Souvenir – 1939 NY World’s Fair

The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair was a world’s fair held in Queens, New York, United States. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons. 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”.

The Trylon and Perisphere were two monumental modernistic structures 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 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.

This Art Deco inkwell features the Trylon and Perisphere, and is marked “Made in France”.

Example #2 is made of white metal and has a floral design.

Example #3 is copper colored.