As a kid in the early 1940's living in Blair, Nebraska, my loving parents gave me a Christmas gift that included a 3-dimensional viewer and slide reels. I was thrilled to get this present and was thrilled to see the beautiful views of the Fair held on Treasure Island in 1939-40. The reels consist of 7 pictures that when viewed in the viewer (called Sawyer's View-Master), provide a 3-dimensional view. I still have this viewer and the reels (2). One reel features scenes in the day and the other those at night, with the brilliantly lighted features. Scenes at night include the Elephant Towers, Tower of the Sun, In the Court of Pacifica, Pacifica, Court of Pacifica, General night view, and the Mines, Metals & Machinery Building. Daytime scenes are Tower of the Sun, The Arch of Triumph, The Magic Carpet, The Gateway, Court of Pacifica, The Elephant Towers, & the Court of States.
I still have these reels and viewer as well as other reels of other attractions.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Treasure Island and was somewhat dissappointed to find little if anything other than the art deco building at the entrance. I'm also very interested in aviation so visited the still-standing hangars & viewed where the M-30's flew. One of the hangars was occupied by a religeous group and they were very cordual of our "barging in" to catch a glimpse of history.
In Frisco and Oakland, I found two relatively remote book stores where I was able to buy two fine books on the subject of the '39-40 fair. So my journey is complete. Things don't last forever, but the beauty that many, many people helped to create in that era is not forgotten and I'm hopeful the museum can prosper on the Island in the art deco building. - Wayne Simpson, Lincoln, Nebraska