“Study Chairman Mao’s writings, follow his teachings and act according to his instructions.” — preface by Lin Piao
In 1967, Mimi asked her sister to babysit and we took a ride to Montreal to visit that year’s World’s Fair, also known as Expo 67. As we wandered through the different countries’ pavilions, we came to a table loaded with stacks of the first English translation of Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book. I instantly wanted my own copy of that much-reviled and radical book, partly out of curiosity but mainly because I didn’t think I was supposed to have one – what was the big mystery? The Chinese ladies staffing the table happily took my fifty cents, and the Cold War ended. Well, not quite yet.
Mimi was not comfortable with my purchase, and, referring to the authorities we’d have to face when we crossed the border back into the United States, worried “What if they find it?” I didn’t expect I’d have to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee if they did find it, but back in 1967, who knew? Before we started home, I hid it in the trunk of the car, under our literal dirty laundry.
I left the book on my bedside table and read a little bit off and on; it was interesting in parts but kind of a slog. I wonder what my brother would have thought, given that he had been an infantryman fighting in Korea when the Red Chinese started streaming across the border to reinforce the North.
more at westland.net/expo67/map-docs/ussr.htm
Researching pictures for this post, I was surprised to find that the People’s Republic of China, mainland “Red” China, did not host a pavilion at the fair. So where did I get that book? Probably at the Soviet Union pavilion, the most popular one there. I think the Russians likely shared some of their exhibition space with their Marxist comrades. Wherever it was, the space was decorated with heroic propaganda posters exhorting the citizenry to increase production in all things.
In unrelated Expo 67 news, I remember trolling an exasperated staffer at the Bell Telephone pavilion over whether dialing the newfangled “pushbutton phone” being demonstrated was really faster than the rotary model, and if so, was that bit of speed important?
The Mao book did eventually cause a problem, I believe. My cousin Barbara lived out in southwest Jersey somewhere toward the Delaware River, so family get-togethers were seldom. However, at Barbara’s husband’s funeral Mimi and I renewed our friendship with her, and we invited her and her teenage daughters to visit us. One day they did, and after lunch, the two girls went upstairs to change for the beach.
In a few minutes, they came back down and had a quick huddle with their mother, who then made some not-very-convincing excuse to leave and the three departed, never to be heard from again. What I think happened was that while doing some normal teenage-girl snooping, they saw the Mao book on my bedside table. This is just a theory, I never shared it with my wife, but why else would they leave in such a hurry?
Anyone who isn’t scared off by now can read a dozen or so selected quotations here. See you at re-education camp!