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(retro music) 

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[NARRATOR] People came to Seattle 
by the millions that year.

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Regular folks and celebrities
 like Elvis Presley.

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The 1962 Fair was an event,
 and a civic accomplishment,

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whose impact simply can't be overstated.

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[ELVIS PRESLEY] You haven't seen anything yet.
[NARRATOR] But the international festival had its roots

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way back in 1909 on the UW campus.

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And for this, we can thank 
Junius Rochester's dad.

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[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] My father was 14
 when the AYP came to Seattle.

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He saw it as a grand opportunity,
 as all young kids did,

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but he ended up with the job there.

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[NARRATOR] The AYP, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition,
 made such an impact

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on Al Rochester, when he was on the city
 council in the 1950s,

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he thought it was time for 
a new fair in 1959

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to celebrate 50 years
 since that 1909 fair.

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[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] The idea was to celebrate the AYP,
 the Alaska Pacific Exposition,

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because it was a major milestone
 in the city's history.

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[NARRATOR] The idea caught on in a city
 that was basking in the glow of Boeing,

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becoming dominant in jet travel,
 and a world that was changing fast

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and looking ahead optimistically 
to the 21st century.

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(rocket engine roars)

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[ANNOUNCER] Under Exposition President

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Joe Gandy, Century 21 audaciously bid

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for approval in Paris by the Bureau
of International Expositions.

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[NARRATOR]  Joe Gandy, an attorney who owned a Ford
 dealership,

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and Eddie Carlson,
 who ran what became Westin hotels,

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led the effort to raise money
 and build the fairgrounds.

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The Fair Committee met every Monday
 morning at the old Olympic Hotel.

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Louis Larsen went to 
a lot of those meetings.

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He'd been hired to recruit big companies
 from around the U.S.

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to buy exhibit space at the fair.

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In those days, Seattle
 wasn't exactly a household name.

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[LOUIS LARSEN] The vice president
 of International Harvester,

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after I made my presentation,
 kind of scratched his head and he says,

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"No, let's see, is it Seattle-y

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or Spokane that's on the ocean?"

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So, I had a little geography lesson.

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[NARRATOR] Louis Larsen hit the road,

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selling the fair and selling 
Seattle to industrial America.

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(car vrooms)

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[LOUIS LARSEN]  One day

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I had breakfast with the 
Brunswick people in Chicago.

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I had lunch with the Studebaker
 people in South Bend, Indiana,

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and I had dinner in Wisconsin
 with the Allis-Chalmers company.

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[NARRATOR] And big companies signed up 
like Ford and General Motors.

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And Al Rochester's original idea
 for a Seattle fair in 1959 reached

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even greater heights, went into orbit
 you might say,

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and, well, the date slid a bit, too.

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[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] Because science had 
risen as a major factor

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in everybody's life, beginning
 with Sputnik, by the way, in Russia.

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The Seattle World's Fair
 was changed to a science fair.

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[ANNOUNCER] The world today is made, is powered,

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is penetrated through
 and through with science.

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[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] And the emphasis then was on technical
 and scientific advances.

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With millions of dollars
 in federal support. The U.S.

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Science Exhibit took shape,
 old buildings were spruced up,

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and other new things were built,
 including the Space Needle,

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the symbol of the fair that has 
since become synonymous

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with Seattle, and the 
Washington State Pavilion,

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nowadays known as Climate Pledge Arena.

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 (♪) See you in Seattle.  (♪) 

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 (♪) See you at the fair.  (♪♪) 

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[NARRATOR] The fair opened on April 21st, 1962.

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Some naysayers had dismissed the whole
 operation as the Mercer Street Carnival,

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but it was so much more than 
junk food and rides.

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Though the monorail, which still connects
 downtown with the fairgrounds,

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is actually a pretty fun ride too.

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(monorail horn blows)

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[C. DAVID HUGHBANKS] Yeah, well, we thought about it 
as a carnival ride,

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but I don't think anyone thinks about it
 that way anymore.

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[NARRATOR] Dave Hughbanks joined the staff
 as the fair was getting underway.

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[C. DAVID HUGHBANKS] Well, there's a lot to do,

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and we were here,
I swear 16, 17,

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20 hours a day,
 and enjoying every bit of it.

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We put on events by the hour almost,
 that were free to the public,

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and it was amazing how many people
throughout the city wanted to help us.

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[YOUNG ACTRESS] Golly, I don't know where to begin.

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[ELVIS PRESLEY] Make a choice.

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[NARRATOR] Oh, and Elvis was at the fair, too.

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Albert Fisher was in charge of media,
 so his job was to babysit

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the king of rock and roll,
 who was here to make a movie.

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[ALBERT FISHER] It was quite an adventure being with him,
 and it afforded me

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some time to be able to get to 
know him personally,

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and we struck up a really nice friendship
during that time at the fair.

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But I had no perceived idea

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of what kind of a person
 Elvis Presley would be.

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He really surprised me.

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He was a gentleman.

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[NARRATOR] Jim Burns got a job
 as a security guard at the fair.

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He protected Elvis and even got to be
 in the King's World's Fair movie.

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[JIM BURNS] I got to know him fairly
 well because I got assigned to him

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when he was here making the movie,

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and I have a little part in the movie.

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[NARRATOR] That's Jim there, falling into
 the fountain at the Science Center.

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(splashing water)

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(dramatic music)

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[NARRATOR] The Fair closed on October 21st, 1962.

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By all measures, it was a big success.

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[LOUIS LARSEN] I think whether the people 
realized it or not,

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it was pretty close to perfect.

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[NARRATOR] And once Elvis and about 10 million
 other people had left the Space Needle

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and other buildings of the World's Fair,
 the fairgrounds converted nicely

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into Seattle Center,
 which is still a beloved civic treasure

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60 years later.

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(upbeat music)