The California Pacific International Exposition was an
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
* Expository writing
** Exposition (narrative)
* Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade e ...
held in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in
Balboa Park, San Diego's large central
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
, which had also been the site of the earlier
Panama-California Exposition in 1915.
The Exposition was held to promote San Diego and support its economy, which had slowed with the country's
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The first year was such a financial and attendance success that it was held over for a second year. The exposition had hundreds of exhibits on history, the arts, horticulture, ethnic cultures, science, and industry. Some
concessions and exhibits were unusual, such as the ''
Gold Gulch'', ''Lost Continent of Mu'',
Zoro Garden Nudist Colony, and the "One Ton Mechanical Man."
History
The idea for an exposition came from Frank Drugan, a newcomer to San Diego, California, who arrived in 1933. He recognized the potential of the buildings in Balboa Park left over from the 1915–16 exposition; the buildings had been designed to be temporary, but had been refurbished and upgraded several times and were available for use. In addition,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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's "
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
" fair was just ending, and many of its exhibits could be transported for use in another fair. That exposition had paid for itself, and he was sure a San Diego exposition could do so as well. He promoted the idea of a new exposition, using the existing buildings and adding new ones, as a way of boosting San Diego's economy. He convinced local business people to support the idea.
The Exposition incorporated in August 1934. Construction of new buildings began in January 1935. The project was rushed through for a May opening. The foundations of some structures, such as the Electric Building and the
Ford Building, were laid even before the final plans for the buildings had been drawn up. During March and April, 2,700 people worked around the clock on the Exposition. Approximately 65% of them were relief workers whose wages were paid by the federal government; the remainder were employees of private contractors.
The ''Motion Picture Hall of Fame'' exhibit
''The Hollywood Motion Picture Hall of Fame'' exhibit,
at the now-called
in 1935-36, had a stock company of actors that signed with the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
and The
Dominos Club
''Motion Picture'' was an American monthly fan magazine about film, published from 1911 to 1977.Fuller, Kathryn H. “Motion Picture Story Magazine and the Gendered Construction of the Movie Fan.” ''At the Picture Show: Small-Town Audiences ...
of Hollywood (social organization for actresses, including:
Carole Lombard,
Thelma Todd
Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, sh ...
, and
ZaSu Pitts
Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...
).
Architecture
The buildings from the 1915 fair were in
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In th ...
style, designed by
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for ...
and
Carleton Winslow
Carleton Monroe Winslow (December 27, 1876 – 1946), also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th century.
Biography
Win ...
. Architect
Richard Requa
Richard Smith Requa (March 27, 1881 – June 10, 1941) was an American architect, largely known for his work in San Diego, California. Requa was the Master Architect for the California Pacific International Exposition held in Balboa Park in 1935 ...
designed the new permanent buildings to be added for the 1935 fair. He wrote that his goal was to relate pre-Columbian Indian buildings and temples, like those found in the Southwest and Mexico, to the modern era; his model was the 1915 New Mexico Building, which he remodeled into a Palace of Education. Many of the new large buildings were in this style, including the California State Building (now the
San Diego Automotive Museum
The San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California is a museum containing a collection of cars and motorcycles illustrating the history of the American automotive culture. The San Diego Automotive Museum is a non-profit corpo ...
), Palace of Electricity (now a gymnasium), and Palace of Water and Transportation (no longer existent).
Other new buildings included:
* The
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...
, a copy of a theatre built for the Chicago fair, which in turn was a copy of the original
Globe Theatre in London. During the Exposition it showed 50-minute adaptations of plays by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. After the fair it was remodeled and roofed over, and continued to show theatrical productions. The building burned down in 1978 but was rebuilt and is now the focus of a three-theater complex.
* The circular
Ford Building, generally regarded as the architectural wonder of the Exposition, now the home of the
San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...
.
* The Ford Bowl, now called the
Starlight Bowl, an amphitheater used for concerts and theatrical productions.
* The House of Pacific Relations, a collection of fifteen small tan red-tiled cottages which were dedicated to different foreign countries; these "International Cottages" are still in use by a consortium of groups from 32 countries as a focus of educational activities, outreach, and international festivals.
* Spanish Village, a group of six buildings used for shops, restaurants, and a children's theater; it is now the
Spanish Village Art Center
The Spanish Village Art Center is located in San Diego's Balboa Park, in the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governm ...
featuring 37 working art studios and galleries.
While some of the extensive gardens from the 1915 Panama California Exposition remained, they were redesigned from formal gardens to gardens overflowing with lush abundance of exotic plants. Many were reimagined by renowned architect Richard Requa who was influenced by the gardens he had seen traveling in Spain. Today's Alcazar garden, Zoro Garden, and the garden at Cafe del Rey Moro are all Requa designs.
Commemorative coins and stamps
In honor of the California Pacific International Exposition, the federal government released a
commemorative silver half dollar.
A three-cent
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
(
Scott catalog
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...
773) was also issued. It presents a view of the Exposition grounds, and has the same wording as the reverse of the half dollar, plus the dates "1535 1935". Over 100 million were printed, making this a very common issue.
Statistics
The Exposition took ten months to build.
It attracted 7,220,000 visitors during its 377 days of operation. Visitors brought US$37.7 million to San Diego. The cost was US$20 million. Admission was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children 2–11. Four restaurants provided meals: Cafe of the World, Palisades Cafe, Spanish Kitchens, and the Pioneer Days Restaurant. Twenty-one nations participated:
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
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,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
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...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
.
Legacy
Park improvements amounted to US$6 million. The exposition was so popular that some buildings were rebuilt to be made more permanent. Many buildings or reconstructed versions remain in use today, and are used by several museums and theatres in Balboa Park.
In the early 1960s destruction of a few of the buildings and their replacement by aesthetically clashing
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
style of the new buildings "created an uproar" in San Diego's community. A 'Committee of One Hundred' was formed by citizens to protect the park buildings. The Committee convinced the City Council to enact resolutions that now require any new buildings to be designed and constructed in the
Spanish Colonial Revival Style
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
. The Committee also worked with various government agencies for the remaining original buildings to be declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, which was awarded in 1978. In the latter 1990s the buildings most deteriorated or that had burned were carefully rebuilt to restore the original style and scale of the park's public spaces.
In October 2010, the
National Building Museum
The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private Non-profit org ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
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opened an exhibition titled ''Designing Tomorrow: America's World's Fairs of the 1930s''.
This exhibition, which was available for view until September 2011, prominently featured the California Pacific International Exposition.
References
Further reading
*Richard W. Amero, "San Diego Invites the World to Balboa Park a Second Time," ''Journal of San Diego History'' (1985) 31#4 pp 261–280
* ''California Pacific International Exposition Official Guide: Souvenir Program and Picture Book'' - 84 pages; 1935.
* ''San Diego's Balboa Park'' - by David Marshall, AIA, Arcadia Publishing, 2007, .
External links
California Pacific International Exposition: The Complete Exposition History a book in HTML form by Richard Amero, a
San Diego History Center by Larry and Jane Booth, in ''The Journal of San Diego History'' 31:4 (Fall 1985), archived at Wayback Machine
"The Crosby Exhibit of 1935 California Pacific International Exposition Covers" Philatelic exhibit (November 1999) by Lawrence Gregg
{{Authority control
History of San Diego County, California
History of the West Coast of the United States
World's fairs in California
1935 in California
1936 in California
1930s in San Diego