ASIAN PAVILIONS
THE CHINESE VILLAGE
Chinese Village, Treasure Island
Located on the Gayway, the Chinese Village was run by a group of restaurateurs from San Francisco’s Chinatown. The walled-in village consisted of nearly three acres, packed full of restaurants, entertainment venues, and other curiosities.
Published by Chinese Factors, Inc.
Chinese Immortal
This postcard is rich in Chinese iconography. Flying in the sky are bats, symbolizing blessings or riches, and they are the auspicious red color. The man is most likely one of the eight immortals, Li Tieguai, the patron saint of physicians, carrying a gourd from which he dispenses pills for the sick. So the wish for the recipient is "Health and wealth; may your blessings be as vast as the sky."
Publisher unknown
Pagoda
Pagoda located in the Chinese Village.
Published by Chinese Factors, Inc.
Asian Pavilions
Pavilions of the Americas
European Pavilions
Religion Pavilions
Wish You Were Here
Kwan Brothers
The Kwan Brothers, who hailed from Northern China, performed thrice daily.
Publisher unknown
Chinese Acrobatic Troupe
This Northern China acrobatic group performed three times daily.
Publisher unknown
JAPAN
The Japan Pavilion
Situated in a charming garden setting, the Japan Pavilion was one of the most popular foreign exhibits. Demonstrations of filature, the art of spinning silk, were accompanied by examples of the final product in the form of kimonos and silk-upholstered mulberry wood furniture. Large photomurals adorning the walls of the Hall of Culture depicted modern-day Japanese life. A tea garden provided a place for rest and relaxation, while many musical concerts and performances of traditional dance provided entertainment in other portions of the pavilion.
Publisher unknown
Japanese Cormorant Fishing
This postcard shows a demonstration of cormorant fishing by Mr. Kanji Yamashita at the Golden Gate International Exposition.
Publisher unknown
A Japanese Doll With Embroidered Screen
Publisher unknown
Japanese Garden
Japanese garden with Hall of Festivities in background.
Exhibit of Exquisite Japanese Silks
Publisher unknown
OTHER ASIAN PAVILIONS
The French Indo-China Pavilion
“Stepping through the portals of the French Indo-China Pavilion was akin to entering an ancient temple. Bas-reliefs from Angkor, hand-carved wooden figures and ceramic panels, combined with the strange Annamite architecture, made the two-story building distinct and impressive. Exhibits were assembled from Laos, Annam, Tonkin, Cambodia, and Cochin, China. The displays included products of the ancient hill tribes, as well as those of the highly developed cultural, industrial and commercial life of the urban centers.”
From Treasure Island: The Magic City 1939-1940 by Jack James and Earl Weller (1941).
Publisher unknown
Chinese Boat Collage
The postage stamps in this collage image and the one above bear the face of Sun Yat-Sen, founding father of the Republic of China. The boat is sailing on calm seas with auspicious red pennants showing a favorable following wind. So this image can be seen as a wish that the Chinese Republic and Sun’s political ideas will carry on smoothly.
Publisher unknown
Utikake Japanese Kimono
Publisher unknown
The Johore State Pavilion
The pavilion of the state of Johore, Malaysia was a replica of the sultan’s council house. The tin ore and rubber industries were featured in displays, as were stuffed native reptiles and animals.
Publisher unknown
The Philippine Pavilion
The Philippine Pavilion housed exhibits devoted to natural resources, the arts, recreation, and manufactured products. A unique lighting effect was achieved by utilizing mother-of-pearl in the window panes and the lamp fixtures. A 110-piece band from the Philippine Constabulary presented daily concerts in the bandstand on the lagoon adjoining the pavilion.
Photographer and publisher unknown
Wish You Were Here! Postcards from the Golden Gate International Exposition is presented by the Treasure Island Museum.
The Netherlands East Indies Building
"Reproducing a Hindu-Javanese temple, the Netherlands East Indies building was prominent for its size, architecture and decorative features [including] terracotta reproductions of statues and ... actual examples of Balinese hand-carved stone ... Cleverly lighted dioramas portrayed island volcanoes in eruption.”
From Treasure Island: The Magic City 1939-1940 by Jack James and Earl Weller (1941).
Publisher unknown
Japan Day Fireworks
Marshall Dill, the 1940 President of the Golden Gate International Exposition, noted the “far-reaching political influences [of] Japan’s acceptance of the invitation of the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940 [...] because a critical time had developed in the world’s history when national friendships were being tested and strained.” In response, Commissioner General Toshito Satow stated, “Besides the fact that it marks our participation in a foreign country, the year 1940 has an added and particularly profound significance for us Japanese, because it is the twenty-six hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Empire. The fact that Japan joins in the ‘Fair in Forty’ can be appropriately interpreted as an omen of a future guarantee of lasting friendship between the United States and Japan.” Fourteen months after the fair closed, the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor.
Photographed and published by Gabriel Moulin
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