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1939 New York World's Fair

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1939 New York City
Poster by Joseph Binder
Overview
BIE-classUniversal exposition
CategorySecond category General Exposition
NameNew York World's Fair
MottoThe World of Tomorrow
Area1,202 acres (486 hectares)
Organized byGrover Whalen
Participant(s)
Countries33
Location
CountryUnited States
CityNew York City
VenueFlushing Meadows–Corona Park
Coordinates40°44′39″N 73°50′40″W / 40.74417°N 73.84444°W / 40.74417; -73.84444
Timeline
OpeningApril 30, 1939 (1939-04-30)[1]
ClosureOctober 27, 1940 (1940-10-27)
Universal expositions
PreviousExposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris
NextExposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince in Port-au-Prince
Specialized Expositions
PreviousSecond International Aeronautic Exhibition (1938) in Helsinki
NextInternational Exhibition on Urbanism and Housing (1947) in Paris
Simultaneous
UniversalGolden Gate International Exposition
SpecializedExposition internationale de l'eau in Liège

The 1939–1940 New York World's Fair was a world's fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, behind the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated, and more than 44 million people attended over two seasons.[2] It was the first exposition to be based on the future, with an opening slogan of "Dawn of a New Day", and it allowed all visitors to take a look at "the world of tomorrow".

When World War II began four months into the 1939 World's Fair, many exhibits were affected, especially those on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. After the close of the fair in 1940, many exhibits were demolished or removed, though some buildings were retained for the 1964 New York World's Fair at the same site.

Development

[edit]

New York City had hosted the United States' first world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, in 1853–1854.[3] At the time, the site of the 1939 World's Fair, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, was a natural wetland straddling the Flushing River.[4] Flushing Meadows became the Corona Ash Dumps in the early 20th century.[5]</ref> New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses first conceived the idea of developing a large park in Flushing Meadows in the 1920s.[6]

Planning

[edit]

As early as May 1935, a group led by the municipal reformer George McAneny had considered hosting an international exposition in New York City in 1939, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of George Washington's first inauguration.[7] That September, the group announced plans to spend $40 million to host an exhibition at the 1,003-acre (406 ha) Flushing Meadows site.[8] The New York City Board of Estimate approved the use of Flushing Meadows as a fairground on September 23,[9] and Moses directed municipal draftsmen to survey the site.[10] The Flushing Meadows site had been selected because of its large size and central location.[11] Mayor Fiorello La Guardia pledged financial support for the fair that October;[12] at the time, Moses estimated that it would cost $5–7 million to prepare the fairground and build transit to the fair.[13] The New York World's Fair Corporation (WFC) was formed to oversee the exposition on October 22, 1935,[14] and the Board of Estimate allocated $200,000 the next day for preliminary work.[15] The WFC elected McAneny as its president at its first meeting in November,[16] and two contractors were hired the following month to conduct preliminary surveys.[17]

Before the end of 1935, several foreign exhibitors had expressed interest in the fair.[18] There were also plans for exhibition spaces such as a fine arts building[19] and a cosmetics show.[20] In addition, the Fine Arts Federation of the City of New York urged the WFC to implement a "unified arts scheme" for the fair,[21] and the WFC and the New York City Board of Transportation devised plans for public transit lines to the fair.[22] In January 1936, state lawmaker Herbert Brownell Jr. proposed a bill to allow the city government to formally lease the Flushing Meadows site to the WFC.[23] Moses warned that the fairground's completion could be delayed due to funding issues; by then, the fair was estimated to cost $45 million.[24][25] That February, McAneny announced that he would organize a committee to devise an architectural plan for the fairground.[26] Brownell requested funding from New York governor Herbert Lehman the same month for "basic World's Fair improvements";[27] the city and state governments were each supposed to spend $5 million on site preparations.[28]

The project remained stalled during early 1936 because of disagreements over the fair's location and financing.[28][29] There were also competing proposals to relocate the fair to Marine Park in Brooklyn.[29][30] but the New York State Legislature ultimately voted in April 1936 to allow the city to lease out Flushing Meadows.[31] The same month, Grover Whalen replaced McAneny as the WFC's president.[32] The city government also announced plans to sell $7 million in bonds, while the state pledged $4.125 million for the project.[33] J. Franklin Bell was hired to draw up preliminary plans for the fair,[34] and the WFC hired a committee of seven men[a] that May to devise a plan for the fairgrounds.[35] The New York City Board of Estimate appropriated $308,020 to begin landscaping the site the same month,[36] and city officials acquired another 372 acres (151 ha) for the fair.[37] The city finalized its lease of Flushing Meadows to the WFC in June 1936.[38]

Construction

[edit]

1936 and 1937

[edit]

Work on the World's Fair site began on June 16, 1936,[39] and a groundbreaking ceremony for the fairground took place on June 29.[40] The project primarily involved leveling the ash mounds; excavating Meadow and Willow lakes; and diverting much of the Flushing River into underground culverts.[41][42] The dirt from the lake sites was used as additional topsoil for the park.[43] The project was an around-the-clock job, with 450 workers operating on three daily shifts.[44][45] Thousands of trees were transplanted to the fair site in order to create a natural landscape. Meanwhile, thousands of 100-foot (30 m) Douglas fir timbers were driven into the ground to act as pilings for the foundations of the fair structures.[46] The pedestrian plan called for numerous wide tree-lined pathways, including a central "Cascade Mall" leading to the Trylon and Perisphere.[43]

In October 1936, Moses resigned as a WFC director, as he feared that there would be a conflict of interest with his role as New York City park commissioner.[47] The site of the "theme center" was dedicated in 1937, at which point 86% of the sites had been leased.[48]

1938 and 1939

[edit]
Souvenir booklet

The delivery of materials for the fair faced a delay in 1938 when it was temporarily halted during the New York City truckers strike.[49] Edward Bernays directed public relations of the fair in 1939, which he called "democracity".[50] Whalen saw the fair as an opportunity for corporations to present consumer products, rather than as an exercise in presenting science and the scientific way of thinking in its own right.[51] Promotion of the Fair took many forms. During the 1938 Major League Baseball season, the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and New York Yankees promoted the event by wearing patches on the left sleeve of their jerseys featuring the Trylon, Perisphere, and "1939". The same year, Howard Hughes flew a special World's Fair flight around the world to promote the fair.

