The business that grew into Hake's Americana & Collectibles began while founder Ted Hake worked both seasons (1964-1965) at the exhibit officially titled "General Electric Progressland — A Walt Disney Presentation." The 50th Anniversary of the Fair's opening was April 22 of this year. This inspired Hake to remove from deep storage this unique artifact he saved from demolition in Nov. 1965. The primary Progressland show, the Carousel of Progress w/the first audio-animatronic figures, moved to Disneyland for a very successful second run, but GE's pavilion was destroyed as planned. Hake just could not allow this-custom made representation of the Fairgrounds to be obliterated. What Hake saved is a unique map of the Fair that hung by the Progressland exit. A hostess sat in front of this visual aid map in an "Information" booth. Using the map, she fielded questions from exiting guests needing directions to the next attraction on their to-do list. By the time the Fair's second season ended Oct. 17, 1965, of the 51 million fair visitors, over 14 million of them passed by this map after their Progressland visit. The map is nearly five feet wide by six feet tall (57x71") framed in a border of wood. It is not very thick, as the depth is only 1.75", but the main wood panel and applied smaller wood panels bring the weight to 82 pounds. The bkg. color is pale blue. Mounted against the bkg. are 63 identically-sized panels (7x7-3/8"), each .25" deep so they stand out from the bkg. w/surrounding channels about .25" wide. Each panel has a glued on thin sheet of a vinyl-like material that displays the image. Together these 63 images exactly reproduce (though greatly enlarged) the "Official Souvenir Map Of The New York World's Fair 1964-1965." Included w/the wood map is an example of the Official Souvenir map which the wood map replicates. The paper map is 5x9" folded and opens to 26x33". One side is identical to the wood enlargement aerial view of the Fairgrounds while the other side shows the New York City boroughs and roads surrounding the Fair. Also included is a 4x9" 4-page brochure titled "Your Tour Of Progressland." The map title text appears on the two top right panels. Over 50 years, the text has greatly faded but remains legible, and replaceable (as will be explained). This is the only significant fading on the map. The map has been in storage since 1977. The plastic sheet it was wrapped in did not totally protect it from moisture. At the bottom left corner, five panels are damaged. Two have moderate discoloration while three are visibly stained. All five of these panels are in the area where the Fair attractions are listed alphabetically w/their map co-ordinates and the map's copyright information - ©1964 Time, Inc. The three most damaged panels show darker discoloration and on two of these panels areas 3x5" long and 2x7" long have lost a portion of their original beige surface color and these small areas now appear white, although the majority of the text remains. In the same bottom left area, a narrow sliver of wood about 2" long came off the very bottom edge of the frame board so that 2" edge is more rounded than at a 90 degree angle. The rest of the map has relatively minor age traces all over. A few of the panels w/less detail show some lt. scattered age toning, a few panels have a very small rub mark, a few panels have a corner tip of the vinyl lifting, but only about 1/16" to 1/8" in size or a near hairline along an edge. The outer frame edge has scattered minor rubs and the bottom left corner has a few inches where the white paint has darkened some. Overall, the significant damage effects about 10% of the surface area while the remaining 90% has only lt. age traces and displays Fine. In the area where Progressland is located, that panel has an extra overlaid panel in translucent blue Plexiglas. Mounted to the Plexiglas is a figural wood representation of the Progressland pavilion 2.5" dia. and standing out in relief to a depth of .75". This custom display map comes w/an example of the actual paper souvenir map that was enlarged to create the display. It would be easy and inexpensive to make enlargements from the paper map to replace the two faded title panels and the five lower left corner panels that were most discolored by moisture, although the bkg. color of the replacements would need adjusted to match the other 56 panels. Due to size and/or weight of this lot, shipping charges may be substantial. Please contact us w/any shipping inquiries prior to close of auction. This unique display seen by over 14 million Fair-goers is from the Ted Hake Collection and comes with Hake's COA.