#open car

April 30, 1939: President Roosevelt, Mayor La Guardia, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Edward J. Flynn (right), U.S. Commissioner General to the World's Fair, during the Presidential procession to the World's Fair.

The Fair opened that day, a very hot Sunday. More than 200,000 people passed through the gates. The fair's theme was the future, and many of its 63 pavilions introduced new technology, including FM radio, robotics, fluorescent lighting, and even a crude fax machine. But the big technology feature was television.

President Roosevelt's speech was broadcast not only over radio but, for the first time, TV. With that speech, NBC  inaugurated regularly scheduled television broadcasts in the city over their station W2XBS (now WNBC). There were around 200 TV sets in the New York area, and it is estimated that 1,000 people watched the telecast. Television sets were on display in the RCA, Westinghouse, and General Electric pavilions, and fairgoers could watch themselves on TV.

"Hair blown in an open car

Summer dress slips down her arm

Hair blown in an open car

On a drive out to the farm

Car ride