The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the 1,216 acres (492 ha) of Flushing Meadows-Corona
Park (also the location of the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair), was the second most expansive American
world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many
countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons.
The NYWF of 1939–1940 was the first exposition to be based on the future, with an opening slogan of "Dawn
of a New Day", and it allowed all visitors to take a look at "the world of tomorrow". According to
the official New York World's Fair pamphlet:
The eyes of the Fair are on the future — not in the sense of peering toward the unknown nor attempting to foretell the events of tomorrow and the shape of things to come, but in the sense of presenting a new and clearer view of today in preparation for tomorrow; a view of the forces and ideas that prevail as well as the machines.
To its visitors the Fair will say: "Here are the materials, ideas, and forces at work in our world. These are the tools with which the World of Tomorrow must be made. They are all interesting and much effort has been expended to lay them before you in an interesting way. Familiarity with today is the best preparation for the future.
Within a mere six months of the Fair's opening, World War II would begin, a war that lasted six years and resulted in the deaths of 50-85 million people, depending on how you count.
Although the United States would not enter World War II until the end of 1941, the fairgrounds served as a window into the troubles overseas. The pavilions of Poland and Czechoslovakia, for example, did not reopen for the 1940 season. Also on July 4 that same year, two New York City Police Department officers were killed by a blast while investigating a time bomb left at the British Pavilion. The bombing was never solved, but there is evidence that it was an inside job by William Stephenson, a British agent based in New York.
Countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia or France, that by 1940 had been occupied by the Axis powers, ran their pavilions with a special nationalistic pride while they were still open. The only major world power that did not participate for the 1939 season was Germany, citing budget pressures. The USSR Pavilion was dismantled after the first season, leaving an empty lot called "The American Commons". When the fair closed, many among the European staff were unable to return to their home countries, so they remained in the US and in some cases exercised a tremendous influence on American culture. For example, Henri Soulé moved from the French Pavilion at the fair to open the restaurant "Le Pavillon", retaining Pierre Franey as head chef.
There was also the issue of what to do with the exhibits on display in the pavilions of countries under Axis occupation. In the case of the Polish Pavilion, most of the items were sold by the Polish Government in exile in London to the Polish Museum of America and shipped to Chicago. A notable exception was made for a monument of the Polish–Lithuanian King Jagiełło. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia took such a liking to it that he helped spearhead a campaign to have it installed in Central Park, where it still stands today.
The picture of the Perisphere and Trylon at the top was taken by Sam Gottscho and is available in the public domain from Wikipedia.
