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| The '''1939 New York World's Fair''' was one of the largest ]s of all time. Many different countries around the world participated in it, and over 25 million people attended its exhibits. The NYWF of ] allowed all visitors to take a look at "The world of tomorrow." | |||
| In ], at the height of the ], a group of ] businessmen decided to create an international exposition to lift the city and the country out of depression. Not long after, these men formed the New York World's Fair Corporation, whose office was placed on one of the higher floors in the ]. The NYWFC elected ] as the president of their committee. The whole committee consisted of ], ], ], ], ]'''Bold text'''nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, ], ], and many other business leaders. | |||
| Over the next four years, the committee planned, built, and organized the fair and its exhibits. Countries around the world took part in creating the biggest international event since ]. Finally, on ], 1939, the fair had its grand opening. Roughly 198,791 people attended. One of the most famous exhibits was a time capsule, which was not to be opened till ] A.D. The time capsule was a tube containing writings by ] and ], copies of '']'', a ], a ] in change, a pack of ], millions of pages of text on ], and much, much more. Several other exhibits included the ] Air-flow, a streamlined ], and one of the first ]s. There was also a huge ]/] located near the center of the fair. ]' ], a keyboard-operated speech synthesizer, was demonstrated at the Fair. | |||
| Each day after that, the fair opened at 9 AM until it was officially closed forever on ], ]. It attracted over 45 million visitors and generated roughly $48 million in revenue. Since the Fair Corporation had invested 67 million dollars (in addition to nearly a hundred million dollars from other sources), it was, in fact, an economic failure, and the corporation declared bankruptcy. | |||
| The Fair was themed. It was divided into different "zones" (a Transportation Zone, a Communications Zone, and so forth). The wildly popular but less uplifting Amusements Area was not integrated into the thematic matrix, and was a mere Area rather than a Zone. The zones were distinguished by many subtle cues, including differently colored lighting. The "Theme Center" consisted of two landmark monumental buildings named the '']'' and ''].'' The design of ], with its themed Frontierland, Tomorrowland and central Cinderella's Castle clearly owes something to the 1939 World's Fair. The resemblance of ]'s ] to the Fair is even closer, and was widely noted by architectural writers when it opened. Epcot's geodesic-sphere "Spaceship Earth" bears a distinct family resemblance to the Perisphere. | |||
| 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 roller coaster, a parachute jump, and carnival acts such as a collection of performing midgets. Many of the shows provided spectators with the opportunity of viewing women in revealing costumes: the Frozen Alive Girl, the Dream of Venus Building, and, above all, ]'s ]. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| *http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7E1930s/DISPLAY/39wf/frame.htm | |||