Chapter #4
- Flashing Back to the
- "World of the Future!"
The
single most vexing aspect of researching The World of the
Future Exposition is the lack of available research materials.
We have fortunately come into possession of four page "hand
out" titled "A Quick Guide to the Future!"
Barely more than a hundred words long, this is a simple listing
of some (though certainly not all) of the major attractions.
Here and there Scott Kohl (or C. or whomever it was who actually
produced this publication) has seen fit to include a few words
of additional text. This is seen printed in "quotations
and bold text." In addition to these original words,
we have added our own brief explanatory notes that appear in
(parenthesis and italic text).
"A Quick Guide to the Future!"
"Welcome to the World of the Future
Exposition! My name is Calvin Spotrunn and it is my extreme pleasure
to present to you...the Future of Human Civilization!
"When you enter into the World of
the Future you leave the chaotic world of the past behind. Remember:
it is in this future that we will be spending the rest of our
lives!
"To this garden spot in the desert
bring with you an open mind and an eager heart. From this place
take the seeds of a world waiting to begin!"
-- Calvin "C." Spotrunn
Rides -
The Rocket Sled
"An actual 175 MPH ride on a real rocket sled...just
like the test pilots use! From MacGregor Aircraft Company"
(apparently, this really was as advertised. The MacGregor
Aircraft Company, now MacGregor/Cyber Systems, Ltd., had maintained
a test facility on this site since 1953, maintaining a 6 1/2
mile stretch of rocket sled track built to experiment with captured
German V-2 rockets)
The Meteor Roller Coaster
(a classic side-by-side racing wooden roller coaster)
The Mission to Venus Tunnel of Love
"Featuring the Space Ranger Girls!"
(no information if there was any actual connection between
this attraction and C.'s movie serial Space Ranger Girls.
There is, interestingly enough, a "Venusian love tunnel"
sequence in the 1977 Space Ranger Girls: Blond Bombshells
From Beyond. Was that sequence perhaps inspired by the ride?)
Space Commander X's Fun House
(a classic "house of mirrors" attraction with
an outer space decorative theme)
Restaurants
-
Hanoi Hattie's Huguenot Hide Away
(a French Colonial/South East Asian-themed restaurant featuring
live musical entertainment and simulated thunder storms)
The Bikini Lounge
(what would now be referred to as a "tiki" bar,
the Bikini Lounge took it's name from both the Bikini Atoll,
site of a notorious US nuclear test in 1946 as well as the skimpy
two-piece swimsuit named to capture some of the notoriety of
that test. A curious combination, to be certain: C. had a strange
love/hate relationship with the issue of atomic energy and a
love/love relationship to slightly attired women. The Bikini
Lounge did feature a live stage show featuring a cast of women
clad in bikinis)
Mike's Route 5 Good Eats
"Nothing beats a giant, juicy hamburger sandwich and
an ice cold Sealer's Old Draft Beer from Mike's Route 5 Good
Eats!"
(still located in the same location, Mike's Route 5 Good
Eats actually predates both the construction of The World of
the Future Exposition and the MacGregor Aircraft Company test
range. Originally located directly on Route 66 to the north of
the Exposition site, it was moved to its current location to
service the needs of the MacGregor test pilots. No one now seems
to know whom the original Mike was or why it bears the name "Route
5." It now provides food services to the air base at Area
101)
Capistrano Kate's Hamburger Stand
(it's true: the very first of this international fast food
mega-conglomerate was built here for the run of The World of
the Future Exposition. After the close of the Fair, it was moved
to it's present site - registered as a California Historical
Landmark in 1979 - in Pasadena, California. It is, parenthetically,
a favorite "hang-out" for us here at the Recovered
Entertainment Archives)
Pavilions -
The Universe of Nuclear Energy 
(designed by "Father of the 'H' Bomb" Edward
Teller as a way to popularize his curious ideas about the value
and use of nuclear energy. Before the pavilion was opened, Teller
had thankfully moved on to his plan to create an artificial bay
in Alaska by simultaneously detonating several powerful nuclear
devices. This scheme was never realized. When it came time to
create the "show" inside the already built pavilion,
C. turned to the "Father of the 'A' Bomb" Robert Oppenheimer,
a noted opponent of the nuclear energy. The resulting presentation
- Teller's glossy displays showing the benefits of the nuclear
energy juxtaposed with Oppenheimer's sly, intelligent warning
presentations about the atom made for what has been described
as the strangest show in the Exposition)
Space Port Earth!
"An actual 175 MPH ride on a real rocket sled...just
like the test pilots use! From MacGregor Aircraft Company"
(no doubted an editing error placed this caption under
the photo of both the Rocket Sled and the Space Port Earth! pavilion.
Guests entered the futuristic-looking building through dioramas
depicting the history of flight and rocketry and emerged into
a large, open interior space designed to look like an orbiting
space station. Employees were dressed in fashions similar to
those seen in the front cover art painted by C. Spotrunn for
his science fiction magazines)
Shows -
The "Plumbing Your Way!" Show
(a live musical extravaganza presented by the US Housing
League detailing the past, present and future of residential
and commercial plumbing materials, equipment and design)
The Confusatron Computing Show: "Inside
the Electronic Brain"
(all three of the post World War II mainframe computer
manufactures - IBM, UNIVAC and Confusatron - were reported to
have been in a bidding war to be the computer shown off in The
World of the Future Exposition. The visionary spirit of then
fledgling Confusatron Computing Corporation led C. Spotrunn to
give them the nod. The "Inside the Electronic Brain"
show consisted of a giant walk-through computer which showed
guests the workings of the top of the Confusatron line: a Model
11357 Computer - with the computing power roughly equivalent
to a handheld scientific calculator of today)
- © 2000 Kevin W. Whitaker
- The Recovered Entertainment Archives
The Recovered Entertainment Archives