Vulcan, in all his iron-keistered glory, has always fascinated me.

From my first visits to Birmingham as a child seeing the macabre red torch indicating a highway fatality, to exploring the cave-like space beneath its base while at UAB. Once, in the guise of taping a video for Operation New Birmingham, I convinced a friend from the Mayor’s office to let me tape an interview on the platform beside the big iron man. One climbs a ladder from the observatory and stands toe-to-gigantic-toe with V-Money on a platform without rails. Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

I’ve often wondered what it was like when he was introduced at the St. Louis World’s Fair/Expo in 1904. He was so money. Imagine being at his unveiling at the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy venue at the expo. Was there a countdown? A voila moment when the curtains parted for the grand reveal? And what did the expo crowd with early 1900s sensibilities make of that scandalous giant iron bum?

I wonder if there will be an equivalent show-stealer at the Shanghai Expo when it opens May 1.

The St. Louis Expo, 106 years ago, celebrated the Louisiana Purchase Centennial and technology and products from the industrial revolution—like the ability to process the ingredients needed to make iron, found in bountiful quantities in Jones Valley.

In Shanghai, the theme is “Better City, Better Life,” representing “humankind’s desire for better living in future urban environments.” There will be new concepts in sustainable cities, zero-emission transportation and concepts from the world’s foremost thinkers in urban planning. In 1904 about 10 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. By 2010, as estimated by the UN, the urban population will account for 55 percent of the total human population. The City of Birmingham for some reason seems to buck the trend, continuing to lose residents to a more attractive suburbia.

According to the publication “Indescribably Grand: Diaries and Letters from the 1904 Worlds’ Fair,” the St. Louis Fair showcased what organizers believed was “progress” according to Western standards. These standards were used to judge non-Western cultures and present them as uncivilized and backward. According to the publication, organizers juxtaposed cultural exhibitions in order to educate the attendees of the “benefits” of Western progress.

Last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, there was talk of the “Beijing Consensus” competing with and perhaps replacing the long-held “Washington Consensus.” In other words, extolling the benefits of what a one-party, authoritarian hybrid of communism and capitalism can achieve with little or no debate, as opposed to a system seen by some as paralyzed by partisan squabbling, non-stop campaigning and a deadlock resulting from an increasing party of ‘no’ attitude which can torpedo even small initiatives.

Any talk of “benefits” of Western progress is likely to fall on deaf ears in China, which has an economy that this year is expected to surpass Japan, and in 20 years or so that of the US of A, from which it owns 3 trillion or so in debt. Vulcan A!

In 1904 in China, the Qing dynasty was in its final years. China suffered humiliating defeats during the second Opium War a few years prior, when Hong Kong was ceded to Britain and “concessions” in Shanghai were given to France, Germany and Britain.
Ironically, the early western influence of these concessions and their representatives, combining elements of east and west, helped shape Shanghai into one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

Today, the Pudong skyline with the iconic Pearl TV tower on the west side of the Huangpu River where most of the expo will take place, is the future realized in a cityscape. There is no other skyline on the planet as forward-looking.

St. Louis featured 62 foreign nations, the US government, and 43 of the then-45 U.S. states. Shanghai will have more than 200 exhibitors, the most countries in the Expo history and a Vulcan lot of NGOs. The Chinese pavilion, using 47,000 square-meters, is designed with the concept of “Oriental Crown, the Crest of Chinese, the Barn for the World and Wealthy People,” reflecting a deep accumulation of Chinese culture. It’s painted “Forbidden City” red.

Due to the financial crisis, the USA pavilion almost didn’t come to fruition, but Hillary and loads of others made emphatic pitches to companies to help realize the vision and funding to realize the theme of “sustainability, teamwork, health and Chinese-America relations.”

I saw an early presentation which used movies, sports and pop-culture—America’s most powerful Vulcan exports—as its pavilion theme. I’m not sure what today’s concept will bring, but in terms of US-China relations, I wouldn’t look for the U.S.–Taiwan arms sale, Dalai Lama Obama pow wow or currency manipulation/trade imbalance as front and center themes.

What I do know is that there will be far too few people on either side of the Huangpu River, among the 70 million expected visitors, who will know anything about V-money’s legacy and connection to the event. Are you Vulcan doing anything about it?

Delta has direct flights from Atlanta to Shanghai and there are scores of hotels at all levels from which to choose if you want to make the trek.

Get off your Vulcan butt, show up and represent. Vulcan A! The world is watching! For Vulcan’s sake, if you make it to the end-zone (proverbially or actually) act like you’ve been there before.