Overview

The Westinghouse Exhibit at the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) had a Streamline Moderne character, typified by its low-slung, horizontal proportions and the rounded edges to building forms tied together by a continously flowing "cornice" line supporting the Westinghouse sign. The ornamentation on the top of the exhibit resembled two mechanical gears and a fluted, classical column.

Building History

The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company's Annual Report for 1939 estimated that approximately 2.6 million people toured the firm's exhibit at the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) in 1939. (See Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company's Annual Report, 1939, page unknown.) This was

Building Notes

According to a 1939 Westinghouse advertisement in Life magazine, "In San Francisco, the Westinghouse Exhibit at the Golden Gate International Exposition features 'Willie Vocalite,' the original electric man, among other scientific wonders." (See "The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair," Life, 06/12/1939, p. 32.) Willie emerged from Westinghouse laboratories in 1932, one of several robots that the company produced during the 1920s and 1930s. An article in the Nevada State Journal of 04/29/1932 reported that the robot would make an appearance at the grand opening of an enlarged H.E. Saviers and Son, Incorporated, store, a Reno business selling radios, electrical appliances, paint and wallpaper: "Willie will answer the requests of persons at the open house, and will stand up, sit down, raise his arm, smoke cigarets, shoot a gun and perform many more tricks. 'Willie' accomplished all these things by means of a highly sensitized electrical unit, located somewhere in that body of steel upon which rays of light shine at intervals to produce the acts which appear as good as any human intentions. He is the brain child of J.M. Barnett, Westinghouse electrical engineer, who will be on the sidelines tonight to see that 'Willie' does not speak out of turn." (See "Savier Will Open Enlarged Store Tonight," Nevada State Jounral, (Reno, NV), 04/29/1932, p. 6.) Willie also made an appearance at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, IL, in 1933. Upgrades were made to Willie for the GGIE: "In 1939 he went into the shop for a complete overhaul. While on the bench, he was outfitted with a sparkling new metal skin, his 'nervous' system was rewired, and his vocabulary improved." (See Tom Logsdon, The Robot Revolution, [San Jose, CA: iUniverse.com, Incorporated, 2000], p. 134.)

Demolition Notes

The GGIE Westinghouse Exhibit was razed after the conclusion of the fair.

PCAD id: 23239