This newsreel of the 1939 New York’s World’s Fair shows some of the highlights of the fair, including the pavilions of various states and nations, the General Electric Pavilion, the Amusement Area (the Life Saver Parachute Jump later relocated to Coney Island, is at the 5:15 mark), the Savoy stage show, and the automotive pavilions including those of Ford and General Motors — known as the Futurama. There are also displays of modern and historic railroad locomotives as part of the “Railroads on Parade” stage show.
The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair, which covered the 1,216 acres (492 ha) of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park (also the location of the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair), was the second most expansive American world’s fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis’s Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons. The NYWF of 1939–1940 was the first exposition to be based on the future, with an opening slogan of “Dawn of a New Day”, and it allowed all visitors to take a look at “the world of tomorrow”.
The fair was divided into differently themed zones, such as the Transportation Zone, the Communications and Business Systems Zone, the Food Zone, the Government Zone, and so forth. Virtually every structure erected on the fairgrounds was extraordinary, and many of them were experimental in many ways. Architects were encouraged by their corporate or government sponsors to be creative, energetic and innovative. Novel building designs, materials and furnishings were the norm.
Beyond the corporate and government zones, the wildly popular but less uplifting Amusements Area was not integrated into the thematic matrix, and was a mere Area rather than a Zone. Despite the high-minded educational tone that Grover Whalen attempted to set, the Amusements Area was the most popular part of the Fair, and included a roller coaster, the Life Savers parachute jump (later moved to Coney Island, where it still stands today), the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Gimbels Flyer train ride (later purchased by Kennywood, where it still runs today), and carnival acts such as a collection of performing dwarves.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
