2 ms·

World’s fairs acted as showcases for American cocktail ingenuity

57 points by samclemens 4y ago

ethbr0 4y ago
A couple random facts. World's fairs seem to have tapered off after the 40s. Presumably the adoption of television? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world%27s_fairs#1940s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world%27s_fairs#1940... The last world's fair held in the US was the 1984 Louisiana World Exhibition. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Louisiana_World_Exposition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Louisiana_World_Exposit...
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > World's fairs seem to have tapered off after the 40s. Presumably the adoption of television? I was just at the Biennale di Venezia [1]. It, like Art Basel, was well attended. These art-oriented fairs may have supplanted science and technology. (It coïncides with the 1970s and 80s’ anti-intellectualism in America.) On the other hand, science and technology discussion is far more realistic today, at the average dinner table, than it was in the 1950s. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennale https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennale
  - krisoft 4y ago
    > On the other hand, science and technology discussion is far more realistic today, at the average dinner table, than it was in the 1950s. Why do you think that?
thematrixturtle 4y ago
I visited Expo 2005 in Nagoya, and can thoroughly recommend attending if you can, it was a rather surreal but fascinating experience. Amidst a lot of glitzy building-size displays by various Japanese household names and wealthy countries, there was a rather modest Asian & African pavilion for all the countries too poor to afford their own. Inside was Laos's little booth, which could have been straight out of a high school science fair, with a couple of posters and some wooden baskets. Nevertheless, they were doing a roaring trade by selling little flasks of lao lao, the local rice "whisky", for around 300 yen. Three cheers to alcohol, the universal language!

57 points by samclemens 4y ago

A couple random facts. World's fairs seem to have tapered off after the 40s. Presumably the adoption of television? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world%27s_fairs#1940s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world%27s_fairs#1940... The last world's fair held in the US was the 1984 Louisiana World Exhibition. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Louisiana_World_Exposition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Louisiana_World_Exposit...

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> World's fairs seem to have tapered off after the 40s. Presumably the adoption of television? I was just at the Biennale di Venezia [1]. It, like Art Basel, was well attended. These art-oriented fairs may have supplanted science and technology. (It coïncides with the 1970s and 80s’ anti-intellectualism in America.) On the other hand, science and technology discussion is far more realistic today, at the average dinner table, than it was in the 1950s. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennale https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennale
- krisoft 4y ago
  > On the other hand, science and technology discussion is far more realistic today, at the average dinner table, than it was in the 1950s. Why do you think that?

thematrixturtle 4y ago

I visited Expo 2005 in Nagoya, and can thoroughly recommend attending if you can, it was a rather surreal but fascinating experience. Amidst a lot of glitzy building-size displays by various Japanese household names and wealthy countries, there was a rather modest Asian & African pavilion for all the countries too poor to afford their own. Inside was Laos's little booth, which could have been straight out of a high school science fair, with a couple of posters and some wooden baskets. Nevertheless, they were doing a roaring trade by selling little flasks of lao lao, the local rice "whisky", for around 300 yen. Three cheers to alcohol, the universal language!