Opening

[edit]
Ford pavilion
RCA Exhibit Building

On April 30, 1939, the fair had its grand opening, with 206,000 people in attendance.[52] Although many of the pavilions and other facilities were not quite ready for this opening, it was put on with pomp and great celebration.[53] Plans for the United States Navy Fleet to visit New York City for the opening of the fair following maneuvers in the Caribbean were canceled, however, due to aggressive moves being made by Japan in the South China Sea, and the fleet instead transferred to the Pacific via the Panama Canal in April.[54]

David Sarnoff, then president of RCA and a strong advocate of television, chose to introduce television to the mass public at the RCA pavilion. As a reflection of the wide range of technological innovation on parade at the fair, Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech was not only broadcast over the various radio networks but also was televised along with other parts of the opening ceremony and other events at the fair. That day, the opening ceremony and President Roosevelt's speech were seen on black and white television sets with 5 to 12-inch tubes.[55]

In order to convince skeptical visitors that the television sets were not a trick, one set was made with a transparent case so that the internal components could be seen. As part of the exhibit at the RCA pavilion, visitors could see themselves on television. There were also television demonstrations at the General Electric and Westinghouse pavilions. During this formal introduction at the fair, television sets became available for public purchase at various stores in the New York City area.[55]

  • 1939 World's Fair ephemera
  • This 1940 general admission ticket also included visits to "5 concessions" (listed on backside)
    This 1940 general admission ticket also included visits to "5 concessions" (listed on backside)
  • Ticket backside
    Ticket backside
  • Trylon and Perisphere on 1939 US stamp
    Trylon and Perisphere on 1939 US stamp

Fairground

[edit]
Map showing exhibit locations and transportation access

The fair was divided into seven geographic or thematic zones, five of which had "Focal Exhibits", as well as two Focal Exhibits housed in their own buildings.[56] Virtually every structure erected on the fairgrounds was architecturally distinguished, and many of them were experimental in many ways. Architects were encouraged by their corporate or government sponsors to be creative, energetic and innovative. Novel building designs, materials and furnishings were the norm. Many of the zones were arranged in a semicircular pattern, centered on the Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz-designed Theme Center, which consisted of two all-white, landmark monumental buildings named the Trylon (over 700 feet (210 m) tall) and the Perisphere which one entered by a moving stairway and exited via a grand curved walkway named the "Helicline". Inside the Perisphere was a "model city of tomorrow that visitors" viewed from a moving walkway high above the floor level. The zones were distinguished by many color cues, including different wall colors and tints and differently colored lighting.

Communications and Business Systems Zone

[edit]

Fairgoers walking to the north of the Theme Center on the Avenue of Patriots would encounter the Communications and Business Systems exhibits. The focal point of this area was the Communications Building, a large structure with a pair of 160-foot-high (49 m) pylons flanking it.[57][58]

At the AT&T Pavilion the Voder, a mechanized, synthetic voice, spoke to attendees, foretelling the widespread use of electronic voices decades later.[59] The Business Systems and Insurance Building, an L-shaped structure, housed numerous companies such as Aetna, MetLife, and IBM. In particular, the IBM pavilion displayed electric typewriters and an "electric calculator" that used punched cards.[60] Sculptor Joseph Kiselewski[61] created a thirty foot high and 140 feet wide sundial which was simply called 'Time'. It was located in the Business Systems and Insurance building, Rose Court, Communications and Business Zone of the Fair.

Next door to these business exhibits, on the "Street of Wheels", was the "Masterpieces of Art" building housing 300 priceless works of the Old Masters, from the Middle Ages to 1800. Whalen and his team were able to borrow paintings and sculptures from Europe. Thirty five-galleries featured great works from DaVinci and Michelangelo to Rembrandt, from Hals to Caravaggio and Bellini.[62]

Community Interest Zone

[edit]
Souvenir tie clip owned by the late jazz musician Harry Gozzard

The Community Interest Zone was located just east of the Communications & Business Systems Zone.[63] The region's exhibits showcased several trades or industries that were popular among the public at the time. It included buildings dedicated to home furnishings, plumbing, contemporary art, cosmetics, gardens, the gas industry, fashion, jewelry, and religion. Organizations such as the American Standard Companies, Christian Science, Johns Manville, Works Progress Administration, and YMCA also had buildings in the Community Interest Zone.[64] In addition, there was also the "Electrified Farm", a working farm,[65] and the Town of Tomorrow, which included 15 "demonstration homes" on a bowling green adjacent to the World's Fair station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company.[66]

Government Zone

[edit]

The Government Zone was located at the east end of the fair, on the eastern bank of the Flushing River. It contained 21 pavilions, several smaller buildings, a centrally located Court of Peace, a Lagoon of Nations, and a smaller Court of States. The 60 foreign governments contributed a wide diversity of creatively designed pavilions housing a myriad of cultural offerings to fairgoers.[67][68]

