Poster:Go by All Means

The second year of the New York World's Fair signaled a change of heart. Although the fair attracted nearly 200,000 visitors on its opening day in 1939, attendance figures fell well short of expectations by the end of the season in October. Believing the decline resulted largely from the steep 75-cent ticket price, organizers reduced the price of general admission to 50 cents when the fair reopened on May 11, 1940. They also changed their promotional campaign. As with this poster depicting the entire family rushing to the fair, promotions for the 1940 New York World's Fair emphasized its basic democratic value: something for everyone. In the wake of the Great Depression and on the eve of World War II, the fair celebrated scientific and technological progress as the path to personal freedom and economic prosperity. Planned since the height of the Great Depression in 1935, the event was planned by corporate sponsors as an antidote to the nation's difficulties. Although the fair was aggressively marketed in all media - newsreels, radio, and print - attendance never lived up to the promoters' expectations. The fair closed after the 1940 season, bankrupt and millions of dollars in debt.