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The Original Map Of The Massive 1939 World’s Fair In Queens
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 5, 2020
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Courtesy of the NYPL
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 5, 2020
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The much-celebrated 1964-1965 World's Fair always gets a lot of attention, but the 1939-1940 edition was an even more massive event. The fair took up 1,216 acres of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens—that's twice the size of the '60s event—and was envisioned as the "Dawn Of A New Day" for NYC and the world, aimed less on new technology and more at cultural and social progress.
"Emerging from the ashes of the Great Depression, and built on a literal ash heap, the 1939 World’s Fair was launched to inspire New York City and the world with a dazzling array of the newest commercial and scientific wonders," said Ian Fowler, Geospatial Librarian at the NYPL. "This double-sided souvenir map, produced by the Socony-Vaccum Oil Company in 1939, embodies that spirit. It trumpets a safe, modern, and limitlessly engaging metropolitan New York, reachable by the newly expanded parkway system. All roads on this map seem to lead from the Sacony-Vacuum exhibit at Rockefeller Center to the wonders of the World’s Fair in Queens, especially the Petroleum Industry Exhibition Building, complete with working oil derrick."
Around 40 million people attended the fair while it was open, according to LIFE, though it was not considered a huge financial success. Robert Moses' plans to make the remains of the fairgrounds into a vast urban park—which he described as his “Versailles” for the city—were not realized until after the '60s fair.
A map of the 1939 World's Fair
Courtesy of the NYPL
If you're interested in this World's Fair, you don't want to miss out on the 25-minute film below, which features stunning and rare footage of the fair in full color. You can also check out photos of the fair being built here as well.
As part of our month-long Dear NYC series, we're looking at New York City gems hidden away at the New York Public Library. The NYPL’s four research centers offer the public access to over 55 million items, including rare books, manuscripts, letters, diaries, photographs, prints, maps, ephemera, and more. Integral to these robust collections is the Library’s extensive material related to New York City, and as NY works to come together, cope, heal and recover from the 2020 pandemic, economic uncertainty, and the many issues that divide us, it is important to look at that history and remember: New York is resilient. New York is strong. New York has seen its share of hard times. And, as always, with Patience and Fortitude (the names given to the Library’s beloved lions in 1933 by Mayor LaGuardia for the virtues New Yorkers needed to get through the Great Depression) we will get through it, together.
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flashback
history
map
world's fair
Dear NYC
nypl
1939
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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