April 30, 1939, Opening Day. Looking down Constitution Mall toward the George Washington Statue and the Trylon and Perisphere from the Court of Peace. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The Theme Center
Diagram showing the different parts of the “Theme Center”. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
The above diagram details all the parts that comprise the Theme Center.
1. The Perisphere; 2. The Trylon; 3. Entrance; 4. The escalators; 5. The two revolving platforms; 6. Democracity; 7. Bridge connecting the Perisphere to the Trylon; 8. The Helicline.
Entrance
Each day the Theme Center stayed open for 12 hours, 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. A door at the base of the Trylon lead to the Perisphere. Tickets could be purchased at booths near by. From there one passed through turnstiles into a very modern, aluminum lined lobby. Straight ahead the two largest escalators in the world (in 1939) carried visitors up to the Perisphere. When reaching the top one stepped onto the rotating platform that transported them around the Perisphere.
Seen in the background is the ticket booth and entrance to the Theme Center. Samuel H. Gottscho photograph from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
Guard collecting tickets at the Theme Center turnstiles. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
Theme Center lobby and escalators. The escalator on the left is for the upper platform of the Perisphere. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
Democracity
Opening day and the Theme Center was ready to receive visitors. Once inside the Perisphere fair goers gazed down at Democracity as if floating in space.
Two fashion models look down at Democracity from the upper platform. Image from Vogue Magazine, May 1, 1939.
The souvenir program for the Theme Center, Your World of Tomorrow, describes Democracity like this:
This isn’t “the city of the future.” It isn’t a blue print of a dictated city . . . It’s a symbol of a way of living – not meant to be followed in detail.
Yet you can start to build this city tomorrow morning . . . There are no trick materials, no imaginary machines.
“Here,” said the designer, Henry Dreyfuss, “is a center built in greenery, with a perfect traffic system – and surrounding it, separated by a green belt, are industrial and residential towns – and all these towns, with the businesses and social section at the center, together constitute Democracity.”
It’s hard to get used to the idea, because we think of cities stopping abruptly where the country begins. But Democracity only makes sense if you remember that it covers about 11,000 square miles – about 8 million acres – and is inhabited by a million and half people who live in 70 different towns. The farms, the residential towns, the industrial towns and the social and business center, each depending on all the others, all of them together are Democracity.
Your World of Tomorrow, Copyright, 1939, by Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson, Inc.
The front cover of the souvenir program Your World of Tomorrow, 1939. From the collection of the author.
One of the most memorable parts of the exhibit were the”living murals” projected on the dome inside the Perisphere. The Fair’s Special Project Director, Fred Waller, conceived the plan for these images. Multiple, synchronized Eastman Kodak projectors provided the seamless effect. A decade later Waller invented the widescreen movie system Cinerama. R.C.A. provided the sound system. Famed radio newscaster, H. V. Kaltenborn read narration for the exhibit. The stirring music was composed by William Grant Still.
Artist conception inside the Perisphere, showing Democracity and the projected visions and stars on the dome. Image from mcny.org
The interior of the Perisphere. Photograph details of Democracity and the two rotating platforms. Wurts Bros. photo from mcny.org
The Fair Board of Directors anticipated that the Theme Center exhibit would be one of the most popular attractions. Each rotating platform inside the Perisphere had a maximum capacity of 4,000 people per hour. With this in mind their attention turned to crowd control. In an effort to stem the crowds they decided to charge an admission fee. Ten cents seemed too little to really keep the crowds away. So twenty-five cents became the price. Even with an admission fee, Democracity still proved a very popular attraction.
Exit & Helicline
Erecting barriers at the entrance / exit points of the platforms forced visitors to exit after one rotation. Upper platform visitors descended a staircase down to the connecting bridge. The lower platform exited directly onto it. Because this was one of the highest visitor vantage points at the fair, it provided great photo opportunities. Often the bridge and the Helicline were crowded with visitors.
Patrons exiting from the upper and lower platforms of the Perisphere to the connecting bridge. Image from RIBApix.
Detail of the bridge connecting the Perisphere to the Trylon from the lower platform exit. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
Crowds gathered on the Trylon and Perisphere’s connecting bridge. Image from Getty Images Gendreau Collection.
Fairgoers looking up Constitution Mall from the Theme Center bridge. Visible in the background is the Washington statute and the Federal Building. Image from Library of Congress prints and photographs division.
After crossing the bridge, visitors passed through the Trylon to the Helicline. The Helicline’s gently curve and slope provided a pleasant stroll back to the ground.
Dramatic photograph from under the highest point of the Helicline. Wurts Bros. photograph from the collection of mcny.org
Fair goers exiting the “Theme Center” on the Helicline. Photo by ¬© Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Another view of the Helicline and visitors leaving the Trylon and Perisphere. Photo by © Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Once back on the ground and if needing a guide book or a map, a futuristic information booth was conveniently located under the Helicline.
The futuristic information booth beneath the Helicline. Image from the DVD 1939 New York World’s Fair, Volume 2, from the Historical Archive Corporation.
Day Time
Because the Theme Center was painted pure white, the Trylon and Perisphere stood out in stark contrast against all the buildings on the fairgrounds. And because of their enormous size the Trylon and Perisphere could be seen for miles around.
