The 1939-40 New York World's Fair was considered a major cultural event even before the first truckload of steel was delivered to Flushing Meadows.

The tour begins with the Trylon and Perisphere, as it did for the overwhelming majority of actual visitors. The Trylon and Perisphere were designed by the architectural firm of Harrison & Foulihoux and reflected the emphasis on purity embodied by industrial designers of the day. Ostensibly perfect forms, they were the only structures in the fair permitted to be painted pure white.

In 1939, Germany invaded Poland which was the major for World War ll, an event that changed the present and future..