(retro music)
[NARRATOR] People came to Seattle by the millions that year.
Regular folks and celebrities like Elvis Presley.
The 1962 Fair was an event, and a civic accomplishment,
whose impact simply can't be overstated.
[ELVIS PRESLEY] You haven't seen anything yet. [NARRATOR] But the international festival had its roots
way back in 1909 on the UW campus.
And for this, we can thank Junius Rochester's dad.
[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] My father was 14 when the AYP came to Seattle.
He saw it as a grand opportunity, as all young kids did,
but he ended up with the job there.
[NARRATOR] The AYP, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, made such an impact
on Al Rochester, when he was on the city council in the 1950s,
he thought it was time for a new fair in 1959
to celebrate 50 years since that 1909 fair.
[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] The idea was to celebrate the AYP, the Alaska Pacific Exposition,
because it was a major milestone in the city's history.
[NARRATOR] The idea caught on in a city that was basking in the glow of Boeing,
becoming dominant in jet travel, and a world that was changing fast
and looking ahead optimistically to the 21st century.
(rocket engine roars)
[ANNOUNCER] Under Exposition President
Joe Gandy, Century 21 audaciously bid
for approval in Paris by the Bureau of International Expositions.
[NARRATOR] Joe Gandy, an attorney who owned a Ford dealership,
and Eddie Carlson, who ran what became Westin hotels,
led the effort to raise money and build the fairgrounds.
The Fair Committee met every Monday morning at the old Olympic Hotel.
Louis Larsen went to a lot of those meetings.
He'd been hired to recruit big companies from around the U.S.
to buy exhibit space at the fair.
In those days, Seattle wasn't exactly a household name.
[LOUIS LARSEN] The vice president of International Harvester,
after I made my presentation, kind of scratched his head and he says,
"No, let's see, is it Seattle-y
or Spokane that's on the ocean?"
So, I had a little geography lesson.
[NARRATOR] Louis Larsen hit the road,
selling the fair and selling Seattle to industrial America.
(car vrooms)
[LOUIS LARSEN] One day
I had breakfast with the Brunswick people in Chicago.
I had lunch with the Studebaker people in South Bend, Indiana,
and I had dinner in Wisconsin with the Allis-Chalmers company.
[NARRATOR] And big companies signed up like Ford and General Motors.
And Al Rochester's original idea for a Seattle fair in 1959 reached
even greater heights, went into orbit you might say,
and, well, the date slid a bit, too.
[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] Because science had risen as a major factor
in everybody's life, beginning with Sputnik, by the way, in Russia.
The Seattle World's Fair was changed to a science fair.
[ANNOUNCER] The world today is made, is powered,
is penetrated through and through with science.
[JUNIUS ROCHESTER] And the emphasis then was on technical and scientific advances.
With millions of dollars in federal support. The U.S.
Science Exhibit took shape, old buildings were spruced up,
and other new things were built, including the Space Needle,
the symbol of the fair that has since become synonymous
with Seattle, and the Washington State Pavilion,
nowadays known as Climate Pledge Arena.
(♪) See you in Seattle. (♪)
(♪) See you at the fair. (♪♪)
[NARRATOR] The fair opened on April 21st, 1962.
Some naysayers had dismissed the whole operation as the Mercer Street Carnival,
but it was so much more than junk food and rides.
Though the monorail, which still connects downtown with the fairgrounds,
is actually a pretty fun ride too.
(monorail horn blows)
[C. DAVID HUGHBANKS] Yeah, well, we thought about it as a carnival ride,
but I don't think anyone thinks about it that way anymore.
[NARRATOR] Dave Hughbanks joined the staff as the fair was getting underway.
[C. DAVID HUGHBANKS] Well, there's a lot to do,
and we were here, I swear 16, 17,
20 hours a day, and enjoying every bit of it.
We put on events by the hour almost, that were free to the public,
and it was amazing how many people throughout the city wanted to help us.
[YOUNG ACTRESS] Golly, I don't know where to begin.
[ELVIS PRESLEY] Make a choice.
[NARRATOR] Oh, and Elvis was at the fair, too.
Albert Fisher was in charge of media, so his job was to babysit
the king of rock and roll, who was here to make a movie.
[ALBERT FISHER] It was quite an adventure being with him, and it afforded me
some time to be able to get to know him personally,
and we struck up a really nice friendship during that time at the fair.
But I had no perceived idea
of what kind of a person Elvis Presley would be.
He really surprised me.
He was a gentleman.
[NARRATOR] Jim Burns got a job as a security guard at the fair.
He protected Elvis and even got to be in the King's World's Fair movie.
[JIM BURNS] I got to know him fairly well because I got assigned to him
when he was here making the movie,
and I have a little part in the movie.
[NARRATOR] That's Jim there, falling into the fountain at the Science Center.
(splashing water)
(dramatic music)
[NARRATOR] The Fair closed on October 21st, 1962.
By all measures, it was a big success.
[LOUIS LARSEN] I think whether the people realized it or not,
it was pretty close to perfect.
[NARRATOR] And once Elvis and about 10 million other people had left the Space Needle
and other buildings of the World's Fair, the fairgrounds converted nicely
into Seattle Center, which is still a beloved civic treasure
60 years later.
(upbeat music)