1940: New York World's Fair

The New York World's Fair closed Sunday, October 27 with the largest paid crowd in modern history. More than 538,000 people packed the Fair grounds, which with 72,000 passes — a total of 610,000 — officially made it the largest single day of the two-year exhibition. During the three closing months of the exhibition a veritable 'blitzkrieg' of promotion was created on the Fair grounds in order to attract widespread attention of press and public. Claude Collins was appointed by Charles O'Neil, director of Promotion to take over all promotional activities. The writer was delegated by Harvey D. Gibson, Chairman of the Board, to take over all publicity. For ninety consecutive days, high pressure with a capital 'P' was administered. Events were staged that literally leaped off the pages. Newsreel subjects were staged that reached 85,000,000 people weekly. Scarcely a day passed that an event with plenty of 'journalistic sex appeal' did not make its appearance some place on the Fair grounds.

From a dismal daily attendance of thirty, forty, and fifty thousand people during the months of June-July, the attendance jumped into sky-rocket figures with 200,000-days commonplace as early as the second week in August. Week-ends broke all records with 650,000 being not too unusual. The total paid attendance of the 1940 Fair was over 19,000,000 as compared to 24,000,000 of the 1939 Fair, which for a two-year run was a show business 'paradox.' The underlying secret of this stimulant was intrinsic creative ability on behalf of the publicity and promotional staffs.

Readers may recall the sensational newsreels of Jimmy Lynch and his 'Death Dodgers' in their dive-bombing automobile act in the Court of Peace; the parachute wedding (genuine), world's largest outdoor piano recital, the Overseas Press Conference, the largest outdoor art class, and the full page rotogravure spreads from coast to coast on the orangutan, 'Jiggs, Mayor of Jungle Town,' most hilarious animal expressions ever photographed. It was these 'stunts' that brought grandiose publicity, that gave newspaper men covering the Fair something to write about. Nothing was wrong with the Fair. It was still the greatest show in the Universe. What went wrong was the promotion and publicity. The public was allowed to forget. Once the public came to see, the Fair sold itself. That, to me, is the story behind the news on why the 1940 Fair took on new blood and showed a net working profit of over $5,000,000.

Most pleased of all exhibitors were concessionaires in the amusement zone. Unlike their 1939 experience, the 1940 Fair brought them a boom time business. Week-ends were sell-outs in the big shows. One amusement, a roller coaster, which was in sorry financial shape at the end of the 1939 Fair showed a substantial profit after paying all indebtedness.

Commercial exhibitors during the 1940 Fair reported the largest visitors' days of either year. Their total attendance was marked, too, by 50 per cent and 60 per cent jumps.

Most dramatic international angle of the '40 Fair was the disappearance of seven European nations under the Hitler assault. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, France, Holland, Belgium, Denmark — all exhibitors at the Fair — officially disappeared from the public at large when the Fair closed. All foreign exhibitors joined commercial and amusement exhibitors during the last few weeks of the Fair in offering bargain sales to the public of everything from linens and furniture to foods and wines.

There'll never be another exhibition during your lifetime or my lifetime like this one. The story has yet to be told about the fantastic and paradoxical salesmanship on a world-wide scale that made the New York World's Fair a reality. It's a crazy, almost unbelievable job that Grover Whalen put over. Running it and showing a profit is almost as immense, a task which Harvey Gibson, Chairman of the Board (Manufacturers Trust Co.) did to stun the stockholders who long ago gave up all hopes of getting ' — even five cents on the dollar back.' They got $.40 on the dollar and were elated.

During the closing weeks of the Fair much discussion went on as to the ultimate destination of buildings and their contents. Only five buildings remained — the rest were torn down at a total cost to the Fair Corporation of $114,000. Commander Howard A. Flanigan, Vice President of the Fair, directed the demolition program in accordance with the Fair Corporation's contract to the city of New York. Under the supervision of Commissioner of Parks, Robert A. Moses, the Flushing meadows will bloom again, resplendent in World's Fair foliage as a park second to none in beauty.