1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939 New York World's Fair was an international exposition held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair featured exhibitions, activities, performances, films, artworks, and food presented by 62 nations, 35 U.S. states and territories, and more than 1,400 organizations and companies. Slightly over 45 million people attended across two seasons. Themed to "the world of tomorrow" and promoted with the slogan "Dawn of a New Day", the fairground was divided into seven color-coded zones and two standalone focal exhibits, with approximately 375 buildings.
Plans for the fair were first announced in September 1935, and the New York World's Fair Corporation began construction in June 1936. The fair officially opened on April 30, 1939, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the first inauguration of George Washington. Four months after the fair’s opening, World War II began in Europe, prompting several exhibitions to close or scale back. Although the fair ultimately drew more than 45 million visitors, it recouped only 32% of its original cost. When the exposition closed on October 27, 1940, most pavilions were demolished or removed, while others were relocated or reused during the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Throughout its run, the fair hosted a wide array of cultural programming, including themed celebration days for participating nations, states, businesses, and organizations. Musical performances, sculptures, and visual artworks were displayed throughout the grounds and within individual pavilions. Numerous restaurants and concession stands operated across the site, and a variety of consumer products such as new household appliances and early electronic devices were showcased to the public. The exposition stimulated significant spending within New York City and contributed to the broader development of Queens. Many artifacts from the fair survive in museums and private collections, and the event has been referenced or dramatized in film, television, and other media.
Development
New York City had hosted the United States' first world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, in 1853–1854. The city did not host another world's fair for 85 years. The site of the 1939 World's Fair, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, was originally a natural wetland straddling the Flushing River before becoming an ash dump in the early 20th century. New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses first conceived the idea of developing a large park in Flushing Meadows in the 1920s. Although the neighborhoods around Flushing Meadows contained residential developments, the meadow itself remained undeveloped and isolated. Meanwhile, the 1933 Century of Progress exposition in Chicago had boosted that city's economy, prompting businesspeople in New York City to consider a similar fair.Planning
The New York Times writes that the civil engineer Joseph Shadgen came up with the idea for the World's Fair in 1934, while talking with his daughter. By early 1935, a group led by the municipal reformer George McAneny was considering an international exposition in New York City in 1939. Though the date coincided with the 150th anniversary of George Washington's first inauguration, Moses said the date was "an excuse and not the reason" for the fair. That September, the group announced plans to spend $40 million to host an exhibition at the Flushing Meadows site. The Flushing Meadows site had been selected because of its large size and central location, and because the city already owned nearby. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the use of Flushing Meadows as a fairground on September 23, and Moses directed municipal draftsmen to survey the site.Mayor Fiorello La Guardia pledged financial support for the fair that October, and the New York World's Fair Corporation was formed to oversee the exposition on October 22, 1936. The WFC elected McAneny as its president, and two contractors were hired that December to conduct preliminary surveys. State lawmaker Herbert Brownell Jr. introduced legislation in January 1936, which allowed the WFC to lease Flushing Meadows from the city government. By then, the fair was estimated to cost $45 million. To oversee the fair's development, McAneny organized a committee, which initially advocated for a single massive building. The project remained stalled during early 1936, but the New York State Legislature ultimately voted in April to allow the city to lease out Flushing Meadows.
Grover Whalen replaced McAneny as the WFC's chairman in April 1936 and was later elected as the agency's full-time president. J. Franklin Bell drew preliminary plans for the fair, and the WFC appointed seven men to devise a plan for the fairground. At the end of the month, the city government announced plans to sell $7 million in bonds, and the state pledged $4.125 million for the project. In addition, the WFC issued $26,862,800 in bonds. The New York City Board of Estimate appropriated $308,020 to begin landscaping the site that May, and city officials acquired another through eminent domain. The WFC dedicated the fairground site on June 4, 1936, shortly before the city finalized its lease of Flushing Meadows to the WFC.