British Pavilion

[edit]
British Pavilion

The Pavilion of Great Britain and the British Colonial Empire consisted of two buildings with a first-floor connection. The copy of Magna Carta belonging to Lincoln Cathedral also left Britain in 1939 for the first time to be in the British Pavilion at the fair.[69] Within months Britain joined World War II, and the Magna Carta copy remained in Fort Knox during the war.[70] The pavilion included a collection of stamps celebrating Rowland Hill, and the 100th anniversary of the postage stamp. One of the stamps was the British Guiana 1c magenta.[71]

French Pavilion

[edit]

The French pavilion, on the Court of Peace that was the grand open space northeast of the Theme Center, was a two-story structure whose facade featured enormous windows with "majestic curves".[72] After the fair closed and World War II ended, its French restaurant remained in New York City as Le Pavillon.[73]

Greek Pavilion

[edit]

The Greek pavilion was in the Hall of Nations and was a mirror of how the Metaxas quasi-fascist regime wanted to show Greece to the world.[74] The interior rooms were designed by Nelly, the famous Greek photographer. Nelly's collages expressed four aspects of Greece: the legacy of ancient Greece, the Christian spirituality, picturesque landscapes and the Greek racial continuity. On one of its outside walls there were four big murals featuring four historic episodes of Greek history, authored by Gerasimos Steris. After the Fair concluded, the pavilion was dismantled and parts of it were donated for the construction of the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Tarpon Springs, Florida.[75]

Italian Pavilion

[edit]
Italian Pavilion

The Italian pavilion aimed to fuse ancient Roman splendor with modern styles, and a 200-foot (61 m) high waterfall dedicated to Guglielmo Marconi defined the pavilion's facade. The pavilion occupied 100,000 square feet of space on plot GJ-1 at Presidential Row North and Continental Avenue, and cost more than $3 million.[76] Italy paid for the right to use another ten thousand feet of space in the fair's Hall of Nations.[76] There, the mosaic floor was to be graced by a high pillar upon which rested the ubiquitous She-Wolf, mother of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome. Above Nino Giordano's Capitoline She-Wolf extended the lines of a Roman triumphal arch. The long side walls, adorned with emblems of ancient and modern Rome and maps of its new colonial empire, were divided into three sections by columns with rostra rising on a plinth of black marble and accentuated by Roman stucco of a velvety-white color. These walls sheltered Romano Romanelli's bronze statue of Mussolini, which stood tall upon a black marble pedestal in the very center of the room.[77]

The pavilion's popular restaurant was designed in the shape of the nation's luxury cruise line ships.[78]

Japanese Pavilion

[edit]

The Japanese pavilion was designed by the Japanese-American architect Yasuo Matsui to resemble a traditional Shinto shrine, set within a Japanese garden. It offered tea ceremony and Japanese flower arrangement exhibits.[79] The interior had a "Diplomat room", which featured a reproduction of the Liberty Bell made out of Japanese pearls and diamonds, worth $1 million. This room also featured a photomontage mural across which was written the motto "Dedicated to Eternal Peace and Friendship between America and Japan".[80]

The interior of the pavilion was designed by the Japanese architect and photographer Iwao Yamawaki, who studied at the Bauhaus school in Germany in the early 1930s.[81]

Jewish Palestine Pavilion

[edit]
Jewish Palestine Pavilion

The Jewish Palestine Pavilion introduced the world to the concept of a modern Jewish state, which a decade later became Israel. The pavilion featured a monumental hammered copper relief sculpture on its facade titled The Scholar, The Laborer, and the Tiller of the Soil by Art Deco sculptor Maurice Ascalon.[82]

Over 2 million visitors flocked to the Jewish Palestine Pavilion, making it one of the most successful exhibits in the fair.[83] The pavilion sought to showcase the achievements of Jews and their advancement of the land.[83] Several major Israeli artists presented their work, including Isaac Frenkel Frenel, Shimshon Holzman and more.[84]

Netherlands Pavilion

[edit]
The Netherlands Garden, located in the Netherlands Pavilion exhibit

This exhibit presented a comprehensive survey of the cultural importance of the three parts of the empire: the Kingdom of Europe, the Dutch East Indies and the territories of Suriname and Curaçao in South America.[85]

Pan American Union Pavilion

[edit]

The 21 countries of the Pan-American Union, as well as several communications companies, were represented in the Pan American Union Pavilion. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua were among the cooperating countries.[86]

The Good Neighbor policy at the 1939 World's Fair was an extension of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy, which sought to redefine negative Latin American stereotypes.[87] Each country seized the opportunity to showcase their country and to make it more appealing to those around the world, especially in the United States. In their bid to increase cultural awareness at the World's Fair, the countries promoted tourism and strove to compare itself to the United States in an effort to appeal to Americans.[88]

Polish Pavilion

[edit]
Polish Pavilion

The Polish Pavilion was composed of a steel tower with gold-plated copper shields and a sandstone building plus Polish restaurant in a round building. The Second Polish Republic prepared some 200 tons of artifacts, including a royal carpet of King Casimir IV, seven paintings presenting important events of Polish history, 150 contemporary Polish paintings, a gunmetal monument of Józef Piłsudski, armor of a Polish hussar from Kórnik Castle, ancient Polish weaponry (14th–18th centuries), a bell manufactured for the purpose of the Fair, folk costumes, house furniture from different regions of the country, and over 200 examples of Polish inventions like the first Polish streamlined steam locomotive Pm36-1 dated 1937 reaching 87 mph (140 km/h).[89] Color film about Poland called Visit Poland! (1938) made in newly invented Kodak Kodachrome process was shown in the pavilion. The title of the film has been changed to The Land of My Mother and sound was added with commentary by Ève Curie during World War II.[90]

