Century 21: The 1962 World's Fair

 1962: The world came to Seattle.

Being a "young'un," I obviously wasn't alive for the 1962 World's Fair, so the 50th anniversary celebration is a chance for me to find out more about my city and experience history, rather than relive memories, like a lot of people are doing this year. With that said, taking the Museum of History and Industry's walking tour of the fairgrounds was a chance for me to explore how these buildings and this "park" that I love came to be.

The tour lasted just under an-hour-and-a-half, and took us around the fairgrounds, beginning at the International Pavilion on the west side, south to the various theatres, the Fine Arts Pavilion (now Pacific Northwest Ballet), east to Memorial Stadium, then north to the Center House, the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, and the Flag Pavilion, among other stops.  Of course, the MOHAI tour complemented the different books and articles written about the fair that have been coming out lately, as well as the Next 50/Jack Straw audio tour (which my mom and I did that same day, after a hearty lunch at MOD Pizza at the Center House... No, The Armory).

Even though I've been reading books about the World's Fair, it was nice to be able to see the buildings that the books have referred to, and to be able to match up the "Then" pictures in the books or on the maps with the "Now" buildings that I've seen for years. For instance, it didn't click in my head that the Fine Arts Pavilion is the building where Pacific Northwest Ballet has its offices and studios now. So now when I pass by the building, drooling that there are ballerinas and costumes inside, I can also imagine what the interior and wonder must have been like in 1962, when this was the building where people experienced Art, some for the first time. Plus, the tour guide told us a bit about the architecture of the building, which I've always kind of liked, but of course I now can't remember what style it is. Still, I realized that I don't stop and admire the building's structure as much as I used to and should. I used to wonder about it -- I mean, look at that roofline! It's ... arch-like, but not really. And it repeats along all sides of the building -- but I think now I'm just too enchanted by that sign that hangs on it, and the upper-story windows you can try to peek in to. Taking the tour reminded me to appreciate the outside of the building just as much as I fancy what goes on inside. I can't imagine how the building must have seemed in 1962 -- so new, so big, so strange in our little backwoods (Okay, not backwoods. We weren't hicks like it sounds like the rest of the world thought, and still think. Still, though, Seattle wasn't exactly a large and mature city.).

If you know me, you know I got giddy on this part of the tour.

I also learned non-Fair-related facts about the Seattle Center House. For those who don't know, the Center House is basically the Food Court for the Seattle Center. It's across a little walkway from the Space Needle (and now the new Chihuly museum, too), and next to one end of the Monorail. It has three levels -- the bottom floor is a Children's Museum; the middle floor has the eateries and a performance space (yes, my many memories of performing there every other Christmas season); and the upper floor has had small shops and exhibit spaces, but it seems to me that that space has never really had a permanent character (or maybe I just don't visit it enough). The Center House was originally an armory, and was converted to the Food Circus for the World's Fair. What I didn't know was that the building was built in 1939 as a WPA project. And now it all makes sense -- I always wondered about those eagles outside the north entrance. They always seemed out of place, very Regal and Patriotic, and completely unusual for a building that housed Orange Julius and Pizza Haven.
















The tour guides, as well as the books, also pointed out the general architecture of the building, mainly its size and the windows (and the roofline, too, I can see now). Now I really see that this building has a much more impressive history than just pizza and sandwich shops.

The other thing I learned is that it's being rebranded as The Armory, rather than the Center House. There used to be a very large, bright, energetic, "This is a party place!"-type archway/entryway on the south side of the building (and one on the north side, too, with the eagles. If you look at the above left picture, you can still vaguely see where the sign was attached to the brickwork), but it's been taken down (which made me kind of sad -- I always liked that sign). I guess neon with a party font doesn't fit the image of an Armory. So the Center House is no longer a party place and is being reformed to sophistication and ... military? The playful entrance is gone (which, really, I don't mind. I mean, restoring old buildings to how they originally looked is a good thing), and I think I read months ago that the windows and skylights are being redone to let in more light while at the same time making the building look more like its original use. (Which, of course, I find odd, given that there's still a Starbucks sign outside, as well as MOD Pizza's sign now, with their outdoor seating. *shrug*)  (And this is history-related two ways: 1) it's a return to the historical building; 2) decades from now, the way the building looked in the 1990s will be considered old and historical! So this little digression is still history-related, and not just me rambling.) (And speaking of rambling, I think there might be a related post someday soon with my general memories about the Center.)

In review, this tour is worth taking if you're in the Seattle area and interested in the World's Fair, architecture, or the history of the buildings that now make up the Center grounds. It's an easy walk (the Center grounds have minor slopes, but nothing difficult, and you make a lot of stops along the way), and if you're lucky, you'll get tour guides who really know what they're talking about. You can also add to the day, like we did, by doing the audio tour and also visiting MOHAI's temporary location, at the International Fountain Pavilion, which is currently displaying -- what else? -- Century 21 artifacts (which had a lot of cool stuff. My favorites were the uniform a Bubbleator operator wore, Century 21-inspired fabrics, World's Fair posters, and songs about the Fair.). I give the day two thumbs up.

And of course it wasn't until I began writing this post that I realized that this tour probably has a pretty obvious split of how people experience it -- there are people like me, who didn't attend the fair but live in the area now, who didn't know that such-and-such building was originally built to be so-and-so exhibit at the World's Fair; then on the other side, you might have people who view these buildings today and think, "I remember when that was the so-and-so at the World's Fair." Everything's a matter of perspective.


The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair and Its Legacy 
Seattle's 1962 World's Fair (Images of America)
Jack Straw Productions celebrates the World's Fair
Next50
MOD Pizza

Edit: Puget Sound Business Journal/KOMO article (July 6) about the Armory reconfiguration

The Genographic Project, part 4

Honestly, it was probably pretty silly to think that we *wouldn't* want to know about my father's mother's family's history, or that the Genographic Project's DNA tests wouldn't seem worth it to do both sides of the family. So now that my parents and I have all been dazzled by the maps that came as results of the first round of DNA testing, we're now testing my father's Mitochondrial DNA to find out about his mother's history.

My father keeps saying that these results will be the same as his original results, since both of his parents were from Mexico, but I have to remind him that just because they both ended up in the same place (Mexico) and came from the same place (Africa) doesn't mean their ancestors necessarily took the exact same route.  So we're doing the cheek swabbing today, the package will get sent to The Genographic Project people tomorrow, and then a few weeks after that, we should know for sure (or as sure as science can get us right now) how my paternal grandmother's ancestors moved about the world millions of years ago. Exciting!  (Personally, I'm hoping it's different from my paternal grandfather, just so we have new stories and a different map. Diversity!)

What about you? What do you think about all of this? Is the testing something you'd consider, or have already done?

The Genographic Project, part 3

Results are in! Results are in!

I still don't quite understand what they mean -- the website gives really good explanations of the migratory patterns, and nifty stories about what your ancestors' lives would have been like, including their tools, crafts, and the climate -- but boy, the maps seem impressive :)

mom's side

dad's side

I'll have to return to the site again to re-read all of the fancy scientific explanations about DNA testing, the different mutations, the genomes, etc., and I'll also print all of the results. But maps! I understand maps! They're exciting! (And I knew something must be up when I logged in to see the progress of my testing, and instead of going automatically to the progress page, I had to Agree to Terms again. But I've already done this -- why are you making me do it again? Ah, because there are maps!)

And like a good, and appreciative, little girl, I've already answered their anonymous survey to add my results to the grand project.