Décés d'un témoin d'exposition...

[Gaël]

Pierre-Christian Taittinger est décédé le 27 septembre 2009 à 83 ans, ancien maire du 16eme arrondissement de paris jusqu'en 2008 était une figure de cet arrondissement.
Je le mentionne ici car je me souviens l'avoir vu il y a trois ou quatre ans dans un reportage télévisé sur les expositions universelles et il racontait sa visite à l'exposition internationale de 1937. Il n'avait pourtant que 11 ans à l'époque mais en gardait de bons souvenirs.
Et oui, les témoins de la dernière expo en France disparaissent en ce moment, c'est dire si la dernière expo remonte à longtemps...

[Gaël]

Meinhardt Raabe est décédé le 10 avril 2010 ! Cela ne vous dit probablement rien comme nom. Pourtant, il était trés célébre aux USA car il était l'un des derniers survivant du tournage du film mythique "Le magicien d'Oz" avec Judy Garland. Il prononçait, en tant que Munchkin Coroner, l'acte de décés de la sorcière de l'Est.



Pour ce qui nous concerne, Meinhardt Raabe est aussi l'un des derniers (le dernier?) survivant ayant participé au village Lilliputien "Midget Village" de l'exposition de Chicago 1933 "Century of Progress" !



Ci dessous, l'info en anglais :

The coroner has passed. The Wisconsin-born actor who played, uncredited, the Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz," pronouncing the witch "most sincerely dead," in lyricist Yip Harburg's droll phrase, died last week at the age of 94.

Prior to touring (for 30 years!) in the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile as "Little Oscar, the World's Smallest Chef," Meinhardt Raabe (right, with Judy Garland) worked the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition, as part of the "Midget Village."

Here, thanks to Tribune researcher Lelia Arnheim, is one tale of dining woe from what appears to have been a pretty lively place.

From the Oct. 11, 1933 Chicago Daily Tribune: A three-paragraph item headlined BURNED TOAST STARTS ROW IN MIDGET VILLAGE. "Elmer Spangler, 23 years old, one of the smallest midgets at the Midget Village of the World's Fair, made a trip to Dr. Frank Baylor's fair hospital last night because he protested against eating burned toast.

'I went into the Village restaurant for a bite to eat,' Spangler said. 'I just wanted a midget piece of toast, but I wanted it right. When it came in black I told the manager, Harry Stross, about it. He said it made no difference, I had to pay for it. When I said I'd tell Jack Fine, my manager, he shoved me.'

At the hospital it was found that Spangler's left knee was injured and that he had several cuts on his face. No formal complaint was made against the restaurant manager."

I wonder: Is it too late to lodge that complaint?