Montreal, early spring, 1967. I was looking for a summer job before starting university. The previous nine months I鈥檇 been in France at school and hadn鈥檛 been following all the excitement about the World鈥檚 Fair.
Our family doctor suggested I look for a job at Expo 67, so I did some homework and then checked the classified ads in the Montreal Gazette.
One listing sounded vague but intriguing: 鈥淲illmark Service System Inc. seeks reliable full-time staff for duration of Expo 67.鈥�
After attending a short interview and providing three references, I was offered a position.
Little did I know I鈥檇 landed one of the most coveted jobs at Expo.
Willmark was a big U.S. company that had been contracted by Expo 67 to be its official 鈥渟noop.鈥�
鈥淲illmark had over 5,000 major U.S. and Canadian retailers as clients, to check on employee trustworthiness, courtesy and efficiency. Every major U.S. auto manufacturer engages Willmark to 鈥榮hop鈥� the showrooms and report on which models the dealers are pushing hardest.
鈥淲illmark men and women also watch for gypsters and short-change artists at Disneyland concessions and patrol Playboy Clubs tempting fluffy-tailed Bunnies to break the strict rules against dating customers after hours.鈥�
鈥� Time magazine, April 1963.
So I knew Willmark was a detective agency and I was going to be a sleuth. However, my assignment didn鈥檛 involve going to car showrooms or Playboy Clubs.
It involved nothing more than going shopping, at any of the hundreds of shops and restaurants on the Expo 67 site.
Every day we gathered at the tiny Willmark office in downtown Montreal and were given $25 to $75, then headed over to the Expo site. (In today鈥檚 money that is the equivalent of $175 to $500.) We kept receipts and returned any items we鈥檇 purchased that day.
The whole idea was to simply keep our eyes peeled at the moment of transaction whenever we bought anything.
We had to look 鈥� without attracting too much attention 鈥� and watch if the salespeople put the cash in the till, and not in their pockets.
Assignments to the various national pavilion restaurants and bistros were our favourites. We often vied for who would get them. The important thing was to land a table with a view of the cash register, because we couldn鈥檛 justify spending $40 on a dinner if we couldn鈥檛 see the cash register.
Instructions were, whether at a shop or restaurant, if we did see something, we weren鈥檛 supposed to do anything, just make a note of the time, place and description of the salesperson.
We were expected to dress differently each day, so as not to be recognized.
It would be a bit suspicious to see the same person visiting Expo 67 five days a week. Some creative fashion imagination was essential so as not to stand out 鈥� we were told to look inconspicuous and 鈥渙rdinary.鈥�
Different sunglasses helped a lot, plus hats.
The hard part of my job was not discussing our work with family and friends. It was frustrating because we became experts on the best shops, restaurants and bistros 鈥� but couldn鈥檛 tell anyone. I could just wave my Season Passport with all its stamps.
In those days, credit cards were rare, so 90 per cent of all transactions in shops and restaurants were cash or traveller鈥檚 cheques. Because of the high volume of cash transactions, the temptation for a few salespeople to steal was strong, especially during something like a World鈥檚 Fair, where not only the employees, but the stores and restaurants themselves were only going to be around for six months.
Although my sleuth work didn鈥檛 involve anything more than watching out for petty theft, there were some seasoned Willmark 鈥渙peratives鈥� who had more challenging assignments.
For example, we heard of some high-end boutiques that 鈥渁rranged鈥� to be robbed, so as to claim insurance. There were also rumours about a White Slave Trade that everyone seemed to hear about but nobody knew anything about.
At that time, we thought those rumours were nonsense; however, we were careful not to go into the public washrooms alone.
I鈥檓 happy to say, during my summer as a 鈥渢eenage detective,鈥� I was lucky, and
didn鈥檛 have to report anyone. I only wish I had kept my Expo Passport.
Expo 86 in Vancouver notwithstanding, Expo 67 was considered 鈥渢he most successful World鈥檚 Fair of the 20th century,鈥� with more than 50 million visitors from all over the world visiting its 90 pavilions. Expo 67 became the iconic event of sa国际传媒鈥檚 centennial year. 鈥� Natasha van Bentum