The New York World's Fair was held from 1939-1940 in
Flushing Meadow Park. The fair's slogan,
"Dawn of a New Day", gave over 44 million visitors a glimpse of what life would
be like in the distant future of 1960.
The fair was created in an effort to pull the country out of the Great
Depression.
The opening day was timed to coincide with the 150th
anniversary of George Washington's Presidential inauguration. President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the
fair with a speech
that reached over 1,000 people on TV and many more over the radio, in addition
to the 206,000 people in attendance.
The 1,216 acre fairgrounds were organized around themes such
as transportation and agriculture. Two
modernistic structures were built especially for the fair and were known as the
"Theme Center." Tryon was spire-shaped
and 700-feet tall. Perisphere was a sphere
with a diameter of 180 feet. It was
connected to Trylon by the world's longest escalator. The buildings were the symbol of the World's
Fair.
A Sampling of the World's
Fair Exhibits
- Westinghouse Time Capsule, set to be opened in
the year 6939, contained seeds, toys, writings of Albert Einstein, and copies
of Life Magazine.
- Introductions of technologies such as color
photography, nylon, air conditioning, FM radio, robotics, fax machines, and
fluorescent lamps.
- Life-size copy of the interior of Mayakovskaya
station of the Moscow Metro.
- Frank Buck's Jungleland, a display of rare
birds, reptiles, and wild animals.
- The fictional "Middleton family" (not to be confused
with Kate Middleton's family) was used to represent the growing middle
class. Modern conveniences such as the
automatic dishwasher were displayed.
- General Motors' Futurama exhibit introduced
visitors to highways and organized cities.
- Chrysler allowed visitors to watch the assembly
of a car in its air-conditioned pavilion.
- Elsie the Cow, Borden's mascot, was on display
demonstrating mechanized milking machines.
Resources:
This
Day in History: Apr 30, 1939: New York World's Fair opens
Wikipedia: 1939 New
York World's Fair
Wikipedia:
Trylon and Perisphere [image]
Wired:
April 30, 1939: The Future Arrives at New York World's Fair
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