World's Fair Information Manual

FEATURES

FEATURES: The United States Rubber Company exhibit is an 80 foot high giant tire, in which people can actually ride. The ride affords a high clear view of the Fair grounds for sightseers and camera enthusiasts and has a total seating capacity for 96 passengers, four in each of the 24 barrel shaped gondolas.

The giant tire designed by Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon Associates is fabricated of U. S. Rubber's Vibrin polyester resin reinforced with glass fiber. The coating of colored polyester resin gives the appearance of rubber, whitewalls and the red circle of security, United States rubber's premium tire designation. The plastic laminate weighs 17,500 pounds. It was molded in sections and built onto a steel framework encasing the moving mechanism. The gondolas moved around the circumference of the giant tire in the tread section.

The tire is designed for construction on a heavy foundation so it can be operated without unsighly stabilizing guy wires and will be able to withstand hurricane-force winds.

The company is using many of its products in the giant tire. The gondolas are made of Expanded Royalite, a molded ABS thermoplastic. Seats are cushioned with Koylon foam rubber and covered with Naugahyde vinyl upholstery. The floor in each gondola is covered with Royal vinyl carpeting.

At the entrance, where passengers assemble for the ride, a series of display cases exhibit U. S. Rubber's diversified tire line.

The U. S. Royal sign in the tire has illuminated letters four and a half feet high. The structure is floodlighted at night and is visible from every part of the Fair grounds.