Neato Coolville: 1939 NYWF

Showing posts with label 1939 NYWF. Show all posts

Friday, February 13, 2015

VALENTINE FELT SOUVENIR FROM THE 1940 NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #87

Here's something perfect for the day before Valentine's Day.

Last weekend, I attended an antique show and added some things to my 1939-40 New York World's Fair collection. The item I'm featuring today is a fun one, especially for this month. Interesting that this one is Valentine's Day themed, especially since the second year of the fair didn't open until April. I've seen examples of paper "school" style NYWF Valentines before but this is the first time I've seen a felt one.

Seventy-five years ago, Oscar and Bernice probably waited a few minutes at one of the many exhibits and had this souvenir embroidered with their names. When I find personalized souvenirs like this I can't help to wonder who the people were. What was this couple's story? Young or old? Dating or married? Did they have a long life together? Always questions with souvenirs like this. One question that probably can be answered is that Oscar and Bernice apparently had a fun day being together at the 1940 New York World's Fair!

Monday, February 28, 2011

SNAPSHOT OF KING GEORGE VI AT THE 1939 NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR

Congratulations to The King’s Speech for winning best picture at the Academy Awards last night. Even though I was pulling for Toy Story 3, it was an excellent film and worthy of best picture. I’m a sucker for period films and anything set in the 1930's. When viewing The King’s Speech I was hoping for a scene when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Since this scene wasn't in the movie let's take a look at the real thing. Here’s an original snapshot from my NYWF collection of the King & Queen riding in a car at the New York World’s Fair on June 10, 1939. It was taken by a fair goer who was lucky enough to be standing in the right spot at the right time.

You can see King George in the center of the photo. Queen Elizabeth sits next to him with her head turned. The man with the mustache sitting across from the King is Grover Whalen, the president of the World’s Fair. It looks like the King is talking to Grover’s wife or at least that’s who I think she is.

As a royal bonus, here’s two magazine covers from 1939 featuring King George and finally a souvenir envelope from the British Pavilion at the 1940 New York World’s Fair.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

70 YEARS AGO TODAY - 1939 NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR

Back in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair, everyone was looking forward to the world of tomorrow - a tomorrow that would bring hope, prosperity and peace through technology and human ingenuity. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the fair and mankind still reaches out for those same dreams of the future.

Unfortunately, in 2009 those same dreams are much harder for us to see and to believe in. We really need something like the 1939 New World’s Fair to restore those dreams and bring back the belief we still can build a world of tomorrow with the tools of today.

For years I’ve been fascinated with the 1939 NYWF and have put together a small collection of items. Today, is a great day to start sharing some of my collection. Slowly, I’ll be adding items to my a new flickr set simply called 39NYWF and future posts will show up here on the blog. Below, you’ll find a few images from my collection and some fun links to help you celebrate and learn more about the fair.