washington business
Seattle Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the
1962 World’s Fair
Fifty years ago this spring, Seattleites and Washingtonians
everywhere invited the world to glimpse the future at the 1962
World’s Fair, also known as the Century 21 Exposition. Well
before Starbucks and way before Microsoft — when Boeing
was the city and state’s largest corporate landmark — it was
the World’s Fair that put Washington state and Seattle on the
map. As Seattle writer Knute Berger observed, “the events of
the year shifted the perception of Seattle from a port city in the
wilderness to a city on the cutting edge of change, finding its
place in the world.” President John F. Kennedy opened the fair on April 21, 1962, inviting
visitors from around the world to come and experience five themed areas: The World of
Science, The World of Tomorrow (home to the famous “Bubbleator,” a glass globe elevator),
The World of Commerce and Industry, The World of Art and The World of Entertainment.
By the time it closed on Oct. 21 of that year, 10 million people had visited the fair — which
also generated a profit. Today, visitors to Seattle can still see many of the lasting landmarks
from the fair, including the now iconic Space Needle, Pacific Science Center and thenfuturistic Monorail.
Editor’s Note: In the upcoming summer issue of Washington Business, AWB will take a look
back at the creation of the 1962 World’s Fair with the help of former Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman and then-state legislators Dan Evans and Slade Gorton. If you have a favorite World’s Fair
story or photos to share, please e-mail them to AWB President Don Brunell at [email protected].
Brunell was at the opening and closing of the Fair and is collecting information for the article.
Boeing Celebrates 4,000th 737
In April, The Boeing Company
delivered its 4,000th Next-Generation
737 to China Southern Airlines in a
ceremony at Boeing Field. The delivery
came 15 years after Boeing handed
over ownership to the first 737-700 to
Southwest Airlines on Dec. 17, 1997.
Boeing has actually delivered more
than 7,000 737s, starting with the first
737-100, which Lufthansa received
o n D e c . 2 8 , 1 9 6 7. T h e c o m p a n y
subsequently rolled out the 737-200,
-200C, -200 Advanced, -300, -400 and
-500 before introducing the NextGeneration family. The 737 aircraft is
assembled at the company’s Renton
plant, which has been ramping up
production from 35 737s per month
to 42 by mid-2014. Boeing also will
assemble the new 737 MAX in Renton.
According to a 2008 Boeing report, the
Renton plant produced 42 percent of
the world’s current jetliner fleet.
Dick’s Drive-Ins Named ‘Most Life-Changing Burger in America’
Now the rest of the country — even the world — knows what Pacific Northwesterners have known for decades: There really is nothing quite like a Dick’s Deluxe.
In March, Esquire magazine ran a contest to find the nation’s “Most Life-Changing Burger,” thinking bigger chains like In-and-Out would lay claim to the title.
But they underestimated the power of the Dick’s Drive-In fan base, winning the
online poll in a landslide, garnering 56 percent of the online vote. “They serve a
simple, cheap burger (a Deluxe double is an astoundingly low $2.70) that people
just like,” wrote the editors of the magazine’s “Eat Like a Man” blog. “The secrets,
according to a spokesperson for Dick’s, aren’t very secret: The beef patties are
‘fresh, never frozen, and delivered locally every day,’ and they use a sauce made
of mayonnaise and spiced pickle relish.” The restaurant chain with — until recently — six locations leveraged its goodwill
and social media to crush the competition. Dick’s has 192,000+ Facebook fans and more than 3,400 followers on Twitter (@
DicksDriveIns), many of whom lit