My family and I spent a long day in September '74 traveling from Portland to Spokane for the Expo, and then back to Portland again. It was a sunny day, and the view from the Expo skyway was lovely. I was 12 at the time. I remember being intrigued by the USSR Pavilion, because this was during the Cold War and Americans didn't get to see much of what went on behind the Iron Curtain. I also remember being impressed by the list of big performers who came to little Spokane to play the fair. I recall there was a monorail at the fair. For the next couple years, there ran a public-service commercial that featured footage of the Expo monorail. The commercial, as I recall, talked about alternative, clean uses of energy...remember, this was around the time of the 1973-74 energy crisis.
—GHough

Just saw your site on the Exhibitions Web Ring and took a quick look. I'll be back! I was 18 years old back in 1974 and I got my first "real" job in September of that year. I saved everything I earned up until the last week of October and flew from Wausau, Wisconsin out to Spokane to spend one day at the Fair. Reading through your memories of the Fair I could still see all of those things in my "mind's eye." My favorite exhibit was the "plumbing fountain" in the US Pavilion that sybolized how we waste water! Remember the "Book of Mormon" pavilion built in the shape of the "gold plates"? Remember the neat model of the Fair in the headquarters building? Your site is very well done. Thanks for the memories!
—byoung

I am from Seattle and when I heard that Spokane was going to have a fair, I was able to convince my folks to go on vacation there. We were only there one day and then left to go camping at Lake Curlew, northwest of Spokane! My memories of the fair include the "Ride Over The Falls" and the sky ride. I also remember going into the Soviet Union and US pavilions. Canada Island was also neat. I also went into the Bell System pavilion. I also remember the walkways being made out of "glassphalt". I was 13 yrs old then. Expo '74 left an impression on me. When Expo '86 in Vancouver came around, I was excited about that as I had really enjoyed Expo '74. At Expo'86, I made up for the lack of time at Expo'74. I went to the one in '86 SEVEN times! Plus I saw most of the pavilions. Again, thanks for the website!
—mdunston

Very cool website. I would even say it's one of the best World's Fair sites I've ever found. Great job! Too bad I was too little (and too far) from Spokane to have visited during it's run. And although I still render the '62 Seattle WF as my favorite, I definitely rank Spokane a close second, mostly because of the spirit the city had to have to be able to pull it off. It probably helps that I envision a WF of my own sometime and definitely can look toward Spokane for inspiration. Although I've been up to Seattle three times since '94 (I live in Southern California) and have visited the Seattle Center site with the amazing Space Needle, I've yet to make it to the Spokane site. But, since discovering your Web site and learning more about the Spokane WF--I just recently bought the hard-cover Expo '74 retrospective book put out just after the fair. Visiting the old Expo '74 site is a must-do upon my next Seattle trip. One thing I venture to say is that Spokane probably would not have that lovely Opera House today if it wasn't for the fair. Which makes me wonder why more cities in the US haven't done any the last 15+ years. I mean, if tiny Spokane could do it, then why not my city?? Again, I guess the 'little city that could' still stands as an inspiration for some of us...
—gedward

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