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NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR, Aug. 5 -- They say that figures never
lie. That's why authorities at the Wisconsin Pavilion at the
New York World's Fair are proclaiming far and wide the huge success
of their exhibit.
Wisconsin apparently has come up with a formula that is responsible
for the popularity of its attractions, according to General William
E. Potter, Executive Vice President of the World's Fair. "They
provide Fairgoers with good food at low prices, wholesome entertainment,
a trout fishing pool, and even a children's theatre, among other
things," he says.
"Wisconsin's participation is geared to the old adage,
'You find a need and fill it.' That's exactly what they've done,"
added the Fair official, who is in charge of state exhibits.
"Since opening day, we've had more than 4-million visitors,
have sold more than 1-million steaks in our Tad's Restaurant,
and experienced difficulty accommodating the throngs trying to
get into our old-fashioned Beer Garden," says pavilion president
Charles (Chuck) Saunders of Green Bay, Wis.
One of the last to sign for space at the Fair, six months
before opening date, the Wisconsin Pavilion is one of the top
attractions. it features an outdoor theme and displays the state's
principal assets, from fishing to beer and logging to cheese.
In its 59,336 square feet of space, the Pavilion has a complex
of five buildings with 40,000 square feet under a roof, a good
thing when inclement weather prevails.
Tad's Restaurant, decorated in a "Gay 90's" motif
is one of the principal draws. It features steaks (imported from
Wisconsin), flame-grilled to individual taste, with a salad,
baked potato and garlic-toasted roll, for only $1.19. The lines
are long but the wait is never more than fifteen minutes, according
to Saunders.
Wisconsin's famous brewing industry is represented to the
Fairgoer in an old-fashioned Beer Garden with sawdust floor,
chilled steins and banjo music. Manned entirely by college boys
and girls, the Beer Garden is probably the liveliest place at
the Fair, drawing heavily from the young element, particularly
the collegians.
Here you can get a beef or ham dinner for $1.95. No food is
sold after 8 P.M., only beer. With the Red Garter Banjo Band
furnishing the exciting music, the Fairgoer gets into the mood
instantly, and the hand-slapping and stomping goes on until 2
A.M. There's no dancing. As a Dartmouth student said, "This
is an inexpensive way of being together in an atmosphere we enjoy
so much."
Another attraction is the Exhibit Pavilion, a rectangular
building that features displays of outstanding manufactured products
imaginatively displayed with Wisconsin's vast recreational, agricultural
and industrial facilities. Here you can buy cheese, pizza, milk
shakes, waffles, ice cream, fudge and many other items using
Wisconsin-only material and products. The Children's Theatre,
showing, though cartoons, the manufacturing of hot dogs, sausages
and other meat products made by Oscar Mayer is always jammed
with youngsters.
There are terraces for outdoor dining near a reflecting pool,
where fly-casting for choice trout, eight to fourteen inches,
is offered. For 75 cents, the angler gets rod and reel and a
baited hook and is given fifteen minutes to lure any of the Wisconsin
trout, which is then fried for him. A tagged fish nets the lucky
angler a handsome prize. The pool is stocked with more than 350
fish.
Another highlight of the Wisconsin exhibit is the world's
largest cheese, a 17 1/2-ton Cheddar, made near Denmark, Wis.,
to exemplify the state's role as the "Cheese Manufacturing
Center of the Nation." It is 6 1/2 feet wide, 5 1/2 feet
high and 14 1/2 feet long, and actually weighs 14,591 pounds.
The little shops, such as the "Indian Trading Post",
the "Cheese Shack", the "Sugar House", the
"Souvenir Store", are busy selling Wisconsin items.
There's also the Wisconsin Rotunda, an impressive glass tepee-shaped
building symbolizing the state's Indian lore. This uniquely designed
building, 48 feet in diameter, 46 feet high and topped by a spire
lettered "Wisconsin," soars 80 feet above the ground.
It contains the official state exhibit and features Wisconsin's
recreational, agricultural and industrial facilities.
What makes the Wisconsin Pavilion's success more noteworthy
is the fact that it is financed entirely by private enterprise.
Even though the contract was signed less than 6 months before
the Fair's opening, the investors were able to accomplish all
of this without any state appropriation for the construction,
operation, maintenance and demolition of the building at the
end of the 1965 Fair season. According to President Saunders,
the investment is $1,200,000.
In the words of Saunders, who has been participating in county
and state fairs, including one in Hawaii and the World's Fair
in Seattle, for fifteen years, "You'll never see another
fair like that in New York. For $2.00 you're getting a $20 bill's
worth! You get your biggest dollar value here. You don't have
to spend more than you choose."
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