The United States' Pavilion

The Russian Pavilion

Brussels-More Than Propaganda
Although the Cold War Is There a Tourist Can Avoid It
fly John Weicher

IF IT COULD be considered to be
existing in a vacuum, the Brus-
sels Fair would be strictly for fun.
A complete ignorance of world af-
fairs is perhaps best for a per-
son attending it.
V For, despite the best efforts of
the planners and of some of the
participants, the Fair is basically
a good place to gawk. The won-
ders of the world are there, in
every category if one can enjoy
them without looking at the na-
tional labels they bear.
The Fair is, first of all, ion-
mense. ft covers 494 acres north-
east of Brussels, and covers them
beautifully. No space is wasted,
but none is overcrowded. Besides
* the actual exhibits moot coun-
tries have done some landscap-
ing on part of their space, with
generally refreshing results.
The land is naturally rolling,
which aids the architects (al-
though it is hard on the footsore
visitors). Plenty of benches are
John Weicher, city editor of
The Daily, spent considerable
time at the Fair this summer
during a tour of Europe.
Hairstyling to please!
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provided for sitting down; these
are all free - which cannot be
said for any nations' washrooms
except those of the United States.
(Everyone else charges four cents
and has a woman attendant at
the door to collect.)
The official languages of Bel-
glum and the Fair are Flemish
and French. Although most coun-
tries (with, perhaps, the signifi-
cant exception of Russia) also
give descriptions in English and
replace Flemish with its near rel-
ative German, the industrial ex-
hibits do not. Fortunately, these
include very little that is either
new or interesting to the Ameri-
can visitor, who can concentrate
on the south half of the fair,
where the national pavilions are
clustered. Here is where the fun
is.
UNFORTUNATELY, the plan-
ners have apparently failed to
regard the Fair as something oth-
er than a propaganda contest.
They have situated the American
and Russian displays directly op-
posite each other with the much

smaller Arab States' building in
between.
The visitor is therefore almost
compelled to make a comparison
of the two, thus dragging the
Fair to the level of international
politics.
Strictly in the propaganda line,
the Russians would appear to
have won. Enjoyment, however, is
another matter. The Russians
have been extremely thorough
and extremely unimaginative; the
Americans have shown plenty of
imagination, but have missed
much.
Foremost among the absentees
is industry. A short description of
atomic power and a display of the
industrial park at Stanford com-
prise almost the entire extent of
American efforts in this line. No
machinery of any sort rears its
head.
Ith is possible to argue that ev-
eryone knows the value and ex-
tent of American machinery and
technical skills; perhaps, on a
limited budget, the United States
had to sacrifice something. If so,
it probably chose well, but the ab-


sence of industry, coupled with nothing except an outlandishly
the heavy accent on consumer new speedboat appears in any
goods, makes America look "soft" "store window" that cannot be
by comparison with Russia. seen - and b ht at moderate
prices - at home..
Consumer goods dominate the The effect on the European vis-
pavilion, perhaps excessively. The itors is staggering. Many small
United States has played fair; (Continued on Page 5)


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Page Five