50 years ago in Expo history: Had they stayed too long at the fair? Not with the speedy dismantling of its signature attractions

Two days after closing day, the Expo ’74 site looked “really eerie.”

Whole trees were uprooted “and ignominiously transported off the site by truck.” The Sky Float chairlift was minus all of it chairs, and the cables had already been removed and sent to a ski resort.

Two totem poles were lying horizontal on a truck. At the Soviet Pavilion, “graceful maidens of bronze” were reclining, “awaiting packing in huge crates.”

And “every pool in the pavilion still contained the nickels, dimes and quarters tossed in by wishful fair visitors.” No word was forthcoming about who might end up with this windfall.

Meanwhile, buyers from as far away as San Francisco and Vancouver, British Columbia, were expected at an auction of kitchen equipment, furniture and other fixtures. The results of this and other auctions would have an effect on the fair’s eventual balance sheet.

Overall, the site was strangely quiet. The Plaza Mexicana mariachi band – and every other band that had filled the air with music – was long gone.

From 100 years ago: The 1924 election results were in, and Spokane County’s state legislature delegation was “all-Republican.”

Spokane was not alone in this trend. Washington State went with the Republican candidates at most levels, including president. Calvin Coolidge had an insurmountable lead for Washington’s electoral votes.