Swedish Pavilion

[edit]
Swedish Pavilion
USSR Pavilion at night

The Swedish pavilion "Swedish Modern – A movement towards sanity in design" was designed by Sven Markelius and highlighted the progress of democracy and welfare in Sweden. The pavilion buildings were grouped around a central garden and included a restaurant and a cinema, as well as a 9-foot-tall Dalecarlian horse.[91]

USSR Pavilion

[edit]

The USSR (Soviet) Pavilion was a semicircular structure with two wings partially enclosing a courtyard.[92] Exhibitions included the life-size copy of the interior of the showcase Mayakovskaya station of the Moscow Metro, whose designer Alexey Dushkin was awarded Grand Prize of the 1939 World's Fair.[93] The USSR Pavilion's courtyard contained a statue on a pylon, which was 260 feet (79 m) tall.[94][95] The pavilion was only open for 1939 and was razed at the end of that year.[96]

United States (Federal) Building

[edit]

The United States Federal Building's main building was set between two 150-foot (46 m) pylons. The Federal Building and several surrounding structures contained a combined 23 exhibits, dedicated to 22 states and Puerto Rico.[97]

Midway through the fair, the world's largest carillon was installed in the spire of the Florida state exhibition building. The instrument was constructed by J. C. Deagan, Inc; it consisted of 75 tubular bells and weighed 25 tons. The instrument was donated by the Florida's Stephen Foster Memorial Association. After the fair, the carillon was moved to White Springs, Florida, in the campanile of the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center on the banks of the Swanee River.[98] The installation, which added more bells, did not complete until 1957.[99]

Food Zone

[edit]

Southwest of the Government Zone was the Food Zone, composed of 13 buildings in total (excluding the Turkey and Sweden exhibits, which were physically located within the Food Zone but considered part of the Government Zone). Its Focal Exhibit was Food No. 3, a rhomboidal structure with four shafts representing wheat stalks.[100][101]

Among the many unique exhibits was the Borden's exhibit, that featured 150 pedigreed cows (including the original Elsie) on a Rotolactor that allowed bathing them, drying them, and milking them in a highly mechanized way. While no such complete system ever became common in milk production, many of its features came into everyday use in today's rotary milking parlors.[102] Next door was the Continental Baking building, presenting a vast, continuous process of baking breads and other products, and was fashioned in the shape of a huge packaged bread loaf.[103]

Production and Distribution Zone

[edit]

The Production and Distribution Zone was dedicated to showcasing industries that specialized in manufacturing and distribution.[104][105] The focal exhibit was the Consumers Building, a L-shaped structure occupying a triangular plot on the Avenue of Pioneers, illustrated with murals by Francis Scott Bradford.[106] Numerous individual companies hosted exhibitions in this region. There were also pavilions dedicated to a generic industry, such as electrical products, industrial science, pharmaceuticals, metals, and men's apparel.[107]

Transportation Zone

[edit]
Views of the "World of Tomorrow" (video)
The PRR S1 on display at the fair. This engine ran continuously at 60 mph (97 km/h) on a dynamometer while the fair was open.

The Transportation Zone was located west of the Theme Center, across the Grand Central Parkway.[108] Perhaps the most popular of the Transportation Zone pavilions was the one built for General Motors (GM), which contained the 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) Futurama exhibit, designed by famed industrial designer and theater set designer Norman Bel Geddes, which transported fair visitors over a huge diorama of a fictional section of the United States with miniature figures. Along the way, visitors would encounter increasingly larger figures until they exited into a representation of a life-size city intersection.[109] Stores in the GM Pavilion included an auto dealership and an appliance store where visitors could see the latest GM and Frigidaire products.[110]

Adjacent to the GM Pavilion was the Ford Pavilion, where race car drivers drove on a figure eight track on the building's roof endlessly, day in and day out.[111] Not far from GM and Ford was the focal exhibit of the Transportation Zone, a Chrysler exhibit group. In the focal exhibit, an audience could watch a Plymouth being assembled in an early 3D film in a theater with air conditioning, then a new technology.[112] Other structures included an aviation and marine transport building, as well as exhibits for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and Goodrich Corporation.[113]

Another large building was the Eastern Railroads Presidents' Conference, dedicated to rail transport.[114] The centerpiece of the Railroad Conference exhibits (on seventeen acres) was Railroads on Parade, a spectacular live drama re-enacting the birth and growth of railroads. It had music by Kurt Weil and choreography by Bill Matons.[115] In addition to the show, there were important historical objects on display by the various railroads and manufacturing companies, such as the Tom Thumb engine. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had its S1 engine on display, mounted on rollers under the driver wheels and running continuously at 60 mph (97 km/h) all day long. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad had its own 4-6-0, #169, on display. The British London Midland & Scottish Railway sent their Coronation Scot express train with a locomotive LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton, (disguised as sister locomotive 6220 Coronation), to the fair.[116][117] GM's Electro-Motive Division had a display of their then new streamlined diesel-electric passenger locomotives. The Italian state railways displayed one of their record-setting ETR 200 electric multiple unit train reaching 126 mph (203 km/h).

