1939 New York World's Fair

1939 New York World's Fair
Joseph Binder · Public domain · source
Name	1939 New York World's Fair
Caption	The iconic Trylon and Perisphere structures.
Motto	"Building the World of Tomorrow"
Building	Flushing Meadows–Corona Park
Area	1,216 acres
Visitors	44,932,978
Opened	April 30, 1939
Closed	October 27, 1940
Preceded	Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne
Succeeded	Expo '58

1939 New York World's Fair was a major international exposition held in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York City. Opening on April 30, 1939, the fair was themed "Building the World of Tomorrow" and aimed to lift public spirits during the lingering Great Depression by showcasing a utopian vision of the future driven by American industry and technology. Its most iconic symbols were the monumental Trylon and Perisphere structures, and it attracted nearly 45 million visitors over its two-season run, despite the ominous backdrop of escalating global tensions that would lead to World War II.

Background and planning

The concept for the fair was championed by a group of prominent New York City businessmen, including former police commissioner Grover Whalen, who became its president. The site selected was the former Corona Ash Dumps, a vast wasteland immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as the "valley of ashes," which was transformed under the direction of Robert Moses, the powerful head of the New York City Parks Department. The fair corporation was formed in 1935, with key architectural planning led by Wallace Harrison and André Fouilhoux, who oversaw the master plan and the design of the central thematic exhibits. The opening ceremony was a major media event, featuring a speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that was broadcast on the new medium of television by NBC.

Exhibits and pavilions

The fairgrounds were divided into several thematic zones, featuring pavilions from over 60 nations, 33 U.S. states, and countless corporations. International participants included the Soviet Union, whose pavilion was crowned by a massive statue of a worker holding a red star, and Nazi Germany, which displayed exhibits promoting the Third Reich before the outbreak of World War II forced its closure. Major corporate exhibitors like General Motors, Westinghouse, AT&T, and DuPont dominated the landscape, using their pavilions for large-scale advertising and public relations. Other notable structures included the Ford Motor Company's "Road of Tomorrow," the AT&T building featuring Bell Telephone's Voder speech synthesizer, and the Futurama exhibit.

Futurama and technological displays

The most celebrated exhibit was General Motors' Futurama, designed by theatrical and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. This immersive diorama presented a vision of the United States in 1960, complete with sprawling superhighways, automated farms, and vast skyscraper cities, profoundly influencing public expectations for automobile-centric urban planning. Other significant technological displays included Westinghouse's Electro the Moto-Man, a seven-foot tall robot that could talk and smoke cigarettes, and the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting by inventor Edwin Armstrong. The fair also showcased early forms of color television by CBS and the time capsule buried by the Westinghouse company, intended for retrieval in the year 6939.

Cultural impact and legacy

The fair had a profound influence on mid-century American design, architecture, and popular culture. Its streamlined, Art Deco-inspired aesthetic, often referred to as "Streamline Moderne," permeated consumer products, graphic arts, and World's fair architecture. The fair was a frequent subject in contemporary media, featured in films like *The Wizard of Oz* and later referenced in works by artists such as Andy Warhol. It introduced millions of Americans to concepts like suburbia, consumerism, and the promise of technological abundance, shaping the national mindset in the post-war era. The fair's original site later became the permanent home of the New York Hall of Science and the Queens Museum, which houses the famed Panorama of the City of New York.

Closure and aftermath

The fair's second season in 1940 was rebranded with a more subdued theme, "For Peace and Freedom," as war raged in Europe following the Invasion of Poland. Attendance declined, and the fair closed permanently on October 27, 1940, having failed to turn a financial profit. Most of the temporary structures were quickly demolished or salvaged for materials in the wartime scrap metal drives, though a few, like the Queens Museum building (originally the New York City Pavilion), survived. The unfulfilled utopian visions of the fair were starkly contrasted by the subsequent global conflict, but its physical legacy endured through the creation of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, which later hosted the 1964 New York World's Fair and remains a major recreational space.

Category:World's fairs in the United States Category:1939 in New York City Category:1939 establishments in New York (state)