California Pacific International Exposition (1935)
Encyclopedia
The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition
held in San Diego, California
during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park
, the site of the earlier 1915 Panama-California Exposition
and San Diego's large urban central park
.
. The exposition was a financial and attendance success due to creative designing, careful planning, enhanced employee training, and considerations for entertainments, restaurants, theaters, shopping, transportation, visitor security, and other details for a well functioning international event.
The exposition had hundreds of exhibits in 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 "1 ton (900 kg.) Mechanical Man."
, designed by Bertram Goodhue
and Carleton Winslow
. Architect Richard Requa designed the few new permanent buildings to be added for the 1935 Fair in a less sophisticated but 'charming' Vernacular Style
, some with interesting Art Deco
and Pueblo Revival Style architecture
motifs and detailing. Some buildings and shaded arcades had new murals created. The 1935 Fair buildings that still remain are at Presidents Way, southwest of the original buildings at El Prado.
Exotic Landscaping and new gardens with lush exotic plant
s were built and planted in the courtyard
s and around the buildings, whilenative plants
were used by landscape design
er Kate Sessions
beyond them, adding to her renowned design work for the Panama-California Exposition.
In honor of the California Pacific International Exposition, the federal government released a commemorative silver half dollar; today referred to as the San Diego Half. The coin was authorized by congress and released with a stamp. Produced largely to sell to collectors for profit, 480,000 in total were minted, but all but 70,132 in 1935 in San Francisco and in 1936 30,092 in Denver were ultimately melted because they were unsold. The obverse depicts liberty seated with a spear in her right hand a shield with the state motto “eureka” above the head of medusa (California's former state seal). Also there is a bear to liberty's right and in the background there is a ship and a miner; all symbols of California. The reverse depicts the what is now the dome and tower of the Museum of Man in Balboa Park and reads “California Pacific International Exposition” and “San Diego” as well as the mint and year of mintage. These coins were not widely circulated, but some slightly worn examples imply some circulation.
It attracted 7,220,000 visitors during its 377 days of operation. Visitors brought US$ 37,700,000 to San Diego. It employed 2700 people, half of them Federal relief workers. The cost was US$ 20,000,000. 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
, British Empire
, Chile
, China
, Czechoslovakia
, Denmark
, Germany
, Honduras
, Irish Free State
, Italy
, Japan
, Nicaragua
, Norway
, Panama
, Paraguay
, Portugal
, Sweden
, Uruguay
, United States
, Yugoslavia
, and one unknown.
In the early 1960s destruction of a few of the buildings and their replacement by aesthetically clashing modern architecture
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 Committee also worked with various government agencies for the remaining original buildings to be declared a National Historic Landmark
, which was awarded in 1978. In the latter 1990s the buildings most deteriorated or that had burned were carefully rebuilt to restore the original scale of the park's public spaces.
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
held in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park
Balboa Park (San Diego)
Balboa Park is a urban cultural park in San Diego, California. The park is named after the Spanish maritime explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa...
, the site of the earlier 1915 Panama-California Exposition
Panama-California Exposition (1915)
The Panama-California Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California between March 9, 1915 and January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, and was meant to tout San Diego as the first U.S. port of call for ships traveling north after passing westward...
and San Diego's large urban central park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...
.
Exposition
The Exposition was held was to promote San Diego and support its economy which had slowed down with the country's Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The exposition was a financial and attendance success due to creative designing, careful planning, enhanced employee training, and considerations for entertainments, restaurants, theaters, shopping, transportation, visitor security, and other details for a well functioning international event.
The exposition had hundreds of exhibits in history, the arts, horticulture, ethnic cultures, science, and industry.
Some concessions
Concession stand
A concession stand , snack kiosk or snack bar is the term used to refer to a place where patrons can purchase snacks or food at a cinema, fair, stadium, or other entertainment venue. Some events or venues contract out the right to sell food to third parties...
and exhibits were unusual, such as the Gold Gulch
Gold Gulch
Gold Gulch was the largest funfair concession built for visitors at the California Pacific International Exposition, a World's Fair that was open from 1935 to 1936, in San Diego, Southern California, United States...
, Lost Continent of Mu, Zoro Garden Nudist Colony
Zoro Garden Nudist Colony
Zoro Gardens Nudist Colony was a reputed nudist colony, composed in its first season only of comely young women, at Balboa Park's Pacific International Exposition in San Diego, California.-Opposition:...
, and the "1 ton (900 kg.) Mechanical Man."
Architecture
The buildings from the 1915 fair were Spanish Colonial Revival Style architectureSpanish Colonial Revival Style architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...
, designed by Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
and Carleton Winslow
Carleton Winslow
Carleton Monroe Winslow , 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....
. Architect Richard Requa designed the few new permanent buildings to be added for the 1935 Fair in a less sophisticated but 'charming' Vernacular Style
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
, some with interesting Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
and Pueblo Revival Style architecture
Pueblo Revival Style architecture
The Pueblo Revival style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the turn of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it...
motifs and detailing. Some buildings and shaded arcades had new murals created. The 1935 Fair buildings that still remain are at Presidents Way, southwest of the original buildings at El Prado.
Exotic Landscaping and new gardens with lush exotic plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s were built and planted in the courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
s and around the buildings, whilenative plants
California native plants
California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...
were used by landscape design
Landscape design
Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practised by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice landscape design bridges between landscape architecture and garden design.-Design scope:...
er Kate Sessions
Kate Sessions
Katherine Olivia "Kate" Sessions was an American botanist, horticulturalist, and landscape architect closely associated with San Diego, California, and known as the "Mother of Balboa Park."-Early life:...
beyond them, adding to her renowned design work for the Panama-California Exposition.
Commemorative coinage
Statistics
The Exposition took ten months to build.It attracted 7,220,000 visitors during its 377 days of operation. Visitors brought US$ 37,700,000 to San Diego. It employed 2700 people, half of them Federal relief workers. The cost was US$ 20,000,000. 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
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and one unknown.
Legacy
Park improvements amounted to US$ 6,000,000. 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
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
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 Committee also worked with various government agencies for the remaining original buildings to be declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, which was awarded in 1978. In the latter 1990s the buildings most deteriorated or that had burned were carefully rebuilt to restore the original scale of the park's public spaces.
See also
- "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, ISBN 978-0-7385-4754-1.
- Spanish Colonial Revival architecture
External links
- "Do You Want an Exposition? San Diego's 1935 Fair in Photographs", 'The Journal of San Diego History 31:4 (Fall 1985) by Larry and Jane Booth
- California Pacific Exposition San Diego 1935-1936 History by Richard Amero (San Diego Historical Society)
- "The Crosby Exhibit of 1935 California Pacific International Exposition Covers" - Philatelic Exhibit (November 1999) by Lawrence Gregg