Sitting in the corner of my room is a large, red and white paneled golf umbrella with a straight wooden handle. It once belonged to my grandfather. I have been admonished for using it, on occasion, because to some it might be a collector’s item. Because one of those panels is emblazoned with the logo from the 1982 World’s Fair. The thing is, it’s a mighty fine umbrella, does its job well, and is in like-new condition at 44 years old.
I don’t have a lot of World’s Fair memorabilia. There’s a can of World’s Fair Beer hanging around somewhere, a novelty game, and a really loud T-shirt. I was there on the first day, Saturday, May 1, as part of the county-wide high school band ensemble that performed at the opening ceremonies. I don’t remember what we played or even if we sounded worth a flip. I’d been out too late the night before, we had to be there early to go through Secret Service inspection because President Ronald Reagan was there (the drum and sousaphone checks were entertaining), and we mostly spent the day hanging out in our designated area baking in the sun.
I also don’t remember what time we were able to leave, only that I made it home in time to watch Gato del Sol win the Kentucky Derby on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. I didn’t see much of the fair in its first 3 months. But by mid-summer, season passes went on sale for half price, and I got one. At that point, I spent as much time there as I could. It was the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Central High School, I was 16, and my friends and I all had a blast.
We spent most of our time at the carnival part of the fair right by the football stadium on Neyland Drive. The Ferris Wheel, the Enterprise, and the swinging pirate ship got most of our ride money. We never got carded at the Budweiser pavilion (stop clutching your pearls, the world was different then) and we ate our fill of the newest and greatest thing in fast food, Petro’s Chili & Chips. We usually made sure to catch the Budweiser Clydesdales parading and the fireworks that went off every night.
As it got closer to the end of the fair, we made sure to actually check out some of the pavilions. The consensus favorites were China and Australia, with Egypt and Peru close behind. In truth, I think we all hated to see it go when it closed up shop at the end of October. We had a fair open daily for six months. When no other options seemed doable, we could always just go back to the fair. It was an early version of having a season pass to Dollywood. Though it only profited $57 and saddled the city with tens of millions of dollars in debt, our downtown playground put our scruffy little city on the map. And I still miss it.
Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.
Sources: The Knoxville Journal digital archives, East Tennessee History Center – McClung Digital Archives
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter
