Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Great Lakes Exposition - Part I

Perhaps the greatest “Golden Age” event of Cleveland was the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936 & 1937. The concept behind the Exposition was to celebrate the strong industrial trade of the eight-state region along the Great Lakes as well as to celebrate Cleveland’s centennial. A civic committee was formed in early 1936 and quickly raised over $1.5 million for the event. Ground was broke for the event in early April and doors were opened 80-days later in June!

And let me say, the Exposition looked spectacular!

The entrance to the Exposition was the Mall area north of St. Clair Avenue. The lakefront exhibition area was reached by a 350 foot bridge over the railroad tracks and the Exposition itself stretched from the old Municipal Stadium to East 9th Street, with additional development including a Midway amusement area, an international village called the “Streets of the World” and a “Goodyear” blimp landing strip that stretched down to East 20th Street. The development was massive. Not to mention multiple docks for luxury “lake liners” that were bringing attendees from all over the Great Lakes. The picture below gives an outstanding aerial view of the development including the bridge between City Hall and the County Courthouse. (You can actually see two Goodyear blimp’s in this photo - one in the center hovering over a “lake liner” and the second a bit above the first but moving to the right!) 

Additional showcase space was offered in a large underground exhibition space where the current Convention Center is located and in parts of public hall. While there were numerous buildings and exhibits - there were five main building showcased during the Exposition. The five were the Horticulture Building, the Hall of Progress, the Automotive Building, the Sherwin Williams amphitheatre and the Billy Rose’s Aquacade. 

The Horticulture Building, simply put, was an Art Deco classic as seen in this photo shot from Lake Erie looking south into the Exposition. Notice the old Municipal Stadium off to the right and in the distance the Terminal Tower. 

Rising in three tiers, its stepped terraces facing the lake were rounded, intended to look like the forward decks on an ocean liner. It’s entrance was extraordinary!

The Building was a marvelous piece of design and sat on 3.5 acres of land with various horticultural gardens and pools. One of the sculptured gardens can be seen below.

A very stunning building and a shame it is not around anymore.

In part two we will be detailing the Hall of Progress and the Automotive Building. Stay tuned. 

Posted by Tech Czar at 04:23:48 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Cleveland National Air Races

As the beautiful Cleveland spring turns into, what I hope will be, a gorgeous Cleveland summer - my eyes are always drawn to the lush blue skies. Many of you know I have a vivid imagination, and I can see the sky full of airplanes from the past racing each other for trophies and glory. I, of course, wax nostalgic. But there was a time when the Cleveland National Air Races were internationally known and celebrated. Huge throngs of Clevelanders and many out-of-towners would come to the Cleveland Municipal Airport and see beautiful aircraft compete to be considered the fastest craft in the land. 

The National Air Races were held in Cleveland from 1929 to 1949. The City Fathers had just built the Municipal Airport - at the time the largest airport facility in the world - and it came blessed with 50,000 permanent seats (and temporary seats that could push the attendance to over 100,000). The Airport was changed radically over the years, but this photo gives an idea of how large these races were in attendance and scope.

Here is another photo of the grandstands in 1931. The crowds were massive. In fact the Municipal Airport had these grandstands as a “permanent fixture” of the facility. Which is simply mind-boggling to me. But it was true. I have, in fact, seen pictures of the airport from this time period and the grandstands stand out from the rest of the airport. 

There were at times over 35 air races held at the event and many cross-country junkets that ended here in Cleveland. In fact, there was a world-famous “Powder Puff” air race for women - a race that Amelia Earhart participated in as well as Blanche Noyes seen below getting into her ride. 

 

Of course, for my money, there is nothing better than a large Zeppelin air ship. 

Yes, indeed, the world famous Graf Zeppelin made a cameo appearance at the Cleveland National Air Races in 1929. My - how I wish this photo was in color. I would have really enjoyed seeing this massive ship and the large crowd helping it be taxied in brilliant color. 

Of course, there were aircraft at the show…

Really beautiful aircraft.

Two of the more famous races were the Thompson Trophy Race, sponsored by Thompson Products, and the cross-country Bendix Trophy Race, sponsored by the Bendix Company. Unfortunately, not all craft finished could finish the race. There were significant fatalities at the air race mainly the pilots themselves as seen in this photo of a 1929 air plane wreck. 

In fact during the 1949 Thompson Trophy race a pilot named Bill Odom crashed his modified P-51C racer into the Berea home of Jeanne Laird, killing himself, Jeanne and her 13 month old son. It was the last year for the races in Cleveland. With few exceptions, the Air Races were held every year from 1920 until 1949. It wasn’t until 1964 when Cleveland again began an annual National Air Show event. But the glory days of the event from 1929 until World War II are widely considered some of the finest air races ever held across the globe. 
Posted by Tech Czar at 23:06:35 | Permalink | Comments (1) »