Center House was orig inaly built in 1939 as the old Armory Building. It housed the 146th Field Artillery and its half-ton tanks. The basement of the Center House still has markings from the old firing range and an unfinished swimming pool intended for the recruits. In 1941, Duke Ellington played on stage for the University of Washington’ s Junior Prom.
Unlike Louis, the Food Circus will always be the Armory to me. The atmosphere doesn’t quite m ake me w ant to cram a corndog. Click on the thumbnail for higher res.
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| The FOOD CIRCUS in the SEATTLE CENTER is an exceptional attraction among the many buildings in this culture and amusement complex where visitors can enjoy food from the four corners of the world. The space-age Bubbleator (rising in the center) takes one to the INTERNATIONAL BAZAAR where gifts from all over the globe are offered for sale. Color photo by Morley Studios, 1962. |
I remember hanging out at this place and going through the childrens museum in the basement. Is the Frankfurter still there? the one at Crossroads is now some vegan soup shop.
Great picture! Here is a current day view of the “Bubbleator”. Not quite the same effect.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.34477,-122.328832&spn=0,359.99588&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=47.344823,-122.328736&panoid=6ioszzKdc8tzhSFLm9THmw&cbp=12,140.22,,0,5
Yay! A Bubbleator photo – THANK-YOU!!
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It will always be the Food Circus to me, too, Louis (waving “hi”
Whatever happened to those fabulous lamp globes??
The picture on the postcard was taken after the fair. Note how they call it “Seattle Center”, not “Century 21″. Plus, the Bubbleator was in the Coliseum (now Key Arena) during the fair as part of the Washington State exhibit.
I was poking around the King County photo archive to see more views of the Bubbleator and came across this:
http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm-desmo/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/imlsmohai&CISOPTR=314&CISOBOX=1&REC=2
Paul Bunyan’s birthday cake? That must be the most random food exhibit ever!
I’m puzzled by the apparent all-things-apple concession down the center of the scene. Aplets…without Cotlets? That’s just wrong!
Blasphemous! There shouldn’t be any place where you wouldn’t want to “cram a corn dog.”
@ Jana – Hi Jana! I’m a little late with this reply. Those lamp globes really were fabulous. And I remember the souvenir stands in the Food Circus were just loaded with…with…STUFF. I think C-21 souvenirs were sold at the Seattle Center for a good 20 years after the fair…I remember meeting the cast of “Here Come the Brides” at the Food Circus. Does anybody remember Jones’ Fantastic Museum?
What a fabulous trip down memory lane! I always thought the lamps looked like a big bunch of balloons. Jones’ Fantastic Museum was the coolest place to me when I was a kid! It made you feel like you were at an old time carny. Corn dogs? ?Who could forget the huge Belgian waffles? I really miss those days.
I just discovered this site. I can’t begin to describe how big the grin on my face is right now. Some of my fondest memories revolve around the times I spent at the Seattle Center when I was a kid. Sure the Space Needle was great and who didn’t love the Fun Forest but for me the trip wasn’t complete till I rode the Bubbleator up and down a few times and snooped through Jones’ Fantastic Museum. Sigh! What I wouldn’t give for just one more ride. Thanks for reminding me.
The “Bubblelator” was so cool in 1962 and this is one of just a few I have seen of it over the years. Today it does bring back memories, but it also looks a lttle rediculous … guess it was not hard to impress an 18 year old kid!
This is where my father learned artillery. He joined the National Guard in 1936 while a junior at Queen Anne High. The 146th was mobilized for Federal service in 1940. The guns were French 75 mm howitzers, no tanks as the Seattle Center history seems to think. There was also a room that taught artillery theory in miniature. It used something like a model railroad landscape and ball bearings shot from miniature canon. It was to illustrate the calculations about the trajectory a missile would actually take. The floor of the place was endgrain lumber blocks set close together. When the surface was worn it could be sanded smooth again, but since the blocks were a foot or so thick it wold just about never wear out. I wish I could find out more about the armory, if you know where please publish!
I worked at the Jones’ Fantastic Museum, as their vampire &c, for thirteen years, and I’m still good friends with Joyce Ring, one of the Bubbleator operators from the late 1960′s. So many wonderful memories! There is now a Facebook group dedicated to Jones’ Fantastic Museum!
see you next time
Do any pictures exist of the children’s museum in the basement back in the early 70′s? I remember Olaf the Giant, And a long counter that looked like a bar that had many many buttons that you would push to make different things move on the wall. Please help!