Snapshots of the Past

[Model houses on exhibit at the World's Fair, New York] – Historic Reproduction

[Model houses on exhibit at the World's Fair, New York], 1940 — historic photograph
[Model houses on exhibit at the World's Fair, New York], 1940. Historic photograph from the New York City collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with [Model houses on exhibit at the World's Fair, New York], a historic photograph rich in period detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[Model houses on exhibit at the World's Fair, New York]

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Model houses in a display case at the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair make up the subject here, a set of miniature dwellings staged to show visitors how American homes were built and planned. The fair, held in Flushing Meadows in Queens, used exhibits like this to promote modern design and suburban living as the country was still climbing out of the Depression. The photograph is credited to Richard Averill Smith and dated 1940, and its caption card lists "Dwellings" as the subject, a category that fits the housing theme of the displays. Pictures like this one capture how the fair presented domestic architecture to the public just before the United States entered the war.

Created / published1940
Medium1 photographic print.
NotesPhotoprint by Richard Averill Smith. This record contains unverified data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Dwellings.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,235 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-149015

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