauty of Firestone products.
