Sunday, December 26, 2010

If It Didn't Mean I Would Already Be Dead,

...and I probably would have been there also for the aught six quake a few years earlier, I would want to have lived in San Francisco for the Panama-Pacific World's Fair.  What must it have been like!?  Hundreds of thousands of novagems dangling from the Tower of Jewels and reflecting the lights through the fog from a circle of hidden stations.

  Can you say "Aurora Borealis of the Bay only maybe Better"? If I could experience it today in  2010/Almost Eleven, (Las Vegas notwithstanding) I don't think I would believe my eyes, let alone fathoming it in 1915!  I feel wistful for having missed out on that one.   (Or did I?  Maybe someone snapped this picture of me in my past life sailing by "the city that knew how.")

 I am, however, somewhat placated by frequent trips to the Palace of Fine Arts which still stands today, and about which I have gushed numerous times before.  (Don't) stop me if you've seen these pictures already.



And speaking of gems, I read that the ukulele was introduced to the United States at that fair. 


I've also read  (http://www.moah.org/exhibits/archives/1915/) that the fair sported these colors:

  • French green for garden lattices




  • Deep cerulean blue in recessed panels and ceiling vaults




  • Pink-orange for flagpoles




  • Pinkish-red flecked with brown for the background of colonnades




  • Golden-burnt-orange for moldings and small domes




  • Terra cotta for other domes




  • Gold for statuary




  • Antique green for urns and vases 



  • TRY TO IMAGINE IT! 
    No, I mean, try to imagine what it might have been like through 1915 eyes.  Come to think of it, I wonder if in 1915 I could have imagined any of today's experiences were somebody from the future--which is actually now the present for a minute--to try to describe them to me.  But don't let's get off on that subject!
     
     I know it won't ever approach the original experience, but the next time I'm in town, I'm going to look up (I've seen a few) remnants including elephants and fountains and replicas of mermaids with segmented tails, star maidens, refracting telescopes...sculptures, murals, architecture, etc...well, those that are still there, anyway, and get educated more about the movers and shakers of the 1915 World's Fair.  I think there are fair remnants in other parts of the country, as well.  What a Wonder!

    1 comment:

    Hanaike House said...

    We miss you Penny. Its been too long since you have visited. Hurry back!