Amusement Area

[edit]
Life Savers Parachute Jump

Beyond the corporate and government zones, the wildly popular but less uplifting Amusements Area was not integrated into the thematic matrix, and was classified as an Area rather than a Zone. It was located south of the World's Fair Boulevard, along 230 acres (93 ha) on the east shore of Fountain Lake.[118] Despite the high-minded educational tone that Grover Whalen attempted to set, the Amusements Area was the most popular part of the Fair. The attractions included a roller coaster,[119] a Flying Turns-style bobsled,[120] a Life Savers-branded parachute tower called the Parachute Jump[119][121] (later moved to Coney Island, where it is standing but not operating[122]), the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Gimbels Flyer train ride,[123] (later purchased by Kennywood, where it still runs today),[124] and carnival acts such as a "Little Miracle Town" with dwarves.[125] Other attractions included a "winter wonderland" called Sun Valley, a Theatre of Time and Space,[126] and a replica of Victoria Falls.[127]

Frank Buck exhibited his "Frank Buck's Jungleland", which displayed rare birds, reptiles and wild animals along with Jiggs, a five-year-old trained orangutan.[119] In addition, Buck provided a trio of performing elephants, an 80-foot (24 m) "monkey mountain" with 600 monkeys, and an attraction that had been popular at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: camel rides.[128] A number of the shows provided spectators with the opportunity of viewing women in very revealing costumes or topless, such as the "Frozen Alive Girl", the Living Pictures, and the Dream of Venus building. This last attraction was a pavilion designed by the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí which contained within it a number of unusual sculptures and statues as well as live nearly-nude performers posing as statues.[129][130] For the 1940 season, the area was rebranded as "The Great White Way".[131]

Bendix Lama Temple and nude show

[edit]

The Bendix Lama Temple[132] was a 28,000-piece full-sized replica of the 1767 Potala temple in Rehe, Manchuria. It was commissioned and brought back by the industrialist and explorer Vincent Bendix.[133][134][135] The Temple had previously been exhibited at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, called "Century of Progress".[136] Attendance was disappointing in 1939. As a result, in 1940, a provocative show was added to the temple,[137] which involved multiple nude women.[138][139]

Aquacade

[edit]
Audience members viewing The Billy Rose Aquacade at the 1939–40 World's Fair

Billy Rose's Aquacade was a spectacular musical and water extravaganza foreshadowing the form of many popular Hollywood musicals in the ensuing years. The show was presented in a special amphitheater seating 10,000 people and included an orchestra to accompany the spectacular synchronized swimming performance. It featured Johnny Weissmuller and Eleanor Holm, two of the most celebrated swimmers of the era, and dazzled fairgoers with its lighting and cascades and curtains of water, pumped in waterfalls at 8,000 gallons a minute. The cost of admission was 80 cents.[140] The Aquacade facility served as an entertainment venue in the park for several decades; following a period of extended deterioration,[141] it was ultimately demolished in 1996.[142]

Temple of Religion

[edit]

William Church Osborn led an effort to construct a Temple of Religion, a modern building for the purpose of religious assemblies and production of plays, pageants, and concerts. The building included a 150-ft tower filled with stained glass windows.[143] Olin Downes was the general director of the World's Fair music department, and he selected Hugh Ross (director of the Schola Cantorum) to organize the vast series of recitals and concerts that were planned. John W. Hausermann funded the new Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ that was installed in the building.[144]

Standalone focal exhibits

[edit]

There were two focal exhibits that were not located within any of the 1939 Fair's "zones". The first was Medical and Public Health Building, which was located on Constitution Mall and the Avenue of Patriots (immediately northeast of the Theme Center). This structure contained a massive "Hall of Man" dedicated to the human body, and a "Hall of Medical Science" dedicated to medical professions and devices.[145]

The other was the Science and Education Building, located on a curved portion of Hamilton Place between the Avenue of Patriots and Washington Square, just north of the Medical and Public Health Building. The building was not used to teach science, but it contained an auditorium and several exhibits on science and education.[146]

Transportation to the fair

[edit]
The Willets Point station on the Flushing Line
The Willets Point station on the Flushing Line was rebuilt for the fair.[147]

A special subway line, the Independent Subway System's (IND) World's Fair Line, was built to serve the fair.[148][149] The World's Fair Line, a spur of the IND Queens Boulevard Line,[150] was dismantled after the fair ended.[151] The Willets Point station on the Flushing Line was rebuilt to handle fair traffic on the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) and Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) systems.[152][147] A special fleet of 50 World's Fair Lo-V subway cars were built,[153] and the existing Q-type Queens subway cars were rebuilt to provide additional service on the Flushing Line.[154] A Long Island Rail Road station (now Mets–Willets Point) was built next to the Flushing Line station.[152]

Several highways were planned in advance of the World's Fair. For example, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge and Whitestone Expressway were opened just before the fair, connecting Flushing Meadows to the Bronx.[155] Grand Central Parkway was also extended to serve the fairground,[156] and Queens Boulevard was widened and paved.[157] The construction of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel was also expedited for the fair,[158] though the tunnel did not open until 1940.[159]

Culture

[edit]

Themes

[edit]

The colors blue and orange were chosen as the official colors of the fair, as they were the colors of New York City, and featured prominently.[160] Each day at the fair was a special theme day, for which a special button was issued.[161] Another theme of the fair was the emerging new middle class, leading a hoped-for recovery from the Great Depression. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation produced the film The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair, which depicted a fictional Midwestern family, the Middleton family, taking in the sights of the fair.[162]

Music and art

[edit]

Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his work for harp and string orchestra Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus on commission from the World's Fair. The first performance was at Carnegie Hall in June 1939, conducted by Adrian Boult.[163] In addition, the British Council commissioned a piano concerto from Arthur Bliss for the British Week at the World's Fair. Adrian Boult conducted the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall on June 10, 1939, with Solomon as the soloist.[164]

WPA artists painted murals for the fair, which appeared in The New York Times Magazine.[165]

Ceramic sculptor Waylande Gregory created The Fountain of the Atom, which displayed the largest ceramic sculptures in modern times.[166] It included the four Elements, each measuring 72 inches (180 cm) high and each weighing over a ton. There were also eight electrons, which were illustrated in Life Magazine (March 1939). Gregory also created two exhibitions featuring his ceramic sculptures for the General Motors Building, American Imports and American Exports.

