National Cash Register Building, 1939.

Visible upon entrance to the fair grounds from the special IND World's Fair subway station, the National Cash Register Building was the perfect roadside (or in this case fairside) attraction: large, eye-catching, fun, and, like many of these types of enticements, promotional. Constructed by the company that invented and manufactured the first mechanical cash register, the interior of the building displayed all 7,857 parts of the modern cash register. The larger than life machine "counted" each day's fair attendance, its two and a half foot numbers updating every ten minutes. It rotated too!

Designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, a pioneering industrial designer, it was one of nine NYWF corporate displays created by Teague, who was also a member of the Fair's design board. He had previously designed a similar cash register shaped building for the 1936-1937 Texas Centennial Exposition and a simultaneous display was also installed at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.