| The 1939-40 New York
World's Fair, located on the current site of Flushing
Meadows-Corona Park (also the location of the 1964-1965 New
York World's Fair), was one of the largest world's fairs of
all time. Many different countries around the world
participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its
exhibits in two seasons. The NYWF of 1939-1940 allowed all
visitors to take a look at "The world of tomorrow."
In 1935, at the height of the Great
Depression, a group of New York City 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 Empire State
Building. The NYWFC elected Grover Whalen as the president
of their committee. The whole committee consisted of
Winthrop Aldrich, Mortimer Buckner, Floyd Carlisle, John J.
Dunnigan, Harvey Dow Gibson, Fiorello La Guardia, Percy S.
Straus, and many other business leaders.
Over the next four years, the committee planned, built, and
organized the fair and its exhibits, with countries around
the world taking part in creating the biggest international
event since World War I. Working closely with the Fair's
committee was Robert Moses, New York City Parks
Commissioner, who saw great value to the City in having the
World's Fair Corporation (at its expense) remove and replace
a vast ash dump in Queens that was the site for the
exposition.
Promotion of this great event took many forms. In 1938, the
Brooklyn Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees did their part to
promote the upcoming fair with their jerseys. All players on
those teams wore patches featuring the Trylon, Perisphere,
and "1939" on their left sleeve. Howard Hughes flew a
special World's Fair flight around the world to promote the
fair in 1938.
This collection takes you through the
1939 Fair, from the begining to the end. You see the
exhibits, the shows, and you feel like you were there.
At the heart of this collection is the Medicus Collection.
About 6 hours of silent footage that documents the journey
of one man through the entire fair. You really feel
like you are part of the action and that you are taking a
step back in time. It is amazing to think that the
footage shot here is about 70 years old. It almost
feels as though you are watching life on another world.
Surreal.
We also have a DVD on the 1964 World's
Fair in New York. Please view our other auctions for
that listing.
This is a 4 DVD collection with
footage of almost 7 hours in length. All DVD's contain
a fully interactive Menu. The films in this collection
is as follows: |
|
To New Horizons 1940
Definitive document of pre-World
War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General
Motors. Documents the "Futurama" exhibit in GM's "Highways
and Horizons" pavilion at the World's Fair, which looks
ahead to the "wonder world of 1960."
Sound, B&W, 23:00
 |
|
The Medicus
Collection:
Reels 1 and 2 on DVD 2, Reels
3 and 4 on DVD 3, and Reels 5 and 6 on DVD 4
The Medicus
Collection is an amateur silent movie that documents one
man's travels through the 1939 fair. More than any
other footage known, this set truly captures the flavor of
the fair. More than anything available out there, this
is critically considered the best footage made of the fair.
Rare and unique, it is considered a work of art. About
6 hours long, it is quite easy to get "lost" in this
collection. Just sit back, and take a stroll through a
fair held 7 decades ago, and feel like you are right there.
It is very surreal to watch how people dressed and behaved
back then. Hard to believe it ever happened. It
really feels like you are watching footage not only taken at
another time, but in a different world. You feel like
you are taking a secret look back into time. A
collection to treasure. (note, there is some very mild
and tame nudity on here, certainly tame by today's
standards, but is included for its historical significance.) |
