World's Fair Coincidence

Sharing Stories

June 12, 2022 at 7:42 p.m.

The Bubbleator drew crowds.

...by Ariele M. Huff

World’s Fair Coincidence

At twelve, I was lucky to get two trips to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962.

I went first with my parents getting to go on risky rides like the fabulous tilting pirate boat. We ate Belgian waffles, strawberry shortcake, and a tantalizing flavored kabob from some far distant country. With my young and daring father we went on the “outer space ride”—exciting—and the skyride—a touch scary. My mother repeatedly mentioned how thrilling it was to get to go to a World’s Fair. She’d never been to one before and told us many people would never have the chance. We were all in awe of the many changes to the grounds…the huge new buildings, the many rides, all the exhibits, the fountain, the monorail, the gorgeous Science building, the Food Circus with food and music, and, of course, the all-dominating Space Needle.

When I went with my grandparents a bit later, they’d planned to do some of the things I hadn’t yet experienced. With them, I had my first ride on the Monorail and up the Space Needle. (The line for both of those in my earlier visit had been dauntingly long.) My grandfather insisted on hotdogs and ice cream since it was a fair.

My grandmother made sure we took a stroll through the “House of the Future” with dazzlingly clean and futuristic looking kitchens. Her eyes widened with delight. She’d been raised as a farm girl cooking and baking on a wood stove and doing laundry in a washtub then hanging it on a line to dry. She was the perfect example of someone who believed the expression “the best thing since sliced bread.” She embraced all new conveniences like vacuum cleaners, TV dinners, and Jiffy Pop popcorn.

To commemorate the day, my grandfather purchased one of the “flattened pennies” that you could buy. You provided the penny and a dollar and got back what you were told was your penny flattened in a nice thin oval shape. Many years later, I realized that…of course, the flattened pennies had been designed and made long before my penny had disappeared as a little extra profit for the booth.

It was on the trip with my grandparents that we went to “the Food Circus” the location of the Bubbleator…a gorgeously clear bubble elevator manned by young guys in silver spaceman like suits. I remember looking at the operator and wondering if he was wearing a wig to make the effect of his silver suit more startling. His hair was white blonde and his eyes bright blue. I never forgot that amazing ride and the startling young man.

Five years later, at 17, I began dating. Yes, you guessed it already, didn’t you? Though I didn’t recognize him immediately, I married the Bubbleator attendant that I’d seen on my visit to the Fair. And, yes, his hair was whitely blonde. He missed being an albino, his doctor once said, only because his eyebrows had some color, and his eyes were blue rather than pink. Bill mentioned the fun of working at the Bubbleator before I realized with shock that I totally could recognize that “older boy with the bright white hair” from my visit to the Center House. You never know what you’re going find at a World’s Fair.

Ariele M. Huff is a lifetime Washingtonian, and a Seattle girl until she moved to Aberdeen to be closer to the beach at 69 years old. But do we ever stop being a Seattle girl after that long?

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