Tomorrowland Amerifair, held in San Diego in the fall of 1957, was a billion-dollar salute to the American way. The theme—Man, the American—was dreamed up by the C.I.A. to keep the Cold War Kremlin on its toes. The Ameritron, the fair’s colossal center point and the largest prefab structure ever erected, enclosed the bubbling red Atomic Lagoon (soon drained because it made fairgoers sick) and featured a no-entry Strategic Air Command early-warning center; meanwhile, up top, golfers merrily padded over an Ultrasuede-surfaced eighteen holes. Too bad that the fair’s closing ceremonies were marred by the sight of Sputnik racing across the October night sky.
