New York World’s Fair Collections

How to beat the heat wave, 1939 NYWF style.

Happy Fourth of July from the Queens Museum and Archive staff!

Photo taken from East River fireworks show in Long Island City, 1995.

Yesterday, Snowstorm Linus covered Flushing Meadow Park with another layer of wind swept snow and rain. Luckily the cold temperatures froze most of the slushy puddles making for a manageable walk to the Met Willets Point subway stop. Enjoy some of the photographs of the museum and the park covered in cool winter serenity.

A look at the World's Fair as it was being built in 1939.

Happy New Years from the Queens Museum Archives!

Snow blanketed New York City yesterday for the first time this year causing for a pretty sight of white between the usual Flushing Meadow Park markers.

Seventy-six years ago, snow also covered the 1939 New York World's Fair which reopened to the public the following April. Above is an image of the fairground in a calm white with the Trylon and Perisphere in the center and the drained Lagoon of Nations behind it. The sculpture of George Washington was encased in scaffolding to protect it from the elements.

Photograph taken by William Morris, Chief Photographer of the New York World's Fair, 1939

Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on the 10th of December. Today we look back at the history of massive protests highlighting racial and economic inequality that were held at 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. 700 people from around the country came and had sit-ins at pavilions, saying that they wanted the passage of the civil rights bill, and minorities visibly working at the World's Fair.

Transformation Tuesday

The Panorama of the City of New York was built by a team of more than 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester & Associates over the course of three years. In planning the model, Lester referred to aerial photographs, Sanborn fire insurance maps, and a range of other City material as the Panorama had to be accurate, with the initial contract demanding less than one percent margin of error between reality and the “world’s largest scale model.”

Come see the Panorama of the City of New York on long-term display at the Queens Museum.

Happy Thanksgiving! We wish that you are having a festive holiday with your loved ones, and hope that you are all well fed tonight!

Harold Thomas Webber was 25 years old in 1939 when his twin passions for railroads and photography brought him to volunteer at the Railroad Pavilion. He was granted an unlimited two year admission pass, allowing him the freedom to roam the grounds undisturbed. This resulted in a breathtaking series of nighttime portraits of the structures of the fair, weeks before the final days of the last season.

Images: Photographic print of Harold Thomas Webber taken at the Railroad Pavilion, 1939 Harold Thomas Webber, Theme Center with Fountain, 1940

Happy Universal Children's Day! The World's Fair had many amusement areas for children, including this carousel in the Belgian Village at the 1964 fair.

Jerry Kean, Carousel, Belgian Village, 1964. Collection of the Queens Museum, gift of Jerry Kean.

Peggy Anne Holmes and Gene Elliott read a sign marking the closing of the first season of the New York World's Fair on October 31st 1939.

Come check out original scrapbooks and images at That Kodak Moment: Picturing the New York Fairs, an exhibition at the Queens Museum from Oct 11 2014-Feb 8 2015.

Photo of the Westinghouse Time Capsule Exhibit at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair from the Collection at the Queens Museum.