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Expo 67 (opening week)
Encyclopedia
Expo 67 was held in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. The opening week began at the end of April 1967. The official opening ceremonies for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67
occurred on Thursday, April 27 at the Place des Nations pavilion. On Friday, April 28, Expo 67's doors opened to the public and Al Carter was the first of over 330,000 visitors that day.
– who was sworn in just 10 days earlier following the death of the previous Governor General, Georges Vanier
– officially opened the fair. The Expo flame, which was lit two years earlier as part of the Centennial celebrations, was carried in by a troop of 12 cadets from the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean
, metaphorically representing each province and territory in Canada at that time. The torch bearer was Joseph Philip Lonuel, who proceeded to pass on the torch up the hierarchy of governance: to the Commissioner General of the Fair, Pierre Dupuy; then to the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau; then to the Premier of Quebec, Daniel Johnson, Sr.; then finally to the Prime Minister of Canada, Lester B. Pearson
who was the last in the chain. The Prime Minister used the torch to light the Expo flame. On hand were over 7,000 media and invited guests including 53 heads of state. Over 1000 reporters covered the event, which was broadcasted in NTSC Color, live via satellite, to a world wide audience of over 700,000,000 viewers and listeners. The Golden Centennaires
, the forerunners of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds
, closed the opening ceremonies with a fly-by over the Expo site and Montreal harbour.
, four and half years of lobbying and construction were over, Expo 67 opened its doors to the world.
The other entry point into the fair was at the Montreal metro
station on Île Sainte-Hélène. By 8:45 a.m., the metro station was overflowing with visitors and they had to be let onto the fair grounds as a public safety precaution . So, unofficially Expo 67 opened at 8:45 a.m. due to the much better than anticipated crowds.
An estimated crowd of between 310,000 to 335,000 visitors showed up for opening day, as opposed to only 200,000 people the authorities expected. The first person through the Expo main gates at Place d'Accueil was Al Carter, a 41 year old jazz drummer from Chicago
, who as Pierre Berton
describes:
Carter was able to buy ticket 00001 for a seven-day Expo passport and get the assistant area manager of the main gate, Richard J. Kaufman to write "This gentleman was waiting at Place d'Accueil this morning at 9:30 for the general public opening. To our knowledge this man is the first in line at Expo." The night before the opening, he joined the preliminary queue with a group of 25 other people and they allowed him to proceed to the front of the line. Carter received a gold watch from Expo 67's director of operations Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien
, who was very impressed with his achievement.
On opening day, there was considerable comment regarding the UK Pavilion hostesses' uniforms. The dresses had been designed to the then new minidress style, which had been introduced in the previous year by Mary Quant
. By the middle of the summer, nearly every other pavilion had raised the hem of the uniforms of their hostesses. Canadian women were quick to take to the liberated style of the mini skirt.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The opening week began at the end of April 1967. The official opening ceremonies for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
occurred on Thursday, April 27 at the Place des Nations pavilion. On Friday, April 28, Expo 67's doors opened to the public and Al Carter was the first of over 330,000 visitors that day.
Opening ceremonies
As luck would have it, it was a sunny day on Thursday afternoon, April 27, 1967, when the Official Opening Ceremonies were held. The ceremonies were held at Place des Nations, where Governor General Roland MichenerRoland Michener
Daniel Roland Michener , commonly known as Roland Michener, was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation....
– who was sworn in just 10 days earlier following the death of the previous Governor General, Georges Vanier
Georges Vanier
Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation....
– officially opened the fair. The Expo flame, which was lit two years earlier as part of the Centennial celebrations, was carried in by a troop of 12 cadets from the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean
Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean
Royal Military College Saint-Jean is a Canadian military academy located on the site of Fort Saint-Jean , originally built 1666, which is now part of the town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, 40 km south of Montreal, Quebec...
, metaphorically representing each province and territory in Canada at that time. The torch bearer was Joseph Philip Lonuel, who proceeded to pass on the torch up the hierarchy of governance: to the Commissioner General of the Fair, Pierre Dupuy; then to the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau; then to the Premier of Quebec, Daniel Johnson, Sr.; then finally to the Prime Minister of Canada, Lester B. Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
who was the last in the chain. The Prime Minister used the torch to light the Expo flame. On hand were over 7,000 media and invited guests including 53 heads of state. Over 1000 reporters covered the event, which was broadcasted in NTSC Color, live via satellite, to a world wide audience of over 700,000,000 viewers and listeners. The Golden Centennaires
Golden Centennaires
The Golden Centennaires were a Canadian air force aerobatic flying team that performed in 1967, the Canadian Centennial year. The team was created to celebrate the Canadian Centennial....