Consumer products

[edit]

Nylon fabric, the View-Master, and Scentovision (an early version of Smell-O-Vision) were introduced at the Fair. Other exhibits included Vermeer's painting The Milkmaid from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam,[167] a streamlined pencil sharpener, a diner (still in operation as the White Mana in Jersey City, New Jersey), a futuristic car-based city by General Motors, the first fully constructed computer game, and early televisions.[168] There was also a huge globe/planetarium located near the center of the fair. Bell Labs' Voder, a keyboard-operated speech synthesizer, was demonstrated at the Fair.

Special events

[edit]

The fair coincided with the 1st World Science Fiction Convention,[169][170] which took place at the Caravan Hall in Manhattan on July 2–4, 1939.[171]

On July 3, 1940, the fair hosted "Superman Day".[172][173] The event included an athletic contest with a "Super-Boy and Super-Girl of the Day", as well as a public appearance by an actor portraying Superman.[173] Broadway actor Ray Middleton, who served as a judge for the contest, is often credited with having appeared in the Superman costume on Superman Day, but this is disputed.[174]

Other exhibits

[edit]

One of the first exhibits to receive attention was the Westinghouse Time Capsule, which was not to be opened till the year 6939.[175] The time capsule, a tube containing various contemporary objects, is located at a depth of 50 feet (15 m) and is marked by a small stone plaque.[176] Westinghouse also featured Elektro the Moto-Man, a robot that talked, differentiated colors, and even "smoked" cigarettes.[177]

Closure and current status

[edit]
World's Fair exhibit Duchess of Hamilton, now preserved in York, England

The fair was open for two seasons, from April to October each year, and was officially closed permanently on October 27, 1940.[178] To get the fair's budget overruns under control before the 1940 season and to augment gate revenues, Whalen was replaced by banker Harvey Gibson. In addition, much greater emphasis was placed on the amusement features and less on the educational and uplifting exhibits. The great fair attracted over 45 million visitors[179] and ultimately recouped only 32% of its original cost.[180][181]

World War II

[edit]

Although the United States did not enter World War II until the end of 1941, the fairgrounds served as a window into the troubles overseas. The pavilions of Poland and Czechoslovakia, for example, did not reopen for the 1940 season. Also on July 4 that same year, two New York City Police Department officers were killed by a blast while investigating a time bomb left at the British Pavilion.[182] The bombing has never been solved, but there is evidence that bombing was an inside job by William Stephenson, a British agent based in New York.[183]

Countries under the thumb of the Axis powers in Europe in 1940 like Poland, Czechoslovakia, and France ran their pavilions with a special nationalistic pride. The only major world power that did not participate for the 1939 season was Germany, citing budget pressures. The USSR Pavilion was dismantled after the first season, leaving an empty lot called "The American Commons". When the fair closed, many among the European staff were unable to return to their home countries, so they remained in the US and in some cases exercised a tremendous influence on American culture.[184][185] For example, the French pavilion gave rise to three French restaurants—La Caravelle, Le Pavillon, and La Côte Basque.[186]

World War II presented additional problems with what to do with the exhibits on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. In the case of the Polish Pavilion, most of the items were sold by the Polish Government in exile in London to the Polish Museum of America and shipped to Chicago. A notable exception was made for a monument of the Polish–Lithuanian King Jagiełło. La Guardia liked the Jagiello monument so much that he helped spearhead a campaign to have it installed in Central Park, where it still stands.[187]

Relocated attractions

[edit]

Many of the rides from the World's Fair were sold after its closure to Luna Park at Coney Island, which was allowed to call itself the New York World's Fair of 1941.[188] The Life Savers Parachute Jump was sold that same year and relocated to Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, where it was renamed the Parachute Jump.[122]

Belgium Pavilion

Another building saved from 1940 was the Belgian Building designed by Henry Van de Velde. It was awarded to Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia, and shipped to Richmond in 1941. The school still uses the building for its home basketball games.[189]

After the Fair, the Temple was again disassembled, and placed in storage for many years. There were proposals to erect it at Oberlin College, Harvard University, Indiana University, and elsewhere, but they all failed for lack of funding. In 1984, the approximately 28,000 pieces were shipped to the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, Sweden, with plans to rebuild it in a nearby park, but objections from the neighboring Chinese Embassy have stalled the project indefinitely.[134][135][190]

Park site

[edit]

The New York City Building of the 1939 fair were used for the first temporary headquarters of the United Nations from 1946 until it moved in 1951 to its permanent headquarters in Manhattan.[191] The former New York City Building was used for the UN General Assembly during that time.[192] This building was later refurbished for the 1964 fair as the New York City Pavilion,[193] featuring the Panorama of the City of New York, an enormous scale model of the entire city.[194] It became the home of the Queens Center for Art and Culture (later renamed the Queens Museum of Art, and now called the Queens Museum) in 1972.[195]

One other structure from the 1939–40 Fair remains in its original location: the New York City Subway's Mets–Willets Point station, which continued to serve Flushing Meadows Park after the fair.[196] It was also renovated the 1964–65 Fair.[197]

Impact

[edit]

Economic and regional influence

[edit]

The fair's development helped spur real estate development in central Queens. This prompted city officials to request in early 1936 that the neighborhoods around Flushing Meadows be rezoned as residential areas.[198]

Media and archives

[edit]

