Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Tower of the Four Winds

One of the more memorable exhibits at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was '"it's a small world" (the lower case selling is indeed correct), created by Walt Disney and sponsored by Pepsi Cola. As everyone who rode it and still has the song stuck in their heads knows, the ride was later moved to Disneyland and is still there today. Newer versions are in all of the other Disney parks as well.

What no one knows is whatever became of the Tower of the Four Winds, which stood in front of the main pavilion building. Designed to withstand hurricane force winds, the tower was quite a construction job. After the Fair it vanished, and no one seems to know if it was sold for scrap or, as rumored, dumped in a nearby river to save the cost of hauling it away. I doubt that's the case, given the value of scrap metal, but I don't believe any parts of it have ever surfaced.

This first view helps show how long the lines were for the ride. Under the tower itself was a VIP lounge, and under that a counter answering questions about UNICEF.



Here's another view. The tower was quite a sight on a breezy day, with parts spinning all over the place.

1 comment:

  1. What a loss! Too bad it wasn't dismantled and reassembled next to the attraction at Disneyland. It could have been put near the "Small World Meadow" area and later served as an entrance to Videoplois/The Fantasyland Theater. They could have even put a shop underneath it....Disney seems to LOVE shops at the attraction exits now.

    ReplyDelete