"I have to keep telling myself that I (Maureen Stevens) am actually in New York!"

Mum at the 1964 New York World's Fair

After my dad died in 2010, my sister was clearing out his house – the house we grew up in – and found a small suitcase in the loft.

The case was full of stuff that Mum, who died in 1999, had saved, but had never mentioned. Letters, cards, postcards, photos, programmes from shows, even things like dry cleaning receipts from when she lived in America in the early sixties.

I’m going to write about it all.

Hi All

We arrived in this marvellous place yesterday afternoon. Our hotel is right in Times Square (one minute from Broadway). Last night we went to the Imperial Theatre to see the musical “Oliver”. At present we’re in bed. We’ve just finished breakfast and any minute now we’ll be going sightseeing then to the World’s Fair. I have to keep telling myself that I (Maureen Stevens) am actually in New York, it’s fantastic.

Love Mo

One of my favourite things in Mum’s suitcase is the memorabilia from the New York World’s Fair.

The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activities, performances, films, art, and food presented by 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and nearly 350 American companies. The five sections of the 646-acre (261 ha) fairground were the Federal and State, International, Transportation, Lake Amusement, and Industrial areas. The fair's theme was "Peace through Understanding", and its symbol was the Unisphere, a stainless-steel model of Earth. Initially, the fair had 139 pavilions, and 34 concessions and shows.¹

There’s tickets for a package tour, so I assume she and her friend Little Mo went together from Boston where they were both working as nannies.

I don’t know which of these she did, apart from the Rockefeller Centre tour, which I will write about next time. But back at the World’s Fair…

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_New_York_World%27s_Fair