1962 World’s Fair - Seattle

Check out our video on the 1964/65 World Fair here! https://youtu.be/wc8wez5ylbg

I was 16 at the time. Dad and I had driven from eastern Nebraska to Oakland, CA to visit relatives. From there we went on to Seattle and attended the worlds fair. It was strain on a poor farmers budget, buts it is a trip I have never forgotten.

I was born in 1963, but my Dad came to Seattle the previous year to see if it would be a nice place to live. He went to the World's Fair and eventually decided to move the family there. I was born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and a few months later our family drove across the country to Seattle where my Dad had been awarded a job as a professor at the UW (The University of Washington). So I basically grew up in a suburb of Seattle and have many many memories of going to the Seattle Center as a kid, playing in the fountain and the flag pavilion with my brother, eating at the Food Circus, riding the monorail, and of course going up the Space Needle which was like some kind of surreal dream for a little kid. Thanks for evoking some very pleasant memories of 1960s Seattle.

This was the fair wäre my uncle Malito from Galicia, Spain, met my aunt Carlotta from North Carolina. They got married and they both lived a wonderful life in the evergreen state. For me, Seattle will be always in my heart…

I was 12. My family lived in Seattle and attended this terrific fair 3 times. It was tremendous! A really exciting experience. There was NO downside, even with the crowds. It was affordable and had something for everyone. Each time we went we spent the entire day there up until near closing, in the evening. One of my fondest memories of Seattle... along with JP Patches, of course!

In 1962, there I was, dangling my feet off the observation deck, enjoying the view. The Space Needle was orange back then, and before the suicide fence was installed. My parents got lost that day, so I had to wait in the lost and found till they were found, an hour later. They had a wooden train set there, so after my parents showed up, I didn’t want to leave. I was an inspired 5 year old Seattleite.

The trip of a lifetime for me as a 10 year old . Parents drove from Pennsylvania to Yellowstone and on to Seattle then Oregon to visit relatives and back thru Salt Lake City and St, Louis. Gas war at one point and it was .18 cents a gallon. Made the tour in a 1961 Chevy Impala. No air. Windows down most of the way.

I grew up in Seattle and was 7 years old when the fair was held. It was an absolutely magical time in our city, and I was enthralled by it all. I became a big fan of world's fairs and have also been to three others - Spokane in 1974, Knoxville in 1982 and Vancouver, B.C. in 1986. The Twin Cities of Minnesota are in competition with several others cities worldwide to hold a world's fair in 2027, and the winner is to be announced in about six weeks. If the Minnesota bid wins, you can be sure I plan to attend their fair in four years.

I attended the Seattle World’s Fair in ‘62. I was 8 years old and remember many events and displays. I still get a chuckle over the plastic suits and hamburger shaped houses we all were expected to be living in by now. Thanks for the great memories.

It's looks like a completely different reality.

I was born during BOTH the Seattle World's fair AND the Cuban Missile Crisis. 😳 A time of BOTH glorious optimism AND stark fear. 🤔 Mid-October 1962 had to be a hell of a ride for those old enough to remember it!

Its nice to see these slices of history from my youth. I was 10 then and so much seemed possible. The world has become so cynical since.

I was 8 years old when the fair opened and my dad was in the Army and stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, where our family lived at the time. We didn't make it to the fair, but we did go to the theatre the following year in 1963 and saw "It Happened At The World's Fair" with Elvis. Enjoyed the video and commentary.

I'm a big Elvis fan and had never heard about the ham story. Very interesting. Thank you.

My Dad worked for the company that built and displayed the $1 M ---Behlen Mfg in Columbus Nebraska. Such an enjoyable trip for an almost-6 year old. My Grandma, Aunt 20ish and Twin Uncles 16ish who lived in Tacoma, made it even more exciting for us!

I was 7 years old when my older brothers snuck us in through a back door in the Science Center after we walked from our house on Queen Anne Hill. It was awesome - and probably the most successful US World's Fair in the 20th century measured by how it much it elevated the host city's image. The Space Needle's identification with the Seattle is probably nearly as strong as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York.

What a beautiful, optimistic time! Everyone all smartened up, having a great time, learning while playing! Wish I'd been around to see it.

Always had been amazed at the World’s Fair of the past, how much creative innovation & well…hope for the future existed. I feel we as a country have sadly lost that today.

I was raised in Seattle and remember watching the whole thing being built.

Crazy how the view from the space needle with so many less buildings looks compared to now 60 years later!!❤