New Orleans World Fair of 1984

In 1984, I traveled across the country with my Grandmother and Aunt. We had many exploits, but one I had been looking forward to a ton but was a bust (in two ways, if you read). This source of disappointment was the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans.

I actually had this poster of the "wall," okay it was a gift for Greg, but still.

We visited it towards the end of the run, and it looked a little run down. But I don't think it ever looked great. The "big" thing of the World's Fair was the "Wonder Wall." It was a porous fence /wall/sight that ran through the entire fair. It had been designed by UCLA's Charles Moore, an architect and head of the program at UCLA. 

The start of the wall

I was less than impressed. While the idea of a wall that connects the disparate areas is a good one, it suffered from poor execution and budget cuts.

And now the other "bust". This is a picture of my Grandmother (Zela) and Aunt (Martha) at the fair. Right after this picture, we sat down to eat New Orleans' Jambalaya. We got about 3 mouthfuls before Zela dropped a big spoonful onto her blouse. She uttered her one curse word (sheeeet), and tried to brush it off. Well, it had seeped through the blouse and so she took it off. 

We are now at the picnic tables, and my grandmother has stripped down to her Jane Russell full-figure foundation and bra, before Martha and I both asked her to - maybe - do that in the bathroom. She turned bright red and made Martha walk in front of her as they traversed the fair looking for a bathroom.

FYI - Best pavilion. Canada. Canada had a travelogue in Imax when it was still a new and impressive technology. Plus, Canada is beautiful.

Other pics

I took this of the new and cool space shuttle.
Oddly this same one is right outside our window in New York, on the Enterprise Aircraft Carrier.

The ones below are from postcards I bought. That is how unimpressive the fair was.