Dinoland was at Eastgate Mall
Dinosaurs would not have been good pets. The food bill would have been beyond most household budgets, and they wouldn’t fit into the family SUV for a trip to the vet. Even so, they appeal to our imaginations and are part of our culture. In recent years, dinosaurs have been popularized in books and movies (“Jurassic Park,” “Land Before Time,” “Dinosaur”), art (“Dinotopia”), and children’s television (“Barney”). In the 1960’s, the Flintstones cartoon series turned dinosaurs into TV stars. That same decade, Sinclair Oil, which had used one of the great lizards as its logo since 1930, sponsored the “Dinoland” exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair.
The pavilion’s theme connected Sinclair’s oil refining operations to the origins of oil during the age of the dinosaurs. Sinclair commissioned a renowned sculptor of animals, Louis Paul Jonas, to create nine dinosaurs from fiberglass. Mr. Jonas worked with experts in paleontology and robotics on the project. Three of the beasts – the Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Triceratops - could move their heads, necks, or jaws. Today, we take animatronic technology like that for granted, but back then, it was new and wondrous. Walt Disney used robotics at the New York World’s Fair in their “It’s a Small World” ride at the Pepsi pavilion, and gave Abe Lincoln the ability to stand and speak at the State of Illinois state exhibit. Other creatures in the Dinoland collection were the Struthiomimus, Trachodon, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Corythosaurus, and Ornitholestes.
After Mr. Jonas and his team finished their work, the dinosaurs were transported on a barge down the Hudson River to New York City. Stopping for a ceremony at Battery Park, Mr. Jonas said, “If I never do another job, I shall be fulfilled.” Earlier, he had commented that he looked forward to returning to sculpting elephants, which didn’t require climbing up 28-foot scaffolds like he had done to work on the dinos. After their Hudson voyage, the sculptures were moved into their positions at the Sinclair diorama, which included erupting volcanoes and flowing waterfalls. The exhibit became one of the more popular ones at the World’s Fair.
After the fair closed in October, 1965, the dinosaurs were taken on a tour of the country. This is where the story has a Chattanooga connection. The dinosaurs rolled into town atop flatbed trailers (what a sight that must have been), and were stationed on the parking lot at Eastgate Mall. Incredible as it may seem today, admission was free. However, the entourage included the “Mold-A-Rama” vending machines which had been used at the World’s Fair. For a few coins, children could watch the Mold-A-Rama machine create hollow, miniature dinosaurs from plastic. The toys were inscribed with “Sinclair Dinoland.” Mold-A-Ramas were also popular at tourist attractions including Marineland and Weeki Wachee.
After the tour, Sinclair offered the dinosaurs to the Smithsonian, but the museum refused to accept them. Today, the sculptures are scattered around the country at various parks (e.g., Dinosaur National Monument in Utah) and museums. It would be nice to see them back together next year for a 40th reunion, but that’s unlikely.
I have been unable to determine exactly when Dinoland came to Eastgate. An undated photo of the exhibit is in our family album. If you know the answer or have memories of the dinosaurs’ visit to Chattanooga, please send me an e-mail