Cypress Gardens at the Chicago Railroad Fair - 1950 Water Thrill Show, August 1950. The promotional director of the Fair enjoyed the ski show at the Gardens in Florida so much, he invited Dick Pope to stage a show at the Chicago Fair in 1949-50. The first night ski show was held here. General Admission 50¢.
The road show concept was so successful, that the organizer, Tommy Bartlett, went on to operate several ski shows including the long-running annual event at the Dells in Wisconsin.
"Frontiers of Freedom" - a Pageant Play at the fair, depicting transportation from 1673 to 1948.
"Frontiers of Freedom" finale.ElectroSpark @ Twitter | Flicker
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My brother attended the Cypress Gardens 4th of July show recently and said it was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago Railroad Fair ran in 1948 and was repeated in 1949, but did not run in 1950. See http://www.steamlocomotive.com/fairs/
ReplyDeletefor some detail about that wonderful fair. I attended as a 6 and 7 year-old and loved it. Thanks for the pictures.