Music To Buy Toasters By 

Yes, that is the title of this piece, and it comes to us from the 1960’s and Disney’s involvement at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. 

And although it is a corny title, for what I think is a particularly good example of music, the title IS evocative of General Electric’s motive at the World’s Fair with the Carousel of Progress. The Carousel of Progress was set up inside the  much larger Progressland Pavilion, and was not only an entertainment venue, but a venue for exhibition and a showcase for all of GE’s products. The World’s Fair never dissuaded the aspects of it that made it part trade show, part international exhibition. In fact, it readily embraced it, and most advertisements and centered around the product placement and advertising of the wares for sale and on display in the corporate pavilions. GE, in particular, had an area of Progressland called Medallion City in which guests could stroll through and attend seminars that featured all the new appliances and tools they had just seen in the Carousel Theater. 

But the music itself is subtle, lilting, melodic, and relaxing. Setting a wonderful mood for the Progressland Pavilion, it is not hard to imagine this playing through the speakers as queues of smartly dressed 60’s fairgoers exited the “Carousel Theater” and took in the sights and sounds of the industrial and sleek future of 1964. 

And on a personal note, I want this theme to serve as the background music to my life.