, the forerunners of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds
Snowbirds
Officially known as the Royal Canadian Air Force's 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, the Snowbirds are Canada's military aerobatics or air show flight demonstration team whose purpose is to "demonstrate the skill, professionalism, and teamwork of Canadian Forces personnel". The squadron is based at...
, closed the opening ceremonies with a fly-by over the Expo site and Montreal harbour.
Open to the public
Expo 67 officially opened to the public on the morning of Friday, April 28, 1967. By 8:30 a.m., an overflowing crowd was packed into the main gate area of Place d'Accueil in anticipation of the opening. As an atomic clock co-ordinated the final countdown, the crowd listened to the bilingual countdown announcements over the fair's public address system. With 30 seconds to go, the crowd started participating, mostly in English, and drowned out the public address system in the final ten seconds. At precisely 9:30 a.m. ESTNorth American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, four and half years of lobbying and construction were over, Expo 67 opened its doors to the world.
The other entry point into the fair was at the Montreal metro
Montreal Metro
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired metro system, and the main form of public transportation underground in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
station on Île Sainte-Hélène. By 8:45 a.m., the metro station was overflowing with visitors and they had to be let onto the fair grounds as a public safety precaution . So, unofficially Expo 67 opened at 8:45 a.m. due to the much better than anticipated crowds.
An estimated crowd of between 310,000 to 335,000 visitors showed up for opening day, as opposed to only 200,000 people the authorities expected. The first person through the Expo main gates at Place d'Accueil was Al Carter, a 41 year old jazz drummer from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, who as Pierre Berton
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
describes:
Carter was able to buy ticket 00001 for a seven-day Expo passport and get the assistant area manager of the main gate, Richard J. Kaufman to write "This gentleman was waiting at Place d'Accueil this morning at 9:30 for the general public opening. To our knowledge this man is the first in line at Expo." The night before the opening, he joined the preliminary queue with a group of 25 other people and they allowed him to proceed to the front of the line. Carter received a gold watch from Expo 67's director of operations Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien
Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien
Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, OC is a Canadian media proprietor, who was chairman and CEO of Telemedia. He founded the company in 1968, and went on to acquire a number of radio stations in Quebec and Ontario, and launched magazines such as Canadian Living, Harrowsmith and the Canadian editions of...
, who was very impressed with his achievement.
On opening day, there was considerable comment regarding the UK Pavilion hostesses' uniforms. The dresses had been designed to the then new minidress style, which had been introduced in the previous year by Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Mary Quant OBE FCSD is a British] fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants. Born in Blackheath, London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to...
. By the middle of the summer, nearly every other pavilion had raised the hem of the uniforms of their hostesses. Canadian women were quick to take to the liberated style of the mini skirt.
Record crowds
In the first three days alone, over a million visitors attended the fair. On Sunday, April 30, Expo 67 had its busiest day of the entire fair: 569,500 people strolled through its gates, setting an all-time, single-day attendance record for World's Fairs, that still stands as of 2007. Attendance figures were significantly more than originally anticipated by the Stamford Research Institute, an American firm hired in 1963 by the Expo Corporation to be its foreign-based advisors. The institute predicted back in the initial planning stages, that only 12 million people would attend for the entire six months that it was open. In actuality, almost that many visitors attended in its first month. This was the same institute that ran a computer analysis that claimed Expo could not be built in time. Like the computer analysis before it, the report was ignored by the Expo corporation, which then promptly fired the institute and did their own attendance forecasts in 1964 that were also low, but closer to reality. Expo 67 would go on to have over 50 million visitors by October 29, 1967, making it the third best ever attended World's Fair of the 20th century.See also
- Expo
- Expo 67Expo 67The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
, main article. - List of world's fairs
- 1967 in Canada1967 in Canada1967 is remembered as one of the most notable years in Canada. It was Canada's centenary and celebrations were held throughout the nation. The most prominent event was Expo 67 in Montreal, the most successful World's Fair ever and one of the first events to win international acclaim for the country...
External links
- "THE" site on the Expo 67 A lot of documentation and a slideshow with over 70 photos
- Expo 67 - In pictures, from the website of SORELLARIUM : 13
- Expo 67 in Montreal
- Expo 67 - A Virtual Experience, from the website of Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
- Expo 67 postcard gallery
- CBC Digital Archives - Expo 67: Montreal Welcomes the World
- Expo 67 in photos - www.worldsfairphotos.com
- Usage of wood at Expo 67
- The Films of Expo 67, from Time magazine
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia: Films at Expo 67
- Historica Minutes TV Commercial Canadian Heritage
- Group trying to bring Expo back to Montreal for Canada's Sesquicentennial in 2017