All photographs were taken by Harold Webber and printed by Henry Webber. A selection of these photographs is now on view until October 11th at The Civil Service Café and Gallery, 279 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn.
"You should've seen it at night," my late grandfather, Harold Webber, used to say as he wistfully described to me the grand spectacle—with its massive architecture, state-of-the-art exhibits, and millions of visitors—that was the 1939 New York World's Fair.
At the time of the Fair, my grandfather was a 25-year-old amateur photographer and railroad enthusiast from the Bronx. He had attended Stuyvesant High School and Fordham University during the Depression, and he was about to embark on his 40-year career as a design engineer for Bell Laboratories. He and his younger brother spent their spare time photographing steam locomotives around New York and New Jersey. Through his charter membership in a train hobbyist's group, the Railroadians, my grandfather was asked to volunteer at the Fair's railroad pavilion. In exchange for his help, he received an unlimited admission pass to the Fair's 1939 and 1940 seasons, which granted him expanded access to the grounds and a unique vantage point from which to photograph the event.
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http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/17/1939-worlds-fair-photos.php
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