An archive of documents and films from the 1939 New York World's Fair is maintained at the New York Public Library.[199] The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., described the 1939 fair in its exhibition Designing Tomorrow: America's World's Fairs of the 1930s, which ran from October 2010 to September 2011.[200]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The committee was composed of Stephen F. Voorhees, Gilmore D. Clarke, William Delano, Jay N. Downer, Robert D. Kohn, and Walter Dorwin Teague.[35]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ "1939 New York World's Fair". www.1939nyworldsfair.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, p. 58, Random House, New York, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  3. ^ "First World's Fair Opened at London; Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 Was a Notable Financial Success". The New York Times. September 23, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  4. ^ "Appendix: The History of Flushing Meadows Corona Park" (PDF). New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. p. 52. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Steinberg 2015, pp. 212.
  6. ^ Caro 1974, p. 1083.
  7. ^ "Huge World's Fair Planned for 1939 On Site at Flushing: McAneny Heads Group to Map 40-Million Celebration of First Inaugural of Washington 1,000-Acre Park Tract Is Proposed Roosevelt, Lehman and LaGuardia Approve It". New York Herald Tribune. September 23, 1935. p. 1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1329290149.
  8. ^ "New York Plans 'Greatest' Fair in '39 and '40: Committee of Notables Formed; Site Picked". Chicago Tribune. September 23, 1935. p. 15. ISSN 1085-6706. ProQuest 181674779; "Great World Fair for City in 1939 on Site in Queens; Cost to Be $40,000,000". The New York Times. September 23, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024; "World's Fair on Flushing Bay Planned for 1939". Times Union. September 23, 1935. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "City Grants Use Of Flushing Site For World Fair: Estimate Board Speedily Backs Move to Bring 40 Million Project Here". New York Herald Tribune. September 24, 1935. p. 20. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1330222757; "City's Fair Assured of Widespread Aid; Business is Elated; Board of Estimate Votes Full Backing for 1939 Project – Financial Help Likely". The New York Times. September 24, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Surveying is Begun at World Fair Site; Moses Details Staff to the 1,003-Acre Tract in Queens – May Start Swamp Job". The New York Times. September 25, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  11. ^ "Site in Flushing Definitely Picked for Exposition". Times Union. March 5, 1936. p. 9. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  12. ^ "Mayor Fledges City's Cash Aid To World's Fair: Wants 1939 Exposition to Stress Re-establishment of Port's Foreign Trade". New York Herald Tribune. October 4, 1935. p. 44. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1223259322; "Mayor to Mobilize All City for Fair; Says He Will Call on Every Business, Art and Scientific Centre for Aid in 1939. URGES CAMPAIGNS ABROAD Missions to South American Cities Suggested to Revive Trade Through Exposition". The New York Times. October 4, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  13. ^ "$7,000,000 Set As Initial Cost Of World's Fair: That Sum Needed to Put Flushing Site in Shape, Moses Writes McAneny". New York Herald Tribune. October 2, 1935. p. 21. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1222258878; "Moses Asks an Early Decision On Site of the 1939 World Fair; If Flushing Area Is to Be Used, He Wants to Coordinate Park and Triborough Bridge Work – Estimates $5,000,000 Will Be Needed for Land and Improvements". The New York Times. October 2, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "World's Fair Sponsors File To Incorporate: Six Directors Designated, but Board Will Later Be Increased to Twenty-one 109 City Leaders Sign Financial Plans Are To Be Adopted at Early Meeting". New York Herald Tribune. October 23, 1935. p. 13. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1243474284; "1939 World's Fair Now a Legal Fact; Court Approves Incorporation Papers With Names of 109 Prominent New Yorkers". The New York Times. October 23, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  15. ^ "City Officially Approves Fair Site in Flushing: Aels to Acquire Additional Land to House Exhibits". New York Herald Tribune. October 24, 1935. p. 13. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1243760816; "City Votes $200,000 for Early Fair Work: Estimate Board Authorizes the Preparation of Maps of the Flushing Site". The New York Times. October 24, 1935. p. 39. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 101327772.
  16. ^ "World Fair Corporation Elects M'Aneny as Head: Woll's Nominee Is Chosen Unanimously by Directors". New York Herald Tribune. November 21, 1935. p. 23. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1222035615; "M'Aneny Elected World's Fair Head; Directors, at First Meeting, Also Make H. D. Gibson Finance Chairman". The New York Times. November 21, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Contract Is Let For Survey of World Fair Site: Madigan & Hyland, Under Fire at Relief Inquiry, Gets $90,000 City Job Action Starts Board Clash Mayor, Lyons and Harvey in Warm Argument". New York Herald Tribune. December 7, 1935. p. 12. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1330116412; "Mayor in Flare-up Over World's Fair; Misunderstands a Remark and Threatens to Call It All Off – And Then Cools Down". The New York Times. December 7, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Fair Stirs Wide Interest; Foreign Groups Make Inquiries for Exhibition Space". The New York Times. November 12, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  19. ^ "World Fair to Aid Arts; 'A Lasting Display of American Architecture' Is Planned". The New York Times. November 19, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  20. ^ "May Have Cosmetics Show At World's Fair". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 51, no. 106. November 27, 1935. p. 27. ProQuest 1654160299.
