Even at the end of its two-year run, the World's Fair in Flushing Meadow was still packing them in. Lines at Flushing Gate, 1 p.m., October 27, 1940.

Standing in line for tickets to see Cleopatra

World Series mob outside the closed gates of Yankee Stadium, where the Yanks would play the St. Louis Cardinals, October 2, 1926.

Men slept overnight at Yankee Stadium to get tickets for the first game of the World Series, October 2, 1926. The Yanks played the Cardinals and the redbirds won in seven games.

Entrepreneurs chalked signs on the walls: "Seats [for waiting on line] for sale 25 cents." "Bed for hire 50 cents."

Waiting through the night on line for tickets isn't a pastime limited to sports fans. Opera lovers do it regularly. With ticket prices out of the reach of many fans, standing room is the only way they can see live performances. Here, Rudolf Bing, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, turns humanitarian and hands out complementary coffee to the stalwarts, November 14, 1955.

Theater goers wait patiently on line to buy tickets for the Broadway musical My Fair Lady at the Mark Hellinger Theater, July 30, 1956. The show had opened in March, and was still a very hot ticket.

Waiting to buy tickets at Radio City Music Hall, 1942. Click to enlarge.

My friend Moira died last week. She was an avid opera buff and balletomane, and if she had been alive in 1945, she would have been on this line at the Met, too. This is for you, Moira.