Monday, August 04, 2008

If you've only seen it once, you haven't seen it all

As a special treat for those who follow the exploits of the internationally famous super-scientist Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture and his clan, we present an actual photograph of their home and research headquarters, better known as the Venture Compound, circa 1964:



The above picture is the best quality photo I was able to find online after long hours of research. Because the flags and the throngs of tourists may obscure your view of the main building, we also offer an artist's conception depicting a wider angle, as seen in a postcard from the same era:



And this image from yet another angle clarifies the overall design of this impressive structure:



The unfamiliar corporate signage may seem puzzling, but this is easily explained. At the time these images were created, Dr. Jonas Venture leased his distinctive home and research center to the General Motors Corporation for use as their pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York. General Motors used the complex for their Futurama exhibit, in which visitors seated in moving armchairs glided past detailed scenes depicting urban life as it would be lived in the early 21st Century. Futurama proved to be the most popular attraction of the World's Fair: nearly twenty-six million people took the journey into the future during the Fair's two year run.

I've visited the fairgrounds at Flushing Meadows many times, but no trace of the Venture Compound remains. I assume that, having made a tidy profit on the temporary use of his abode, Jonas Venture removed it from the site after the Fair ended and returned it once more to the remote location where it stands to this day. Courtesy of a Mr. Jackson Publick, we conclude with this image of the Venture Compound as it appears today:

4 comments:

  1. Ah, nice find! But is there anything on this Earth more depressing than decades-old exhibits on a World's Fairground?

    (Do they even have World's Fairs anymore?)

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  2. that building looks like the closest thing we'll ever have to a real Hall of Justice.

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  3. @ JohnH: check the Wikipedia entry for Flushing Meadows Corona Park to see photos of the fairgrounds as they appear today. Not nearly as depressing as it could be.

    @ rob!: the Hall of Justice is actually in Cincinnati...but as I'm sure you already know, Teen Titans HQ is in Flushing Meadows.

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  4. re: >>the Hall of Justice is actually in Cincinnati..<<

    WOW!!!

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