The greatest shows on Earth

Exploring the remains of futures past

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  • Published 20210803
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-62-7
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

AMONG THE MEMENTOS (boardgames, guidebooks, banners, souvenir plates) on display at the permanent World’s Fair exhibition at the Queens Museum in New York, there’s a small blue and white badge that reads, ‘I have seen the future.’

The pin was doled out to the five million visitors who toured the ride-like General Motors Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair. The badge-wearers were awed by the large-scale model of free-flowing multi-lane highways with remote-controlled semi-automated vehicles – a streamlined hope for the future.

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