A gorgeous shot of some of the best 60’s googie architecture ever. The DS9 Starfleet Command building in the foreground, it’s sail framing the iconic Starbase Eleven towers in the distance. the date is 1964, so folks are reading about Moon Maid and Dick Tracy in the Sunday paper before heading off to be amazed that sunny day at the New York World’s Fair.
Something fun to look at while I prepare today’s entry about Bob Justman. I’m being a bit self indulgent with it, so expect it to post later today!
Ah, yes, Government Motors back in more optimistic times.
Love the buildings! The architecture is so unique and fun. I imagine being there in person was a rather jaw dropping moment!
Great angle, we get to see two iconic buildings at once
Taken on a trip to 23rd Century Mojave.
Fantastic photo seeing those 2 iconic structures in 1 picture together. Sadly Men in Black has ruined those 2 towers for me, they’ll always be UFO’s in my head now, even when I see them on Starbase 11
That’s a true “time travel” shot eh, both into the past, as well as the future.
I love pure “moment in time” candid capture pic like this.
Thanks, Doug.
Did you take this shot, eh?
LLP,
deg
By all means, indulge thyself!
Great shot! It’s almost as if everything is meant to lead to the towers in the distance. Kind of like beckoning you to come and check them out. I like seeing the “pod” elevator front and center of the tower. The GM sail and fountain almost feel like an afterthought.
So many nice elements and a good composition…where did you get the photo, Doug? I can see that society was very future oriented, with the forward thinking and varied architecture of the fair and comics like Dick Tracy do the space travel story line. I wish I’d been, well, more than just in the womb for half of 1964!! What an exciting time to be a kid and a dreamer.
Looking forward to the Bob Justman post. I doesn’t seem like it’s been a year since his passing.
1964. A time when America still believed she could go anywhere, do anything. Overcome any obstacle. When going to the moon required only the word of one man, and the firm belief that it could be done.
Say what you will about the 60’s, throw Vietnam in for good measure add the peace movement, free love, the beatniks, counter culture and enough good acid to trip out half the planet; shake thoroughly, and you still have the generation that didn’t just look to the future, they ran toward it. The New York World’s Fair is just one example of exploring the future with “What if”.
On May 25, 1961, Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress, at 08:17 PM Universal Time, July 20 1969 man landed on the moon.
Less than ten years to slip the bonds of one world, and enter the embrace of another.
At no time before or since has such an undertaking been attempted. Despite, or more likely because of a cold war, we stood on another celestial body, and gazed back at our home. At that moment, the horizon stretched beyond our world, beyond our moon and perhaps, even beyond our solar system.
By December 19, 1972 it was over.
What lessons did we learn, what new and wonderful things are out there for us to discover? More importantly why are we still wondering rather than exploring?
I missed it by the way. I wasn’t even born until 1973. By the time I came around, landing on the moon was just something that happened.
So, Mr. Drexler, you continue to be self indulgent. You continue to show us these images, and share with us the inspirations of your youth. Perhaps more people will come to realize that the past is as much about where we are going as where we have been.
Thank you for the optimism.
Frank
What lessons did we learn?
That politians will goof up the works, when they see that they can. That is, NASA, and what it was doing interfered with another group, who wanted votes to get reelected. This is known as “Bread And Circuses”
Bad pun I know.
John N. Ritter: I must respectfully disagree. It is certainly true that politicians do goof up the works quite frequently, but often this is because politicians are accountable to a whole lot of different people who frequently have contradictory expectations of what is “good” and “right.”
Remember that politicians were among the many who made Apollo possible, even though a lot of the same politicians were later responsible for the short-sighted decision to pull the plug, less than a decade later. We now have a new generation of politicians who will decide the future of space exploration. Like their predecessors, they live in a world full of seemingly-insurmountable problems and contradictory demands. Let us hope that they find the wisdom to include an investment in space exploration among their priorities. You can help this happen by letting your elected representatives know that this is important to YOU.
-Mike
What a terrific image. If not for such proof, one might have a hard time believing such a place ever existed, it looks so fantastic.
Thanks for sharing, Doug. You are a wonderful sharer. I wish I had something to share in return besides mild-mannered amusement.
I’d respectfully submit that this “can do” spirit evoked in the ‘64 world’s fair was in fact borne out of the trials of world war II and the cold war… the great building and thinking came from the generation of the 40s and 50s… and the great strides were made by that generation… and it was actually the narcissism of the late 60s that killed this spirit, basically shunning anything that the previous generation created… this gave us the seventies and 80s…
yes true..
the works of the 60s were commenting on were done by the adults.:)
the children were dancing and consuming to others works.
you stop at the 70s-80s….hmm wasnt the Clinton 90s more of the same?
and then again the Bush 2000s…both teens of the 60s, who built during the later decades..what they built is up to discussion…lol
Now we have Obama, the first president born of 1963-64.:) he starts off pragmatically “kirk-spockish” and calling for “non childish times”
but we also have a 40 year old JJ remaking trek…
I notice GR’s dad wasnt a well know tv producer;)
entitlement the “true” next generation:)
its funny, i just today found a copy and bough STARLOG issue 12 at a junk-toy shop— has an interview with GR about the Trek 2 tv show getting ready to go into production – he was maybe 55?– 1978. had just spent another 2 years being jerked around by paramount and the future/his creative position/of trek. little did he know what the next few months would bring during that interview:) -
well worth a read btw— when one looks at the next 30 years of trek and world history. has the first released ship pictures/mike minor sketches…
anyhow.
