To Robert Moses, New York City’s Parks Commissioner and commonly referred to as the city’s 20th-century “master builder,” Flushing was the perfect spot to build a new, though temporary city. It would become the site of the 1939 World’s Fair.
Built From the Ashes
Before construction of this model city began, Flushing, or what would later become Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, had to be completely transformed. Dump trucks, cranes, bulldozers, and construction workers removed debris, leveled the mountains of ash, and filled in the salt marsh to establish a level and stable foundation across 1,200 acres. While construction continued in Flushing, preparations for exhibits were underway. Sixty countries (sans China and Germany), 33 states, one United States territory (Puerto Rico), the City of New York, and various corporations would create their own exhibits to present to the projected 100 million visitors.
Themes and Structures
The visual theme was pure Art Deco, from the textual fonts adorning the buildings to the advertising posters promoting the fair to the construction of the fair’s buildings and transportation vehicles. Buildings housed Ford Motor Company, Elgin Watch, Swift Corporation, B.F. Goodrich Tire, Borden’s Dairyland, Beech Nut, Kraft Foods, and Continental Baking, the makers of Wonder Bread. Westinghouse had a Hall of Power and Hall of Electrical Living where Elektro―the walking, talking, and cigarette-smoking Westinghouse Moto-Man―was exhibited. General Motors installed its “Futurama” ride that extended a third of a mile, covering 35,000 square feet, and which presented what America would be like in 1960. National Cash Register had a massive cash register displayed on top of its building. There was the Textiles Building, Food Exhibitors Building, Administration Building, Aviation Building, and the Electrical Utilities Building with a waterfall exit. There was also the Billy Rose “Aquacade” in the Marine Amphitheater, Frank Buck’s Jungleland, the Consolidated Edison’s water fountains, lagoons with massive statues aligning the waters’ edges, and a Fun Zone for kids.
“The Road of Tomorrow” presented how future roads could be made of a cork and rubber composition. There was also the exhibit of the Coronation Scot train from Great Britain, a true industrial representation of the Art Deco era, sent with the hopeful message that “the World’s Fair and this new tour of an LMS train will coincide with a new period of peace and prosperity for both our nations.”
One of the most memorable exhibits was hosted by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with its television, showcasing recorded speeches from Albert Einstein and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Arguably the most outstanding structures and exhibits were the Perisphere and the Trylon, located at the center of the World’s Fair. These two structures became the symbol of the 1939 World’s Fair, prominently displayed on most advertising images. The Perisphere was a 200-foot wide sphere that housed a futuristic “utopian” city called “Democracity”; it helped demonstrate the fair’s theme of “The World of Tomorrow.” Visitors viewed the massive diorama city, with its parks, lakes, highways, and apartment skyscrapers, by standing on the circular moving sidewalk. Connecting the Perisphere to the 610-foot tall Trylon was the world’s largest escalator, called the Helicline, which stretched approximately 1,000 feet.
A Presidential Commemoration
“The World of Tomorrow” looked to be pretty expensive. With a budget of $95 million, the 1939 World’s Fair cost far exceeded the budget, reaching $160 million. Nonetheless, it was finally complete and ready to open on schedule.President Roosevelt spoke before a crowd of 35,000 people during the opening day’s ceremony. Approximately 200,000 attended the fair’s opening day. It was the first time an American president gave a televised speech. Roosevelt reflected on the magnificence of the World’s Fair and the hard work of those who made it possible, while also hinting at the specter of war in Europe.
The Fair Extends
Although the World’s Fair hosted nearly 45 million visitors, it was still less than half of the projected number. There were numerous famous and celebrated figures who attended the fair, including Great Britain’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on June 10, 1939. Undoubtedly, however, the lack of visitors was less a result of miscalculation, and more a result of the dashing of Roosevelt’s “eternal hope.” Four months after the New York World’s Fair opened, war erupted in Europe. The “star of peace” had flamed out.
The planning committee of the 1939 World’s Fair, which included Moses, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, and Fair Corporation President Grover Whalen, took the unusual, but understandable step of adding a second season, extending the fair into October of 1940. The theme of the World’s Fair changed from “The World of Tomorrow” to something timelier and more appropriate. For its second season, the World’s Fair heralded the theme “For Peace and Freedom.”
When the fair ended, its two symbols―the Perisphere and the Trylon―were dismantled and melted down to make bombs for World War II. For much of the globe, the World’s Fair’s theme of “peace and freedom” would, ironically, remain in a distant “world of tomorrow,” as World War II would leave Europe in “a valley of ashes.”