Construction
Work on the World's Fair site began on June 16, 1936, and a groundbreaking ceremony for the fairground took place on June 29. The WFC established seven departments and thirteen committees to coordinate the fair's development. The fair was planned to employ 35,000 people. The construction of the fairground involved leveling the ash mounds, excavating Meadow and Willow lakes, and diverting much of the Flushing River into underground culverts. The dirt from the lake sites was used as additional topsoil for the park. Workers also transported soil from Westchester County, New York, to the fairground. Four hundred fifty workers were employed on three eight-hour shifts. The rebuilt landscape was to be retained after the fair. The city, state, and federal governments also worked on 48 infrastructure-improvement projects, such as highway and landscaping projects, for the fair.To promote the fair, the WFC established advisory committees with members from every U.S. state. Several baseball teams wore patches promoting the fair during the 1938 Major League Baseball season, while the businessman Howard Hughes named an airplane after the fair and flew it around the world in 1938. Helen Huntington Hull led a women's committee that helped promote and develop the fair. New York license plates from 1938 were supposed to have slogans advertising the fair, but a city judge deemed the slogans unconstitutional. New York license plates from 1939 and 1940 also advertised the fair. Local retailers also sold more than $40 million worth of merchandise with World's Fair motifs, and the U.S. government issued stamps depicting the fair's Trylon and Perisphere. World leaders delivered "greetings to the fair" as part of the "Salute of the Nations" radio program, and the WFC also broadcast 15-minute-long "invitations to the fair", featuring musical entertainments and a speech by Gibson. In addition, the WFC distributed a promotional film, ''Let's Go to the Fair.''
1936 and 1937
The WFC's board of design reviewed several proposed master plans for the site, and the corporation had relocated the last occupants of the fairground site by August 1936. The WFC launched a design competition for several pavilions that September and selected several winning designs two months later. The WFC announced details of the fair's master plan that October, which called for a $125 million exposition themed to "the world of tomorrow". Later that month, the WFC signed construction contracts for the fairground's first building. At that point, only a small number of fairground buildings had been approved.In November 1936, France became the first nation to announce its participation, and the city government began selling bonds for the fair. The International Convention Bureau endorsed the 1939 World's Fair, allowing the bureau's 21 member countries to host exhibits there. Lehman also invited the governors of other U.S. states. By the beginning of 1937, eleven hundred concessionaires had applied for concessions at the fair, and nine buildings were under construction. The WFC unveiled a model of the fairground at its Empire State Building headquarters that March. Workers had finished grading and filling the World's Fair site by April, and they began planting trees. That month, AT&T became the first company to lease a pavilion at the fair, and work officially began on the first building, the administration structure. In addition, the WFC began auctioning off the fairground's concession spaces, and workers also began planting trees in early 1937.
Whalen announced plans in June 1937 for a amusement zone at the south end of the fairground, and work on the first non-commercial pavilion, the Temple of Peace, began in July. By then, 89 buildings were under construction, and 86% of the fairground sites had been leased. Utah became the first U.S. state to lease space in the fair's Hall of States that September, while Missouri was the first state to lease space for a standalone building. Whalen also traveled to Europe to invite European countries to the fair. Various fairground buildings were being developed, as well as the Trylon and Perisphere, the fair's icons. That December, the Ford Motor Company became the first automobile manufacturer to lease space at the fair; by then, the WFC had received commitments from 60 nations.
1938 and 1939
The WFC awarded the first fair concession in January 1938. At that point, Whalen was making plans for the fair's opening ceremony. Whalen wanted to have 100 buildings under construction by the end of April, and the WFC planned to spend $10 million upgrading the utilities. Work on the Perisphere, the fair's theme building, began in early April, along with work on the first foreign-government structure. The same month, the WFC leased out the last vacant sites in the fair's Government Zone. The city hosted a parade with one million spectators on April 30, 1938, exactly a year before the planned opening, and the WFC hosted a fireworks show the next week. That May, the WFC began allowing visitors to inspect the fairground on weekends for a fee. The structures were all supposed to be completed by the end of March 1939, giving one month for exhibitors to fit their pavilions out.The WFC awarded contracts to 30 amusement-ride operators in June 1938, following months of disputes over the concessions. The WFC continued to issue concessions for eateries and amusement rides. By late 1938, workers were painting murals on buildings, and the subway stations serving the fairground were being completed. That October, the Heinz Dome became the first commercial exhibit to be completed, and 80% of the fairground's of exhibit space had been leased. Leasing lagged in the amusement zone; by that December, only two-thirds of the ride concessions had been leased.
Whalen announced in January 1939 that the fairground was more than 90% complete, though work on one-third of the amusement concessions had not started. The fair had attracted 1,300 industrial exhibitors and 70 concessionaires. In addition, 62 nations and 35 U.S. states or territories had leased space at the fair. That March, Whalen announced plans to spend $1 million on shows and miniature villages in the Amusement Area. The lights on the fairground were first turned on three weeks before the fair's scheduled opening. In conjunction with the fair, La Guardia issued a proclamation declaring April 1939 as "Dress Up and Paint Up Month" in New York City. Sixteen thousand workers were putting final touches on the site by mid-April, and foreign nations were delivering $100 million worth of exhibits to the fair. Thousands of additional workers were employed toward the end of April.