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Experience The Futurama Ride At The 1964 World’s Fair
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 11, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 11, 2013
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From the '64 Futurama exhibit
We've revisited both the 1939 and the 1964 World's Fairs in New York time and again, but below you can experience one of the rides at the latter as if you were there yourself. The GM Futurama Ride gave visitors a glimpse at what America may look like in the "near future"—it was the fair's most popular attraction, and nearly 26 million people took a ride into the future. When the ride passes through enters the metropolitan area, the narrator talks about what to expect out of future cities:
"Plazas of urban living rise over freeways, vehicles electronically-paced travel routes remarkably safe, swift and efficient. Towering terminals serve sections of the city, make public transportation more convenient, provide ample space for private cars, and from a lower level covered moving walks radiate to shopping areas that are now truly market places of the world. Its traditions and faiths preserved, there is new beauty and new strength in the city of tomorrow. Technology can point the way to a future of limitless promise, but man must chart his own course into tomorrow. A course that frees the mind and the spirit as it improves the well-being of mankind."
And here's the original Futurama from the 1939 World's Fair, which had predicted life in the 1960s:
[via Laughing Squid]
Tagged
1964
flashback
Futurama
history
world's fair
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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