The Seattle World’s Fair created all kinds of legacies that still resonate, starting with the Seattle Center campus.
For Bob and Ruth Kildall of Magnolia, memories of the fair take on a more personal meaning: It’s where they met.
Ruth, who grew up in a small town near Copenhagen, arrived in Seattle in 1962 as a 28-year-old hostess for the Denmark Pavilion. Back home, Ruth had worked as a translator of business documents — moving between Danish, English, French and German. Boring stuff, she said.
She jumped at the chance to work at the World’s Fair.
“It was exciting,” Ruth recalled. “We didn’t know what we were getting into.”
Copenhagen was Ruth’s measure of a big-time city; Seattle struck her as a little provincial. Still, there were cultural nuances she had to learn the hard way.
Ruth and two of her hostess friends rented a cramped space on Taylor Avenue for $90 per month — nothing to sneeze at in those days. Rent gouging was part of the World’s Fair scene. The trio finally changed quarters.
There was more.
“Back in Denmark only people invited to parties showed up,” she laughed. But not in America: “We were shocked.”
American gregariousness had its upside: “We were struck by the hospitality of the American people,” Ruth said. “There were people we could have visited in every single state.”
The Denmark Pavilion showcased Danish wares: furniture, industrial design, jewelry and other goods.
“I was so impressed that little Denmark exported this to the country of IBM,” she noted. “Little did we know IKEA would be taking over 50 years later.”
Bob Kildall, owner of Olympic Distributors, Inc., carried a Danish-made electronic stencil cutter, which was cutting edge in its day. Bob was a regular in the Danish venue.
Their relationship remained Platonic as the fair wore on. Meanwhile, Ruth took in fellow Dane Victor Borge’s piano-comedy show, but the classical music lover skipped a chance to see Elvis. She’s still kicking herself.
The Fair ended on a warm Sunday, October 21, 1962. “We went wild in the fountain outside the Pavilion,” Ruth said.
And she headed back home.
There are different versions of what happened next, but this version, which reflects Bob’s dry sense of humor, is a good bet.
Workers in the Denmark Pavilion, including Bob, had been given fine, Danish tea sets. Not long after the fair ended, he called Ruth in Denmark.
“Why don’t we put our tea sets together so we can entertain more people?” he asked.
And they did.
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