  21. ^ "Unified Art Scheme Urged in World's Fair; New York Societies Ask That Finest Talent Be Selected to Develop General Layout". The New York Times. December 1, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "Transit Plans Laid for the World's Fair; Bus, Surface Car, Subway, Train and Water Facilities Are to Be Provided". The New York Times. January 9, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Brownell Offers a Bill For World Fair in City: Albany Measure Provides Leasing of Park Lamb in 1939". New York Herald Tribune. January 3, 1936. p. 4. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1330118482; "Bill for World's Fair Offered in Assembly; Measure Allows Leasing of Park Lands and Control of Tourist Camps Near Flushing". The New York Times. January 3, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "World's Fair Not His Affair Moses Asserts: Says Park. Department Is Responsible Only for the Basic Improvements Galls Plan Unimpressive McAneny Sees Flushing Exposition in '39 a Success They Sound a Discordant Note in W. P. A. Theater Project". New York Herald Tribune. January 25, 1936. p. 14. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1267757042.
  25. ^ "Moses Attacks Delay in Fund for Fair Land". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 25, 1936. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2024; "Moses Again Warns of World Fair Delay; Wants to Know Whether He Shall Prepare Flushing Site for Exposition or a Park". The New York Times. January 25, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  26. ^ "McAneny Tells Women Of World's Fair Art Plans". New York Herald Tribune. February 9, 1936. p. 6A. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1221765583; "Architectural Unity is Stressed for Fair; McAneny Reveals Committee to Coordinate Beauty – Highways to Have Special Lights". The New York Times. February 9, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  27. ^ "Aid of Lehman In World's Fair Project Sought: Asked to Send Delegate to Conference on Plans for Financing '39 Exposition Backers Would Start Job Brownell Letter Cites Need of Funds for Improvements". New York Herald Tribune. February 20, 1936. p. 11. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1237405606; "Appeal to Lehman on Funds for Fair; Brownell, Ives and Moffat Join in Suggesting That He Call a Conference". The New York Times. February 20, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  28. ^ a b "'39 World's Fair Halted as Board Awaits Grants: No Money, No Action, Say Directors, in Effect, Deploring Official Delays". New York Herald Tribune. March 24, 1936. p. 17. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1222069230; "New York Fair Board Awaits Public Funds". The Christian Science Monitor. March 24, 1936. p. 3. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 513970700; "Fair Plans Halted by Delay in Grants: Directors of Project Vote to Hold No More Sessions Till State and City Act". The New York Times. March 24, 1936. p. 25. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 101915501. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Political Buck Passing, Lack of Authority Delay N. Y. World Fair". The Billboard. Vol. 48, no. 14. April 4, 1936. pp. 3, 63. ProQuest 1032089018.
  30. ^ "Marine Park is Urged as Ideal Location for Proposed World's Fair". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 29, 1936. pp. 49, 50. Retrieved July 25, 2024; "World Fair Site in Boro is Urged in Albany Debate". Times Union. March 25, 1936. p. 11. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  31. ^ Harrington, John W. (April 5, 1936). "World Fair Plans Pushed at Albany; Legislature Authorizes Lease of Flushing Meadows Park and Weighs State Aid". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  32. ^ "Whalen Appointed Chairman of N.Y. World Fair Group". The Christian Science Monitor. April 23, 1936. p. 3. ISSN 0882-7729. ProQuest 514123340; "Whalen at Helm of World's Fair; Elected Chairman of Board – Number of Directors Is Increased From 21 to 35". The New York Times. April 23, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  33. ^ "City Asks Right to Sell World's Fair Bonds". The Wall Street Journal. April 28, 1936. p. 11. ISSN 0099-9660. ProQuest 128892929; "$7,000,000 Is Voted by City for Fair; Action Is Based on Assumption State Will Give $4,125,000 Toward Project". The New York Times. April 28, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024; "$7,000,000 Voted by City for Fair". Times Union. April 28, 1936. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  34. ^ "'39 World Fair Begins to Take Shape on Paper: Col. J. F. Bell Draws Up Preliminary Suggestions on Buildings and Layout". New York Herald Tribune. May 3, 1936. p. J1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1352660273.
  35. ^ a b "7 Are Chosen As Designers Of World Fair: Voorhees, Clarke, Delano, Downer, Teagne, Shreve and Kohn Become Board". New York Herald Tribune. May 22, 1936. p. 21. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1237468680; "Board of Design is Named for Fair; S.F. Voorhees Chosen Chairman of Group of 7 Experts to Map and Direct Construction". The New York Times. May 22, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  36. ^ "$308,020 Voted To Begin Work On World's Fair: Estimate Board Assures '39 Opening With Fund Toward Preparing Site". New York Herald Tribune. May 2, 1936. p. 10. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1257818931; "World's Fair Funds Voted by Board; $308,020 Appropriated to Begin Work – Moses's Plans to Fill Swamp Land Approved". The New York Times. May 2, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024; "City and Whalen Join Hands to Speed World Fair Project". Times Union. May 2, 1936. p. 15. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  37. ^ "Condemnation Of World's Fair Land Is Begun: Lockwood Authorization for City Action on 372 Acres Sets Record for Speed". New York Herald Tribune. May 15, 1936. p. 15. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1222071615; "Lets New York Condemn Land For World's Fair". The Sun. May 15, 1936. p. 8. ProQuest 540703601.
  38. ^ "Commission Votes World Fair Lease; Sinking Fund Group Approves Transfer of Flushing Land to New Corporation". The New York Times. June 18, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
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Sources

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Further reading

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  • James Mauro (2010). Twilight At The World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World's Fair on the Brink of War. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-51214-7.
  • World's Fairs on the Eve of War: Science, Technology, and Modernity, 1937–1942 by Robert H. Kargon and others, 2015, University of Pittsburgh Press
  • Wright, Christopher C. (1986). "The U.S. Fleet at the New York World's Fair, 1939: Some Photographs from the Collection of the Late William H. Davis". Warship International. XXIII (3): 273–285. ISSN 0043-0374.
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