Visitors to the General Motors Highways and Horizons exhibit at the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair proudly wore this “I have seen the future” pin after stepping out of the “Futurama,” a ride-like feature of the exhibit that traversed several levels of the pavilion, and extended for a third of a mile. The Futurama covered 35,000 square feet and was made up of 408 separate sections created by hundreds of skilled artists and craftspeople.

Corona Park Golf Course Clubhouse, 1936. The 18-hole golf course, and its Colonial Revival clubhouse, seen here, was completed in 1931. A joint venture by the Queens Borough President and the Brooklyn Ash Removal Company whose ash dumps surrounded the 127-acre property, the course was successful but short-lived. In 1934 with plans for the newly designed Grand Central Parkway cutting off two fairways, the course was closed. The former clubhouse remained standing until the development of the 1939 World's Fair grounds. According to the photographer of this image, the land once occupied by the clubhouse was later used for the Railroads exhibit building. Today, this parcel is the Corona Golf Playground.

"The 1964 World’s Fair occurred at a moment of significant upheaval in New York. The Fair was a powerful symbol of the establishment, a showpiece for corporate giants and urban leaders alike to bolster their claim to be bringing Americans a better future. Consequently, it held enormous appeal to visitors but was also a focal point for protest. The pictures of mid-century urbanism promoted at the Fair were undeniably popular; out of 51 million total visitors to the Fair in its two seasons, 29 million went to the General Motors Pavilion, 2 million more than went to Michelangelo’s Pieta at the Vatican Pavilion… Futurama II, sponsored by General Motors, echoed the arguments made by its predecessor; its display allowed visitors to see 'a gigantic machine build a superhighway in the jungle, see barren desert become farmland, and hover above a futuristic metropolis of automated highways and moving sidewalks.'" To learn more about the 1964 World's Fair, check out Katie Uva's article in Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History.