New York World's Fair (1939-40)

New York World's Fair
Figure 1.--The theme of the 1939 New York World's Fair was 'The world of tomorrow'. The Fair focused on technology, but a few months after the Fair opened, the struggle of the democracies with the totalitarians began. World War II would determine the future of civilization. Here a family heads home after a a day at the New York World Fair in 1939. Notice how they dressed up for the experience. This looks more like a publicity shot than a family snapshot. Notice the boy's hat. We see some boys wearing these adult-styled fedoras during the late-1930s through the mid-50s. We ony see this in America, not in Europe.

The New York World's Fair was held at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It was one of the largest world's fairs. A large number of countries participated. One of the few which decined was NAZI Germany. Attendance exceeded 44 million people. The symbols of the Fair were the futuristic Trylon and Perisphere. The theme of the Fair was 'The world of tomorrow'. The Fair promotions explained, "The eyes of the Fair are on the future -- not in the sense of peering toward the unknown nor attempting to foretell the events of tomorrow and the shape of things to come, but in the sense of presenting a new and clearer view of today in preparation for tomorrow; a view of the forces and ideas that prevail as well as the machines. To its visitors the Fair will say: 'Here are the materials, ideas, and forces at work in our world. These are the tools with which the World of Tomorrow must be made. They are all interesting and much effort has been expended to lay them before you in an interesting way. Familiarity with today is the best preparation for the future.'" The exhibit thus show cased the 'World of Tommorow' with exhibits about what the world of the future would be like. The Boy Scouts assisted at the Fair in a variety of ways. Thoise not on duty could tour the Fair. Tragically it opened in the last fleeting months of peace before the outbreak of World War II (1939). Among the visitors were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, invited by President Roosevelt to show case American support for Britain as Europe moved toward war. The oficial purpose of their visit was to open the British Pavilon. One observer remembers his experience as a boy, "To go to this fair was to have your life changed forever. It was there that I was amazed by a device that measured the thickness of my hair, by a General Motors vision of 1960 (I asked my parents whether I'd still be alive at that distant time in the future), by mighty Railroads on Parade and Railroads at Work, by climbing up to look into the cockpit of a real airplane, by witnessing for the first time something called television; and I was chilled by the sight of a gas mask, as if I realized that here was a sign of what soon would dash or delay many of the hopes that THE FAIR expressed."







CIH






Navigate the Children in History Website:
[Return to the Main World Fair page]
[Return to the Main Science page]
[About Us]
[Introduction] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Climatology] [Clothing] [Disease and Health] [Economics] [Freedom] [Geography] [History] [Human Nature] [Ideology] [Law]
[Nationalism] [Presidents] [Religion] [Royalty] [Science] [Social Class]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Children in History Home]





Created: 2:03 AM 3/16/2017
Last updated: 2:03 AM 3/16/2017