The California Pacific International Exposition
We call it the California World’s Fair of 1935, but they called it the California Pacific International Exposition. Certainly a flair for language. The gathering was meant to showcase San Diego and to give its economy a shot in the arm, so to speak, and get things going.
Frank Drugan was the man with the plan, and he’d arrived in San Diego only two years before the exposition began. The expansion of the city had left several buildings in the Balboa Park area, which were designed to be temporary structures. Drugan had them retrofitted and upgraded.
This coincided with the end of the Chicago World’s Fair, and many of the exhibits there were easy to transport to San Diego. Drugan knew that the World’s Fair in Chicago had paid for itself easily, and he expected his version to be able to do the same. It took some convincing, but local businesses eventually jumped on board and the project launched in August of 1934 with the incorporation of the Exposition.
Construction began in 1935, and had to be rushed to make the May deadline. Some buildings, such as the Ford Building, had foundation laid before plans were completed. The total project was massive in scale, employing 2,700 people with help from the Federal Government and private contractors.
If you’re wondering what the most popular attraction was, it may not surprise you. The so-called “Zoro Nudist Colony,” populated by male and female models and actors, proved to be the largest financial gain. Although the Exposition did also feature a “One Ton Mechanical Man,” and the “Lost Continent of Mu.”
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