Tuesday, January 26, 2010

1939 New York World's Fair- Part 1

Today I start a long series of photographs of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The photographer took shots of many of the buildings and also the statuary throughout the fairgrounds. I do not know as much about the 1939 NYWF, so if I caption a photo wrong please let me know. First up is the France Pavilion in the Government zone. The photographer focused on the restaurant on the second floor which introduced the chef system to America. (Yes, this is where all the celebrity chefs trace their history.)

Next up is the statue of Europa by Gleb W. Derujinsky and was located in the Court of the Railroads. All of the statues were fantastic Art Deco masterpieces and this one is no exception.

Next up is the Perisphere. This reminds me of Spaceship Earth at EPCOT Center. It also reminds me of the Things to Come the 1930's H.G. Wells Science Fiction film.

Final image for today is what must have been a wonder, the ability to walk through a waterfall at the Electrical Utilities Pavilion.

6 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

What happened to all that wonderful statuary after the fair?

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

These are fun, looking forward to more :-)

Love the Sphere, "Things to Come" Rocks, nice poignant reference.

Major Pepperidge said...

What an amazing Fair that was, built near the end of the Depression and the start of WWII. There are hours of truly amazing color footage from this Fair that you can download for free from archive.org:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22World's%20Fairs%3A%20New%20York%2C%201939-40%22

The ones that say "Medicus collection" are the best!

Katella Gate said...

Stunning pictures. I truly respect the thought and artistry that went into this World's Fair. It was a tough act to follow.

The "Europa and the Bull" statue is a pretty conventional subject for a focal-point statue. (see Wikipedia for the story*)

Many Art Deco sculptures had a fascination for it: Europa riding a bull turns up everywhere in the 30s, including the Queen Mary's 1st Class Main Lounge. Go figure.




*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbols_of_Europe#Europa_and_the_bull

The Viewliner Limited said...

The visitors to this fair must have been in awe of the things to come in the future. But unfortunately they would have to deal with a war first.

Great pictures from a great fair. Thanks Matterhorn, much appreciated.

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