In 1964, nine life-size replicas of dinosaurs towered over visitors to the New York City World's fair.
The dinosaur exhibit was sponsored by the Sinclair Oil company and was wildly popular.
The dinosaurs, made of fiberglass, included the brontosaurus, which was the Sinclair corporate symbol. Following their successful appearance in New York, the dinosaurs were disassembled and loaded onto forty-foot trailers. They were then trucked across the country on a national goodwill tour.
The tour promoted Sinclair oil and gas stations. In total, the dinosaurs visited thirty-seven cities.
In one Florida city alone, the dinosaurs attracted more than a quarter of a million visitors in just 5 days. School children were bused in from as far as seventy-five miles away to see the dinosaurs.
You can learn more about Sinclair’s dinosaurs on tour by viewing the Wendell C. White Collection of Sinclair Oil Corporation films in the digital collection at UW’s American Heritage Center.