The Trylon and Perisphere seen in the distance from Manhattan. (Photo by © Photo Collection Alexander Alland, Sr./CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
On bright sunny days the gleaming structures provided a visual guide post for fairgoers. Heading towards the Trylon and Perisphere, would lead one back to the center of the fairgrounds.
Looking south down Constitution Mall toward the Trylon and Perisphere, gleaming in the morning sun. Image from mcny.org
Late morning light on the Trylon and Perisphere. The curved wall with the mural of Perylon Hall is in the lower right of the photo. Image from mcny.org
The Trylon and Perisphere looming over the transportation zone. In the foreground is the North Corona entrance gate. George B. Bader photograph from the collection of mcny.org
Looking east from the Court of Communications to the Trylon and Perisphere in mid-afternoon. Image from mcny.org
Looking west from the Court of Power. Modern florescent light stands in the foreground. Entrance at the base of the Trylon can be scene in the background. Image from mcny.org.
Sunset at the Plaza of Light. The Perisphere will soon be flood lighted for nighttime. Image from mcny.org.
Night Time
If the Trylon and Perisphere were spectacular in daytime, at night they became magical. The Trylon’s only illumination came from a series of small, red airplane warning lights. Banks of floodlights carefully aimed at the Perisphere transformed it into a huge, blue “planet”. Onto the blue lights, swirling clouds patterns were projected, this gave the illusion that the Perisphere was slowly rotating.
A view of the sculpture ‘Speed’ by Joseph Reiner and the Trylon and Perisphere lit up at night. Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)
A view of the Perisphere lit up at night with the sculpture ‘Time and Fates of Man’ by Paul Manship in the foreground at the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, New York. (Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)
For special occasions the lighting scheme matched the event.
July the 4th and the Perisphere is turned into a giant red, white and blue ball. Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)
Closing day of the 1939 coincided with Halloween and the Perisphere became the world’s largest jack-o-lantern.
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- Perisphere-o-lantern. Closing day of the 1939 season. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
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- A large sphere with a pumpkin face being displayed at the New York World’s Fair. (Photo by Ralph Morse/Pix Inc./The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
The Perisphere greeted visitors on opening night of the second season.
May 11, 1940. The fair opens for the second season and the Perisphere welcomes visitors. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.
Attendance did not meet expectations in 1939. So the fair board decided to drop the admission price from 75 cents to 50 cents. And with Europe at war, the theme changed from “Building the World of Tomorrow” to “For Peace and Freedom”. To make the fair more popular to the average person, attractions were added to the amusement zone and highbrow themes were downplayed. This made the Theme Center feel somewhat out of step with the fair’s new outlook.
The Perisphere, Trylon and the Westinghouse building are illuminated at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. (Photo by © Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Demolition
October 27, 1940 the New York World’s Fair closed for good. Despite all the efforts to entice more visitors to the fair, because of the huge cost to build and run the exposition the fair ended in bankruptcy. While demolition started the next day, the Trylon and Perisphere remained intact until December. The razing of the Theme Center began on December 10, 1940. Since these were never intended to be permanent, even before closing day, the gypsum covered tiles were falling off. Workmen began removing the outer covering exposing the red steelwork for the first time in two and half years.
December, 1940. The Helicline is being dismantled. The gypsum covering on the Perisphere is just starting to be removed. Photo from Getty Images.
January, 1941
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- January 3, 1941. Photo from the Associated Press.
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- January 23, 1941 and most of the famework is exposed. Photo from the Associated Press.
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- Looking towards the vanishing Trylon and Perisphere across the ruins of the Fairgrounds. February, 1941. William A. Dobak photograph from the collection of mcny.org
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- February, 1941. All the covering has been removed from the Perisphere. Some of the steelwork is already gone. William A. Dobak photo from the collection of mcny.org.
The scrap steel of the Theme Center went to the defense effort as the United States prepared for the possibility of war. By the end of April, 1941 nothing remained of the Trylon and Perisphere. The Fairgrounds became Flushing Meadows Park and the home of the United Nations just after the Second World War. The U.N. moved to their permanent Manhattan location in 1950.
April 4, 1946. One of the only remaining buildings of the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair is the New York City Building in the Foreground. This building housed the United Nations from 1946 – 1950. The circular area to the center right is where the Trylon and Perisphere stood. Image from the Associated Press.
The park never reached its potential and became a bit shabby. A second World’s Fair in 1964 – 1965 turned the tide for Flushing Meadow – Corona Park.
Symbol of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the Unisphere. Built on the site of the Trylon and Perisphere. (Photo by James P. Blair/National Geographic/Getty Images)
After the closing of the second world’s fair in 1965, Flushing Meadow became the park Robert Moses envisioned back in 1935. Today the New York City Building is the only remaining structure of the 1939 World’s Fair. Housed inside of it is the Queens Museum which displays souvenirs and artifacts from the fair. And that is the only way we can experience the 1939 New York World’s Fair and the Trylon and Perisphere.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this story – both parts of it– and the amazing photos. Over the years, I have only seen a few, so it’s quite a treat.
Despite the years of the Great Depression and the upcoming entry of America into WWII, the 1939 fair offered a glimpse of a hopeful a, positive and peaceful world. If only for a little while, it lifted peoples spirits.