In 1939, the New York World’s Fair gave spectators a glimpse at the “world of tomorrow”.
What was the World’s Fair?
What types of displays were there?
Throughout the 1930s, there were many expositions and “world’s fairs” across the nation.
One of the first occurred in Philadelphia in 1926.
It was called the Sesquicentennial International Exposition and celebrated the 150th anniversary
of the nation’s independence.
Chicago held a similar event in 1933 known as the Century of Progress Exposition.
California hosted two world’s fairs.
The first was in 1935, in San Diego, and it was known as the California Pacific Exposition.
The second came in 1937 and was called the Golden Gate Exposition, with the featured
attraction being the newly constructed Golden Gate Bridge.
The biggest and best of the world’s fairs was the New York World’s Fair which opened
on April 30, 1939.
The fair covered nearly two square miles and had several zones, including Transportation,
Communications, Food, Government, Community Interests, and Amusement.
The theme of the fair was “The World of Tomorrow”, and each of these different zones
displayed what the future might look like in each respective field.
For example, in the Transportation Zone, General Motors showed off a model city designed for
cars with super-highways from coast to coast and no red lights.
Ford displayed some of their newest vehicle designs.
In other exhibits, fair attendees received a glimpse of television for the first time.
Color photography was also on display for all to see.
General Electric introduced the world to the fluorescent light bulb, and one auditorium
was equipped with another new invention, air conditioning.
Westinghouse provided the seven foot tall “Electro the Moto-Man”.
This was a robot that could talk and perform other tasks.
Meanwhile, in the Communications Zone, AT&T was showing off a mechanized, synthetic voice
that could speak to fairgoers.
IBM had new devices of their own, such as the electric typewriter and an electric calculator.
Aside from the many exhibits, there were also live shows featuring dancers and other forms
of entertainment.
The Amusement Zone provided a variety of rides similar to the ones found at fairs in today’s
world.
One of the most popular rides was the parachute jump, which allowed people to experience the
exhilaration of dropping from a parachute.
Each day, the mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia, would roam the grounds and greet
fairgoers or entertain celebrity visitors.
Franklin Roosevelt visited the fair on its opening day and even officially “opened”
the event.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England also visited the fair.
The New York World’s Fair was hugely popular.
On its first day, nearly 200,000 people paid to enter the gates.
By the end of the fair’s existence in 1940, more than 44 million people had visited the
“World of Tomorrow”.