With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the great World?s Fairs that had been held around the globe since the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 lost much of their momentum. With the specter of another global conflict looming like a stormcloud on the horizon in the latter half of the decade, prospects for the future only grew darker. It was in this air of uncertainty and fear that the gleaming white Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 New York World?s Fair made their debuts, the centerpiece of an exhibition that presented a vision of hope for things to come.

Courtesy of Flickr user Richard under CC BY 2.0

With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the great World?s Fairs that had been held around the globe since the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 lost much of their momentum. With the specter of another global conflict looming like a stormcloud on the horizon in the latter half of the decade, prospects for the future only grew darker. It was in this air of uncertainty and fear that the gleaming white Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 New York World?s Fair made their debuts, the centerpiece of an exhibition that presented a vision of hope for things to come.
Image via nyworldsfaircollections.tumblr.com (Public Domain)

The 1939 Fair was initially conceived in 1934 as a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the United States? first presi...