photo: (Cotter 56).
The World Of Tomorrow
Sky view of New York's World Fair,
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In May 1935 a Jackson Heights engineer, Joseph F. Shagden presented an idea of a fair to New York businessmen (Appelbaum ix). The official occasion for the fair was 150th anniversary for President Washington's inauguration in New York City. (Gelenter,page 85) Steering committee formed in 1936 to set agendas and schedules and a temporary bank of $27 million worth of bonds from public businesses and private donations from local millionaires sponsered the fair (Appelbaum ix). The total investment was $160 million (Appelbaum xi). They hoped the fair would send about a billion dollars into New York City (Appelbaum xi).
On May 11, the fair opened. The Theme: “building the world of tomorrow” (Appelbaum xii). The purpose of The World of Tomorrow straight from the fairs pamphlet."To symbolize … to demonstrate …to dramatize the new world … the World of Tomorrow … to show how it might come into being … as soon as men recognize their interdependence, one on the other." Admission to the Fair was 75 cents, but was lowered to 50 cents on October 1, 1939. The fair could handle a maximum of 160,000 admissions a day(Van Dort, page 2) The 1939 World's Fair covered 1,216 acres. Three and a half miles long and by mile wide. (Van Dort, page 1) A lagoon and lake were created in marshy areas that would have been difficult to fill in (Appelbaum xiv). 1,000 public phones were installed around the park in rest rooms, entrances to the exhibits, concession stands, subway and railway stations. (Van Dort, page 2) The Trylon and the Perisphere were the main to building. They were designed by Wallace K. Harrison and André Fouilhoux and stood well over 600 feet high. It had very few windows due to loss of exhibition space and the heat it would generate in the summer(Appelbaum xii).
There were numerous daily events, and special occasions and celebrations (Appelbaum xiv). The fair had many company buildings including Kodak, AT&T
and Beach-Nut (Wurts, page 72) One major attraction was the Life Savers Parachute Tower. It was in the amusemnet portion of the fair. It was based on
contraptions that military used to train parachutists. People would literally jump off with parachutes. How's that for a thrill ride! (Wurts, page 133)
On October 27th 1940 the fair declared bankruptcy (Appelbaum xvii). Cost for two years for construction, promotion and operation was approximately
$160,000,000. In 1940, it had about 45,000,000 attendees making $48,000,000, so the Fair Corporation had to declare bankruptcy. (Van Dort, page 2)
On May 11, the fair opened. The Theme: “building the world of tomorrow” (Appelbaum xii). The purpose of The World of Tomorrow straight from the fairs pamphlet."To symbolize … to demonstrate …to dramatize the new world … the World of Tomorrow … to show how it might come into being … as soon as men recognize their interdependence, one on the other." Admission to the Fair was 75 cents, but was lowered to 50 cents on October 1, 1939. The fair could handle a maximum of 160,000 admissions a day(Van Dort, page 2) The 1939 World's Fair covered 1,216 acres. Three and a half miles long and by mile wide. (Van Dort, page 1) A lagoon and lake were created in marshy areas that would have been difficult to fill in (Appelbaum xiv). 1,000 public phones were installed around the park in rest rooms, entrances to the exhibits, concession stands, subway and railway stations. (Van Dort, page 2) The Trylon and the Perisphere were the main to building. They were designed by Wallace K. Harrison and André Fouilhoux and stood well over 600 feet high. It had very few windows due to loss of exhibition space and the heat it would generate in the summer(Appelbaum xii).
There were numerous daily events, and special occasions and celebrations (Appelbaum xiv). The fair had many company buildings including Kodak, AT&T
and Beach-Nut (Wurts, page 72) One major attraction was the Life Savers Parachute Tower. It was in the amusemnet portion of the fair. It was based on
contraptions that military used to train parachutists. People would literally jump off with parachutes. How's that for a thrill ride! (Wurts, page 133)
On October 27th 1940 the fair declared bankruptcy (Appelbaum xvii). Cost for two years for construction, promotion and operation was approximately
$160,000,000. In 1940, it had about 45,000,000 attendees making $48,000,000, so the Fair Corporation had to declare bankruptcy. (Van Dort, page 2)
All pictures are from postcards from 1939 from the Steven R. Shook collection.
Want More? Click for World Fair Souvenirs
Poster 1939, www.art.com
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