Daren Dochterman:
Daren, while I concur, I feel that’s a tad myopic and/or negative in its viewpoint. Each generation has the good and the not-so-good to offer in regard to ideals and strides.
Mainly, the 60’s began the shedding of mainstream and open racism and the movement of civil rights. I hardly call that narcissistic. Quite the contrary actually. And these ideals, while not perfect in their instillment (yet, what is?), continued to grow through the 70’s and 80’s, to this very day.
Life: it’s all in how ones see it. And there is always both the good and the not-so-good ever-present. All about focus, IME.
LLP,
deg
I can see your point, DEG… but I really think that the civil rights movement was co-opted by the end of the 60s by people with other motives… such as publicity and power consolidation… the real work was done starting in the mid fifties with actions like the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1966… the counter culture only embraced the anti war and civil rights mantles to give itself relevance to the media and general populace… the core of this was just a rebellion against the status quo… which, as you said, is a normal thing for younger generations… but I think that the “throwing away the baby with the bathwater” attitude really hindered the progress made in the fifties and early sixties… and certainly hindered the space program. just my opinion… your mileage may vary…
I’ll throw my lot in with Mr. Dochterman. I think he pretty well nailed it up in number fourteen. Or at least he did as far as I’m concerned.
Sorry, the Montgomery Boycott was in 1955… can’t see my keyboard.
Mr. Dochterman,
I whole heartedly agree.
I was of course speaking of the generation born out of the war years. Some of them even before that. Those decades and their trying times served to foster a strength of spirit, and a dedication to action that allowed us to reach the moon. Nothing was beyond these men because they were willing to do the work required.
As you so accurately point out, the counter culture that came later was to prove the eventual downfall of this program and many other positive things which could have come from it.
The hippies, the peace movement, the “make love not war” stuff got us to the mess we are in now. Where people will do everything they can to avoid conflict and difficulty.
Why are our school math and science scores so bloody low? Why are there kids in schools with guns? Because at some point we threw out the ideas of hard work, determination, responsibility and consequences. We’ve created a society that is so greedy that even the basic necessities of living require that both parents are working. Nobody is raising the children, and television, video games and the internet reign supreme in the home.
I remember going outside to find my friends. I remember running around until dark. I remember getting my butt in a sling for breaking a window, and then getting it all over again when I got home. Never mind working my rear off to pay for the damage. I learned to install window glass because of that. On the third try. Strangely enough, glass doesn’t bend.
Today North American children are among the most obese in the world. We have had an explosion of morbidly obese people needing to be CUT out of their homes. Grades are way down, the trades are being neglected and most of our consumer products are made on other continents. We have MBA’s running companies into the ground, and getting bonuses for it.
We can’t even keep our auto industries afloat. Is it really any wonder that in this mess that we can barely get off this rock let alone to another planet?
Somebody was asleep at the switch. No wonder we are afraid of the future rather than running toward it.
Frank
My big complaint is that hardly anybody does bold architecture like this anymore either here in the UK or anywhere else.
The few bold buildings we do have (the Lloyd’s building etc) only serve to illustrate how conservative everything has become.
Risk taking has become an anti-social behaviour, so noone does it anymore. Yet is was humanity’s risk takers who walked on the moon.
A lesson for all I think.
A time of optimism. I wish people still make that sort of statements in this day and age.
Funny, but I see fate in the works here. First, GM goes bankrupt so the federal government buys them out, then transforms the headquarters of the former GM to the headquaters of NASA, then NASA transforms to Starfleet HQ…sometimes fate can be a cruel mistress but in this case, it will all come together.
Daren Dochterman:
As I easily see your point as well, my friend. And I thank you for sharing it, eh. Like I said, there is always the good and the no-so, and I tend to be a glass hall-full kinda guy myself, looking for the good in all circumstances. Otherwise, quite frankly, I feel I would become a ball of angst and anger given some of the attitudes I see in the world. But I also see as much good as I do stuff that could drive me to a bitter edge, so I chose to put my energy and focus on that.
Not that I close my eyes to the very valid points you raise, but given my low pain-tolerance, I know given enough time, I would just crack if I dwelled in those aspects of the world myself (I used to). My self-preservation overrides me to focus on the good in the world, I guess. Plus, I find focusing on the good, actually promotes the good in life, for all in my corner.
Again, thanks for your thoughts. Always a pleasure talkin; with you, my friend.
LLP,
deg
Great discussion going on here folks, love it
Times have definitely changed for GM. Sadly.
a hint to why things have turned so much…
used to be “industry” became “business”
not the same thing.:)