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Edith Marion DeBlois collection of Expo 67 publications and ephemera

Creation: 1966-1967
 Collection
Accession: 2329

Abstract

Edith Marion DeBlois (1920-2000) was a native Canadian with an interest in foreign travel and a season pass to the Expo 67. Expo 67 was an international exposition that took place in in Montréal, Québec from April 27 to October 29, 1967 to celebrate Canada's centennial. The theme was "Man and his World." These materials were collected by DeBlois while attending Expo 67. This small collection includes many of the official guides and maps issued by the fair, as well as specialized pamphlets dealing with particular themes or exhibits. DeBlois also compiled a series of scrapbooks documenting her attendance at various exhibits and performances.

Dates

  • Creation: 1966-1967

Creator

Extent

1.6 Linear Feet

Biographical Note

Edith Marion DeBlois (1920-2000) was a native Canadian with an interest in foreign travel and a season pass to the international exposition, Expo 67.

She was born, Edith Marion Gladney, in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1920, the daughter of native Canadian Eva Elizabeth Powis (1896-1966) and Englishman Reginald Gladney (1896-1965). She called herself “Babs” as a child, which she modified to “Babbie” in later life. Her parents divorced when in 1933, and her mother later married A. E. D. Tremain (1892-1962) of Montreal.

At the age of nineteen she visited the New York World’s Fair. The outbreak of World War II a few months later caused her parents to abandon plans to send her to finishing school in Switzerland, so she took a nursing course and spent most of the war working in a munitions factory as an inspector.

In 1945 she married Howard Crawford DeBlois (1920-1948), a wounded veteran of the Royal Engineers and moved to the industrial city of Shawinigan, about 100 miles from Montreal. Howard DeBlois died in 1948, and Edith DeBlois and their daughter remained in Shawinigan after his death.

Edith DeBlois took great interest in Expo 67 from the moment it was announced that Montreal would host a World’s Fair. For her, it seemed an opportunity to experience the cultures of foreign countries that had been denied her by the war. She purchased a season pass and moved in with a friend in Montreal, and her daughter, who was then at McGill University, would meet her at the fair for concerts. She attended the fair almost daily. The fair rekindled DeBlois’s interest in foreign travel, and thereafter she made frequent trips using economical package tours.

Historical Note

World's Fairs or International Expositions are large-scale exhibitions that highlight technology, agriculture and other innovations of national or cultural significance. These fairs are open to the general public and can run for three weeks to six months.

Expo 67 was an international exposition that took place in Montréal, Québec from April 27 to October 29, 1967 to celebrate Canada's centennial. Nearly 55 million people visited Expo 67, it was the most attended World's Fair to that date. The theme was "Man and his World." Sixty-two nations participated. Canadian diplomat, Pierre Dupuy (1896–1969) was the Commissioner General of Expo 67.

There were ninety pavilions. Featured was a geodesic dome designed by American architect, Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) and Habitat 67 modular housing complex designed by Israeli-Canadian architect, Moshe Safdie (1938-), which was later purchased by private individuals and is still occupied.

During the summer months of 1968 and 1984, many of the buildings continued to be open for exhibit.

Scope and Content

The materials collected by DeBlois include a variety of publications and ephemera associated with the 1967 International and Universal Exposition held in Montreal, also known as Expo 67.

The collection includes many of the official guides and maps issued by the fair, as well as specialized pamphlets dealing with particular themes or exhibits. DeBlois also compiled a series of scrapbooks documenting her attendance at various exhibits and performances. The scrapbooks contain mostly newspaper clippings on activities at the fair, but also programs, postcards, announcements, a head scarf, and ephemera such as fair-themed napkins, drinking cups and utensils. The collection includes an official “passport” that was issued to ticket holders, that could be stamped by the various foreign pavilions in the manner of a real passport, and “visas” for admission to specific foreign exhibits. Of particular note is a booklet from the Soviet pavilion.

The collection also includes and official guide to the 1939 New York World’s Fair, a brochure on Czechoslovakia from the 1958 world’s fair in Brussels, and a variety of tourist brochures from DeBlois’s later travels.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Edith Marion DeBlois collection of Expo 67 publications and ephemera
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400