1939 New York World’s Fair Savoy Ballroom Exhibit Souvenir Program

My boyfriend was in a vintage clothing store recently, and bought himself an antique souvenir tie clip from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933 (aka The Century of Progress Exposition). It reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write a post about the 1939 New York World’s Fair,  so here it is! What I wouldn’t give for one of the Savoy Ballroom exhibit souvenir programs (above)!

The whole idea of a World’s Fair is absolutely astonishing to me. Almost an entire city is built for the fair alone, which lasts from 3 months to a year or so, and is then demolished. Millions upon millions of dollars are poured into the World’s Fair, which showcases industry, science, culture, art, and even nations themselves. Countries build their own “national pavilion” to represent the nation at the exposition – an architectural manifestation of a nation?  Think about the international politics in 1933 or 1939 and then check out the photos of the national pavilions at those expos. Just amazing. Here’s the 1939 Russian and Italian pavilions, if that gives you any idea:

There’s just so much at these World’s Fairs, I don’t know how anyone could have seen everything. There were art exhibitions, the national pavilions, new inventions on display, carnival rides, theater, vaudeville and even girly shows, shops and stalls, restaurants, zoos and menageries, gardens and water fountains and huge installations, sporting events and balls, sideshows, scientific unveilings… ahh, so much!

The World’s Fairs have been held all over the globe, and each one has attracted millions and millions of people. Even at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, 50 million people attended! The legendary Crystal Palace was built in Hyde Park in London for the very first exposition, The Great Exhibition of 1851. The new invention of the telephone was unveiled at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse introduced the public to electrical power by illuminating the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. That World’s Fair also unveiled the first Ferris wheel, introduced the hamburger to the USA, and showcased Scott Joplin playing ragtime. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 the diesel engine, talking films and escalators were all publicized for the first time. I’ve mentioned on this blog before, that it was at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, that Sally Rand danced naked with her feather fans in the ‘Streets of Paris’ exhibition, and was catapulted to burlesque stardom. And now that I think about it, it was at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair that Little Egypt showed belly dancing to America for the first time, influencing the course of burlesque for the next 60 years. Firsts at the 1939 New York World’s Fair included color photography, nylon and air conditioning. So many amazing things happened at these World’s Fairs!

Ok, so back onto topic… the 1939 World’s Fair is of particular interest to Lindy Hoppers, since a) it was in New York, and b) the Savoy Ballroom had its very own exhibit! Here are two amazing pieces of footage from the Prelinger archives showing – IN COLOR – the Savoy Ballroom exhibit at the World’s Fair, and another showing jitterbugs dancing to Glenn Gray and his Orchestra.

Gloriously, there’s a lot more footage (and yes, even more color footage) of the New York World’s Fair. You’ve got to see Salvador Dali’s surrealist funhouse, it’s flabbergasting! Visit Archive.org to see the other World’s Fair footage available as part of the Prelinger Archives. And here’s a Flickr set of the New York World’s Fair in Pictures.