1939: The Lost World of the Fair
by David Gelernter

In 1939, exhausted by a decade-long depression, Americans faced a brewing European conflict that would prove to be the most destructive war in history. At this dark juncture, a World's Fair was held in New York City that evoked such acute hope in its promise of a glorious future that a whole generation was drawn to it and transformed by its vision. People came from all over the world to see the fair, and it was not uncommon for many to attend ten, twenty, even thirty times. There, the awed spectators gazed at a utopian world of superhighways, spacious suburbs and other technological wonders. As David Gelernter brilliantly recounts in 1939, it was a future that has largely come to pass, but one that, in its realization, has drained us of the very pride and hope that were so palpable at the fair itself. In 1939, Gelernter gives us a virtual reality picture of the World's Fair and the passionate feelings it still evokes in those who were there. In entering that picture, we gain a clearer understanding of why our future stands in such dark contrast to the glittering utopian vision of 1939.

I recently read Tom Hanks' book of short stories: Uncommon Type. One of the stories in the book was about a man who time travels back to 1939 and visits the World's Fair in New York. I found this story to be quite enchanting and remembered that I had a book about the 1939 Worlds Fair so decided to read it.

Overall, I was a little mixed on this one. It provided a lot of information on the fair and interwove a fictional love story into the book about two young people who visited the fair. The woman kept a detailed diary of the visit and this was used as a way of describing the fair attractions. The book also provided a lot of information on America in 1939 including the habits and ways of the people. People were much more proper back then wearing suits and dresses everyday and using manners and etiquette that have long since gone by the wayside. The fair came about at the end of the Depression and right before WWII. And with all that was going on in the world the fair's message was that the future was going to be bright for most Americans with a utopia-like-world projected for 1960. The fair focused on technology including the introduction of television and even had a robot long before the computer age.

The fair's centerpiece was the Trylon and Perisphere, a tall obelisk placed adjacent to a large sphere. These objects symbolized the future and were used on a myriad of fair promotions and souvenirs.



There were many other attractions including Futurama, a display by GM showing the cities and roadways of the future. This was the most popular attraction there. And then there was the parachute jump ride which was dismantled at the end of the fair and moved to Coney Island where it is still an unworking attraction there.



Although the book has a section of photographs, the descriptions in the text were sometimes lacking. I found myself searching online to see photos of many of the fair's attractions and exhibits. I did find the overall information of the fair's history and the mores of the people of the time to be very worthwhile. The interwoven love story that was used as a device for the fair was a little unusual but was also quite interesting. However, a lot of the descriptions were quite dry and I would only mildly recommend this one.

Sending to elizardbreath who selected this from the nonfiction VBB. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for sending this my way! I look forward to reading it.

I, too, am left with mixed feelings about this one, but I think I liked it more than not. I love reading books that make me stop and Google every few pages and this was definitely one of those. I also love reading about past World's Fairs---all the details, all the emotions, all the innovations---that's where I got a little annoyed with this one. The fictional love story did take a more prominent place than I would have liked it to, with even whole chapters being devoted to the story and not to the Fair.

One of my first "Google surprises" was that World's Fairs are still going on all over the world! (Don't laugh...I'm a hermit.) I had no idea but assumed that technology moved too fast for a Fair to be relevant. But I was wrong! I'd sure love to go to one. I think they're fascinating!

The author spent a lot of time trying to convince the reader that the 1930s were just as sophisticated as today. Is there any doubt? I'd say more so---and classier, too. Take his points about the code of dress and the "why bother" mentality. People who dress nicely do it to be respectful of others around them, just as much for themselves. This mentality has not left our society---it's just not promoted as important or moral anymore.

An interesting dichotomy was the things they were naive to compared to the things we assume they were naive to. For instance, these times weren't necessarily as innocent or "moral" as we might assume. There were lots of instances of nude art and even some soft porn featured at the fair. Yikes! On the other hand, the fair's SCIENCE DIRECTOR boasts, "the actual control of the weather for an entire town will by no means be impossible for air-conditioning engineers of the future." How someone not only believed that was possible or feasible but also didn't see the potential catastrophe that could create is shocking to me. However, these are also the parents of our current Baby Boomer "conspiracy theorists". Ha!

This was definitely a different time militarily. They had no such phrase to describe a nation as a, "super power", and if there would have been one, America wouldn't have been it. At that time, the French army was said to be the best in the world. Do we even hear about a French army now? Britain was possibly more powerful than us...but they sure seem awfully pacifist these days.

I really didn't too much enjoy the fictional love story and thought the story of the Fair could have been told just fine without it. I believe the author did it this way to help give a perspective of the feelings and reactions of the fairgoers, but at many points the dialogue became weirdly philosophical and didn't seem applicable.

Overall, it was a "fair"ly good read...but I think I'll be looking for something else on this particular Fair, as well.

I'm sending this to my mom, Charlieshack, to read or release.

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