50 years ago in Expo history: A literal ‘pile of junk’ at the fair was meant to make a powerful statement on waste

The Spokesman-Review’s editorial page urged people to look beyond the obvious attraction at Expo ’74’s U.S. Pavilion.

Most visitors had loved the thrilling film shown at the IMAX theater that featured a wild aerial tour of the Grand Canyon. They had been less impressed by the “pile of junk” in the central rotunda.

Yet this “pile of junk” sent a valuable message, the editors said, about how the country has been despoiled by the “thoughtless abandonment of worn out, broken down and used up cars, plumbing fixtures and household appliances.”

“The moral is the need for recycling,” the editors wrote.

The editors urged visitors to explore the many other features in the U.S. Pavilion, which provided not just entertainment, but the “near-equivalent of a university education” in environmental preservation.

In other Expo news, those wanting tickets to see Gordon Lightfoot on this day at the Opera House were out of luck.

Both concerts, at 7 and 10 p.m., were sold out.

Also, Expo officials were expecting a crush at the gates the next day, after the conclusion of the Lilac Festival Parade. They were extending their ticket booth hours to handle the influx.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1973: The U.S. Senate Watergate Committee begins its hearings into the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.