1939 World’s Fair: 80 years since a ‘world of tomorrow’
The New York World's Fair opened on April 30, 1939 in Flushing, New York. President Franklin D. Roosevelt kicked off the fair with an address from the rostrum of the Federal Building. The fair closed toward the end of the year in 1940.
In recognition of the 80th anniversary of this historic event, below is a selection of archive photos.
Crowds stream into the World's Fair in Flushing Meadow Park, in the Queens borough of New York, April 30, 1939. (AP Photo)
The following excerpts are from an AP story released on Sunday, April 23, 1989, in advance of the 50th anniversary:
By Jerry Schwartz
EDITOR’S NOTE: The world was on the brink of a second major war that April half a century ago when merchants of the future put on display their conceptions of a marvelous tomorrow. Visitors to the 1939 New York World’s Fair “were dazzled by what the future could be” one fairgoer recalls. But in some ways modern civilization didn’t pan out the way they envisioned that it would.
In many a dresser drawer across the country, amid the faded snapshots and other keepsakes, there rests a plastic pickle, a souvenir of a splendiferous tomorrow that came and went.
50 years ago, in the interlude between the Great Depression and World War II, the pickle‘s owner had gone to Flushing, Queens to discover a sleek and glittering future had set up camp on 1,216 acres of reclaimed ash heap.
The visitor to the 1939 New York World’s Fair came away with visions of televisions and superhighways, of nylon stockings and automatic milking machines, of man-made lightning and aerated bread_all this and a pickle pin, one of 6 million such souvenirs distributed at the HJ Heinz pavilion.
They saw wonders like the Walker-Gordon Rotolactor, a revolving platform on which five cows were showered, dried with sterile towels and mechanically milked. They watched the seven-foot-tall Westinghouse robot, Electro, and his “moto-dog, “Sparko.” They toured 200 buildings_each of them spectacular_175 sculptures and 105 murals.
Jamming every inch of space in the huge Hall of Electrical Living at the Westinghouse Building at the World’s Fair in New York on May 8, 1939, crowds stand 6 deep on the sidewalk outside the glass-enclosed structure to watch Elektro, the Westinghouse Moto-Man, perform his 26 mechanical tricks, including, walking, talking, smoking a cigarette and counting. (AP Photo)
Others found fault with the fair’s crowd-pleasing amusement zone, which featured a Parachute Jump and Billy Rose’s Aquacade as well as more tawdry diversions like sideshows and bare-breasted women_offered, of course as educational exhibits on the lifestyles of Amazons.
The symbols of the fair were two abstract shapes, at once classical and modernistic_the Trylon, a 610-foot spike, and the globular Perisphere, a theater twice the size of Radio City Music Hall which was home to Democracity, a multimedia depiction of the city of the future.
Swimmers in Billy Roses “Aquacade” at the Marine Amphitheater at the New York World's Fair on June 10, 1939. (AP Photo)
A crew of men is shown fitting pilings for the new bridge being built across a Flushing, New York creek on Dec. 16, 1936 in preparation for the World’s Fair on the site in 1939. Three eight-hour shifts are in effect for fair site workers as officials push work on grading, filling in of land and construction of fair buildings. (AP Photo)
This is an aerial view of the 1939 New York World's Fair site during construction in Flushing Meadows, Queens on May 17, 1938. (AP Photo)
With the opening of New York’s World’s Fair only four months away, workmen were busy, scaling the scaffolding from the 700 foot Trylon Tower, and the 200 foot Perisphere in Flushing, New York on Dec. 27, 1938, the theme-center of the fair where the “World Of Tomorrow” will be portrayed. The fair will be open on April 30, 1939. (AP Photo)
Rosalie Fairbanks, a guide to the New York World's Fair, points to the theme of the exposition - the Trylon and Perisphere - in New York on Feb. 22, 1939. The entire sheath of scaffolding was removed for the first time. Many of the buildings which will comprise the fair are completed and many more well into construction. (AP Photo)
Here are two guards at the British Building supervising the installation of a copy of the famed Magna Carta as one of the exhibits at the world’s fair in New York on April 29, 1939. The fair was set to open on April 30. (AP Photo)
Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia can be seen at the ribbon cutting ceremony near the subway stop at the entrance for the World's Fair, April 30, 1939. (AP Photo)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, left, and his party arrive at the New York World's Fairgrounds, April 30, 1939. With the president are: Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Edward J. Flynn, United States Commissioner to the World's Fair. (AP Photo)
Flanked by Boy Scouts, President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened New York's $160,000,000 World's Fair, April 30, 1939 with an address in which he said America has "hitched her wagon to a star of good will." He emphasized the United States' desire for placid living among the countries of the world and expressed hope that the future would see a breakdown of "many barriers of intercourse" among European nations. The president spoke from the rostrum of the Federal Building, in the Court of Peace. (AP Photo/John Lindsay)
A view of part of the 35,000 guests of honor who listened to the opening speeches in the Court of Peace at the New York World’s Fair, on April 30, 1939. (AP Photo)
Japanese government's exhibition building at the New York's World Fair in Flushing, New York on April 29, 1939. (AP Photo/Murray L. Becker)
General view of the Russian pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, one of the last exhibits to be completed for opening of the exposition on April 30, 1939. A theater and a restaurant are incorporated in the semi-circular structure, and the exhibits and activities are designed to show Russia’s peoples. (AP Photo)
Flags of five invaded nations will wave this summer at the New York World’s Fair, whose slogan is: “For peace and freedom.” Poland was invaded just before it closed. But all of them will have exhibits at the fair. (AP Photo)
These prominent representatives of the state of Washington are looking at a diorama of Grand Coulee Dam, part of their state’s exhibit at the New York World’s Fair on May 1, 1939, after opening day ceremonies on April 30. Shown (left to right) are Mrs. E.B. McGovern, U.S. Senator Homer Bone (D-Wash), Mrs. Bone, and Comm. E.B. McGovern, representing the governor. (AP Photo)
General view of the Holland building at the New York World's Fair in Flushing, New York on May 5, 1939, at the time of its formal dedication. (AP Photo)
Heroic figures and murals at the Pennsylvania Exhibit at the New York World’s Fair on May 11, 1939 depict the progress of that state from colonial times to the present. (AP Photo)
Flags of the British Empire flew proudly over the British Pavilion at its formal dedication on May 12, 1939 at the New York World Fair. The pavilion shown will be visited in June by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. (AP Photo)
A view taken from the side of one of the many lagoons at the New York World's Fair on July 7, 1939. The statue of George Washington is subtly silhouetted against the lighted Perisphere. On the left in the background is the tall Trylon. (AP Photo)
With the saw-tooth skyline of New York as a backdrop, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (first car) proceeded up the West Side Highway along the Hudson en route to the New York World’s Fair on June 10, 1939, soon after they landed at the Battery. A score of New York motorcycle police surrounded the royal car, and several men stood guard on the running boards. (AP Photo)
Thousands of New Yorkers jammed against rail barriers for a close look at the Royal party as it toured the grounds at the World’s Fair in New York on June 10, 1939. Uniformed aide is shown with King George VI, behind whom is Grover Whalen (face not visible), and behind them the Queen (arm ahead) and Mrs. Grover Whalen. (AP Photo)
The splendor of the New York’s World Fair in 1939 was evidenced, showing the entrance to the Court of Peace and the Lagoon of Nations where a nightly fountain displays of many colors was a featured event. (AP Photo)
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This gallery was produced by Kathleen Elliott in New York.