expo 67 lounge

Mid-century fashion, vintage pop culture and retro cool... from Expo 67 and beyond.

16 March 2008

Expo Inside Out!

Another magazine figures prominently in my Expo 67 collection. Acquired in 1997, Expo Inside Out! was my first ever Expo collectible.

Ironically, the item that inaugurated my collection was not in any way an official souvenir. Published by Omniscope Magazine of Westmount, Quebec, Expo Inside Out! was a 48-page unauthorized guide to "what to see" and "what to avoid", at Expo 67.

From the foreword:

"We have not attempted an encyclopedia of Expo. Nor have we collected hymns of praise for Man and his World. [...] Our guide is highly unauthorized [...] Our research was done without benefit of red-carpet V.I.P. treatment, and all opinions expressed here are either personal or objective. They are not Expo approved."

Using a 5-star rating system, every pavilion, many rides and shows, as well as some services were scrutinized by this publication. Every facet of touring Expo 67 was discussed, including restaurant and bar reviews, shopping guides, and touring Expo with children. Various pre-planned tours were proposed for those visiting with time constraints. Routines were suggested for rainy and/or overly crowded days.

The result offers a completely different view of Expo 67. Often funny, the scathing reviews are my favorites:

"Venezuela is the fastest pavilion at Expo
if you skip the film. Skip the film."

"Germany is a pavilion through which you
walk slowly, wondering what you're missing..."

"[La Spirale] spirals up. It spirals down.
What did you expect for a dollar?"

images: personal collection

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6 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Great find. I've wanted one of these for years.

I think that you'll find a great review for the Maine Pavilion:

"The train in Maine runs mainly in the rain".... a suitable re-working of the line from My Fair Lady

10:31 am  
Blogger anton said...

I was surprised and honoured that my "expo inside out" was the subject of your post. I thought everyone had forgotten it by now. Since it was a truly "un-athorized" guide to expo we encountered a number of experiences, both good and bad, including visits from the RCMP, a ban on our advertisements (although we managed to get a couple into the Gazette), great reviews in US publications (Time, Saturday Review of Literature) and a number of television interviews. It was a great memory.

It should be known that I could have published an expose of the patronage and corruption associated with expo 67 but it was to be Canada's Birthday Cake and I was not about to shit on our cake. I thought it would be more helpful to visitors to get an "honest" look.

Thank you for your kind coverage of a great memory.

Anton Kozlik, publisher
Omniscope Magazine

6:39 pm  
Blogger anton said...

Thanks for the memories

12:54 pm  
Blogger Jason Stockl said...

Thank you for your comments, Anton.

"Expo Inside Out" was the very first Expo 67 item I ever bought... the "Centre Histoire de Montréal" were selling copies during their 1997 Expo 67 retrospective.

What I love most about "Expo Inside Out" is the different perspective it gives of Expo 67... I refer to it constantly in my research for this blog.

Thanks, again!
Jason Stockl

7:33 am  
Anonymous Matt G said...

Hi Jason,

I was wondering if you know where I can find a full copy of Expo Inside Out somewhere online. I am writing a paper about the lineups/crowds at Expo for a class at McGill, and I think I might find some good stuff in here !

Thanks

12:45 am  
Blogger CarolineMartel said...

Bonjour !
Mr Kozlik, any chance to get a hold of you ?
Doing research on Expo 67 Québécois films !
Merci & very best
Caroline

2:28 pm  

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