©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyOne of the largest GM Motoramas ever built, the September 1955 GM Powerama lasted 26 days and cost $7-million dollars (in 1955 dollars!) Held just south of soldier field, the fair included the first solar-powered electric car. You would think that maybe 54 years later, they would be in production by now?
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyThis is the same venue that hosted the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1950, described elsewhere on this blog.
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyDespite the electric car debut, the main theme was DIESEL POWER!! Some over-the-top events included a tractor hoe-down with choreographed tractors square dancing, A bulldozer chorus line, a dumptruck chorus line, a Bulldozer vs. elephant event, a net-full of girls, a trapeze act, high dives into a giant dump truck, a Vegas-style stage show and more.
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyA herd of 6 elephants approaching a waiting bulldozer. The lead one with the top-hat will challenge the bulldozer in a tug-of-war, and of course lose.
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyThe tractor hoe-down. Looks like a square dance with the men tractors wearing hats, and the ladies (with female drivers) wearing bonnets.
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparency
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyLighter, lower, faster and costing less, the GM Aerotrain was ahead of its time. It rode on a bellows of air, and was fast - the center of gravity was very low. This is the first of two "Dream Trains" built, the T1. Again, somehow we lost interest. Love the styling! Designer: Chuck Jordan.
©Original 35mm Kodachrome transparencyThe Regulus was the Navy's first sea-bourne nuclear deterrent. Essentially a small turbojet aircraft, 42 feet long, with a wingspan of 21 feet, and weighing in at just under seven tons, its Allison J33-A-14 engine could propel the missile to Mach 0.91 (about 550 knots). Either a 40-50 kiloton nuclear warhead or a 1-2 megaton thermonuclear device could be carried. POWERAMA!
These last two images taken from Life magazines archives, located on Google here.
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Amazing images. Love the Aerotrain...
ReplyDeleteYes, these images are plenty amazing! Of course love the *diesel powered* larger than life type... and what a hoot the batch of elephants vs. the bulldozer. A priceless slice of vintage Americana. Great write-up, thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post! My family took a trip to the Powerama when I was 6. Yes, I remember the elephant tug-of-war, and I got to run up the throttle on the Aerotrain. I remember a submarine docked nearby, and a cutaway jet engine. It was heaven for a 6-year old kid. We came home with a big box of swag which is long gone (along with my baseball cards). I've only had memories until I came across these photos doing a Google search. Wow. just... wow.
ReplyDeleteI too was there when I was 8. I still have the keychain. I remember the huge crowds and the train. The submarine may have been the U505 which I recall being rolled across Lake Shore drive on telephone poles to become an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I no longer live in Chicago but I do recall Powerama.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was one of the young ladies performing the Roman Ride horse shows. Her and many of her friends rode horses for The White Horse Ranch prior to this show. She remembers this as a fun time in her life. I have a short film one of the girls mothers took of the shows. The Square Dancing tractors are actually pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to this when I was 7 years old, seeing the swimmers in the big truck, a walk through tour of a Shrimp boat. we went in my uncle's 1948 Ford Woody wagon, with a Tar Roof.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Allison Powerramas of the 1950s and 1960s, such magical places.
ReplyDeleteI saw a picture of this show in Reminisce magazine, so onto Google--to here. I was 3 month into my 4th year when my father took me to this show and my memories are scant.
ReplyDeleteMy father, though born and raised in Chicago, had a curiosity. He also took me to the big cattle and stock show held at the International Amphitheater. I still go to the county fairs and walk the cattle barns.
Thank you for the pictures.
I was 12 and these pictures brought it all back. It was awesome!
ReplyDeleteI was there in September 1955, age 2. All I have are the 35mm slides from my father's collection of the trip. So, I do not remember any of it, but I was there!
ReplyDeleteMy dad, the late Walden B."Bud" Thiede, attended GM Tech in the early 1950's. He was such a cracker jack "Diesel Man" his instructors had him teaching the design class by his 2nd year. By the ripe old age of 25 he was put in charge of the 1955 Powerama. He spent a morning on the NBC Today Show with Dave Garroway promoting the Powerama. This made him quite the hit in his home town of New Ulm, Minn. We still have 8X10 official GM publicity photos of lanky 6' 4" Bud with the log mill crew, sporting a bow tie. One time I asked him, "whats with the tie?" He logically
ReplyDeleteexplained, "I wanted to be easy to find." When one of the crews were asked, "who's in charge here?" they could say, "that tall guy in the bow tie." Another great photo is of four swimsuit clad showgirls presenting the 100th Million GM diesel engine.