What would my life had been like had he gotten a blue hat with a pink feather in it? A while back, my father was cleaning out his attic and brought me down a box of things I had gotten from the 64 - 65 New York World's Fair. It consisted of free handouts received at the pavillions, a plastic pin from Ford, a fold out magic trick postcard, a whistle from Oscar Meyer, a key chain from Bell System. I kept kept wishing that I'd gotten one of those souvenir hats. Thirty four years later, I still wanted the hat. I was only seven then. The hat came in one color: blue, had a pink feather on the left side and a big round patch in the front that read Worlds Fair, with a picture of the Unisphere and flags along the Fair's Main Mall. Of all the souvenirs of the many souvenir stands, this was the most coveted prize. It was even personalized with the child's name sewn into the brim! Everywhere you looked, happy kids were wearing them. Sure, there were some kids who didn't have them, but more often than not it appeared to me that they were pouting or crying. Imagine the anticipation of a day at the fair. There were signs posted from the Goethals Bridge to the Staten Island Expressway, East to the Verrazano Bridge, to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, to the Grand Central Parkway. There was no way to get lost. The familiar blue and orange signs for the fair could be seen on lamp posts and signs for thirty miles from the fair. If you can imagine me saying: "We're going the right way. I saw another fair sign," at seven years old, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine me asking to no end for souvenirs at the many souvenir stands at the fair. Outwardly my father smiled but inwardly he probably wanted to strangle the me. The edict was alwaysa; "No. They're too expensive and you don't need one." At the fair, you could look at a kid and guess what he might be up to when he grew up. If he headed to the hall of science, with all its rockets and scientific experiments, he might just become a scientist.If he headed to the hall of presidents he might be a politician. If they headed directly to futurama, he might just become a full-time dreamer. Someone should of talked to me before I wrote a letter to the fair, asking if I could have one of "Futurama." miniatures when the fair closed at the end of the 1965 season, and told me about the futility of such an effort. You see, thousands of other young dreamers were also captivated by the diaramas with hundreds minitaure cars moving through futuristic cities in this ride. It was an amazingly detailed future world. a lunar colony with all-terrain crawlers for transporation, ice excavators living within an underground habitat. The desert irrigated by desalinated seawater, undersea "aquacopters" mining minerals and ores. As an avid matchbox collector who could never get enough of the little cars, I'd even traded my neighbor for old cars that had belonged to his two older brothers, Everytime I went through futurama, I must have been thinking of how I would one day I could enchance my car collection to the envy of the neighborhood. Ford's "Magic Skyway". was a little different. In it, 160 new Ford convertibles: Falcons, Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Comets, Mercurys and Lincoln Continentals, provided the transportation. The car radio provided the narration. And since there was no steering necessary, a seven year old could sit behind the steering wheel. Life sized animitronics presented by Disney, came into view, scenes from prehitoric times with volcanos, dinosours and cavemen through a "time tunnel" to vision of the future, with the feeling of moving at great heights on a vast skyway with" a breathtaking view of a city of stately shapes in metal and glass." As the ride ended, you embarked in an area filled with "futuristic wonders, where you could see how tomorrow is already taking shape." The monorail made its introduction at the World's Fair, three trains traveling in one direction and four in the other, on parallel tracks suspended from 40 feet up. The Fair's central symbol, the gigantic Unisphere was set in a wide central mall which spanned the length of the fair had reflecting pools, fountains and international flags on both sides of the walkways. Its three satellite orbit rings symbolized the human emergence into space. At night you could see that the unisphere had a dark side with little points of light all over it and a light side. North and South America: Light, Europe, Asia and Africa: dark. But I cann't describe any of these exhibits without again mentioning the souvenir shops. There were at least two souvenir stands between each pavillon, full of hundreds of items, from banks to punching balls, hats to towels and everything else in between. I would have settled for anything, but with so many kids wearing that blue hat with the pink feather, it was clear what I was pining for. IBM's A twelve tier "People Wall" hydraulically lifted 500 visitors up inside its 90 foot high ellipsoidal shaped theater to watch a 15 minute multi-media show called the "Information Machine." The song:"It's A Small World Afterall," was heard for the first time at the Worlds Fair, sung by animated figures that frolicked in miniature settings of many lands, Tower of Light was actually a unique array of hundreds of aluminum-faced prisms. From the top of this pavillon was is the world's most powerful searchlight. At General Cigar, Every ten minutes or so, a large circular puff of smoke would rise into the sky, and let forth a boom, then a large smoke ring would lift skyward. There was a magic show every 25 minutes , by an amiable magician named Mark Wilson inspired kids of all ages to try magic for themselves, even handing them a "accordion postcard" full of magic tricks. "There's another souvenir stand. Can't I have a hat?" Sometimes there was a no, but more often just the silent treatment. In General Electric's Carousel of Progress, the stage did not move, the audience did! There were always six audiences circling from stage to stage. Outside the building, you could see the entire second level rotate! The Bell System Pavillon usually ended our evening because it was at the farthest from the entrance and in front of the spectacular Fountains of the Planets. The whole ride took place within a "floating wing" building, elevated high in the air. A thousand moving seats with built-in speakers carried spectators through a 15-minute program about man's first efforts to communicate, to the present and beyond. This ride was installed in the golf-ball like geosphere at the entrance to Epcot at Disney World in Florida, called Spaceship Earth and gives children of today a chance to experience the story of communication through animatronics and film projections. A gigantic symphony of fireworks, water, color and music ended the evening. Your feet were tired and everything was and closing. The Fountain of the Planets, largest in the world, shot 10,000 tons of water as high as 150 feet into the air in ever-changing patterns. Rockets are fired from 464 launchers; lights cast their brilliant colors on the water; and music played. But wait, the souvenir stands were the last to close! Looking at that box of memories that had sat in the attic like a time capsule, I remembered a little kid after a long day at the fair. Last chance to get a hat. Aw forget it, its too late. I don't want one now. I really wanted one to wear around at the fair!