The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair was a world’s fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York. It was attended by over 44 million people. It 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”.

My grandparents, Katherine and Bruce Farquhar, attended the fair, possibly because Bruce worked for DuPont at their rayon plant, which debuted nylon stockings at the fair.

The fair saw many firsts, including the first major public debuts of color photographs, air conditioning, the fax machine and nylon pantyhose. DuPont was one of many large companies that turned up to exhibit its wares, one of which was the brand-new nylon pantyhose. Before nylon, women had to choose between wool — which was hot — and silk, which ran easily. Nylon was a revolution in women’s legwear. To show off the new material, DuPont had knitting machines on display, producing pantyhose — which female models would then play tug-of-war with to show how sturdy the new garments were, according to Curbed NY. Though nylons debuted at the fair, where DuPont dubbed the material “strong as steel, as fine as spider’s web,” they weren’t available for purchase outside the fair until May 1940, according to ABC News. They sold for $1.35 — or more than $20 a pair in today’s money. Although women loved them right away, once the U.S. entered the war nylon had to saved for the war effort and women had to hold off on the hose.” Source: A look back at some of the coolest attractions at the 1939 World’s Fair

The fair had a number of fascinating attractions, including the Trylon and Perisphere, an oblelisk and a globe, that served as symbols of the fair.

“By far the most impressive exhibits of the Fair were the 700-foot Trylon and 200-foot Perisphere — the spike and ball, to less reverent New Yorkers,” the News wrote in its 1939 coverage of the festivities. “Inside the 18-story Perisphere, in an auditorium the size of Radio City Music Hall, thousands rode on two moving balconies and looked down on Democracy, a mammoth model of the city of tomorrow — a city of broad streets, many parks, and large buildings.” Source: A look back at some of the coolest attractions at the 1939 World’s Fair

Wikipedia says this about the two structures:

“The Trylon and Perisphere were two monumental modernistic structures designed by architects Wallace Harrison and J. Andre Fouilhoux that were together known as the Theme Center of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The Perisphere was a tremendous sphere, 180 feet (55 m) in diameter, connected to the 610-foot (190 m) spire-shaped Trylon by what was at the time the world’s longest escalator. The Perisphere housed a diorama by Henry Dreyfuss called Democracity which, in keeping with the fair’s theme “The World of Tomorrow”, depicted a utopian city-of-the-future. The interior display was viewed from above on a moving sidewalk, while a multi-image slide presentation was projected on the dome of the sphere. After exiting the Perisphere, visitors descended to ground level on the third element of the Theme Center, the Helicline, a 950-foot-long (290 m) spiral ramp that partially encircled the Perisphere.”

My grandfather took a picture of the Trylon and the Perisphere:

He also took photos of other areas of the fair, as seen here:

Unfortunately, all the photos have some discoloration in the middle.

Sources

• The True Story of the Debut of Nylon Stockings
• The War That Shaped Women’s Legs
• A look back at some of the coolest attractions at the 1939 World’s Fair
• 1939 New York World’s Fair