“Behind the Curtain: Collecting the New York Fairs” Exhibition
Queens Museum of Art
This event has ended.
Over a fourteen month period, Behind the Curtain: Collecting the New York Fairs will reveal little known artifacts and souvenirs drawn from national and regional private collections, as well as the museum’s own. From 1939-40, a Kan-O-Seat autographed by Billy Rose, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Rudy Valle and others is juxtaposed with the British Pavilion’s guest book signed by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England, and a member’s badge from the Society of American Magicians (who also performed at the 1964 fair). And from the 1964-65 fair, a newly restored Cushman 3-wheeled Scooter gleams, while a pair of objects from Sinclair’s Dinoland –a baby brontosaurus and a painted banner reading “Get your Bag-O-Dinos”– reflect the prehistoric past, and two ten-button pushbutton phones from the Bell System Pavilion highlight the then-future. Recent acquisitions from the museum’s collection include two marvelous photo albums from the 1939 fair, a Boy Scout jacket and ephemera preserved from a boy’s week working at the 1964 Boy Scouts of America pavilion, and original blueprints of the proposed Willets Point Boulevard subway station addition and the proposed World’s Fair district map, 1936.
Media
Schedule
from July 27, 2014 to October 18, 2015
Opening Reception on 2014-09-21 from 16:00 to 19:00