Flash Gordon - 1939 World's Fair

1939 World's Fair

The name "Flash Gordon" was emblazoned on the proscenium of a ride at the 1939 New York World's Fair. An article in Popular Science (March 1939) described how 150 people could enter a ride designed to resemble a rocket ship with a motion picture screen and vibrating seats for a simulated trip to another planet. The ride was located "at the opposite end of the amusement zone from the parachute tower". Fairgoers walked around a simulation of Venus as a jungle planet, inhabited by mechanical dinosaurs to enter a "Martian Headquarters", where "weirdly costumed Martians and mechanically animated models of giant beasts enact episodes from the adventures of Flash Gordon". The ride's Martians did not look like those in the 1938 serial, nor did the rocket ship.

Read more about this topic:  Flash Gordon

Famous quotes containing the words world and/or fair:

    I take enormous pleasure every time I see something that I’ve done that cannot be wiped out. In some way ... I guess it’s a protest against mortality. But it’s been so much fun! It’s the curiosity that drives me. It’s making a difference in the world that prevents me from ever giving up.
    Deborah Meier (b. 1931)

    When all is said and done, friendship is the only trustworthy fabric of the affections. So-called love is a delirious inhuman state of mind: when hot it substitutes indulgence for fair play; when cold it is cruel, but friendship is warmth in cold, firm ground in a bog.
    Miles Franklin (1879–1954)