Scope and Contents

Collection primarily documents the conception, planning, construction, management, and operations of the 1939 New York World's Fair located in Flushing Meadows, New York. Materials provide historical context and cultural significance as recorded in publications, artwork, photographs, ephemera, postcards, maps, plans, exhibitor's literature, souvenirs, and motion picture film. Most of the materials were primarily created for people who attended the fair. Some of the materials include scrapbooks created by fair visitors to document their experiences. There is a significant amount of material relating to other fairs, New York tourism, the Exhibition Collectors Historical Organization (ECHO) and the World's Fair Collector's Society. Other forms of entertainment such as festivals, the Olympic games, and Disney World are also found among these materials. There is little information relating to Edward Orth's personal and professional life as a city planner. The collection is arranged into eleven series.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into eleven series.

Series 1, Edward J. Orth Personal Papers, 1915-1989, undated

Subseries 1.1, Correspondence, 1939-1989

Subseries 1.2, Other Materials, 1915-1989, undated

Series 2, Exhibition Collectors Historical Organization (ECHO) and World's Fair Collector's Society, Incorporated Records, 1942-1990, undated

Subseries 2.1, General Information, 1960-1988, undated

Subseries 2.2, Correspondence, 1942-1990, undated

Subseries 2.3, Classified and Wanted Advertisements, 1956-1988, undated

Subseries 2.4, Financial Records, 1976-1989

Subseries 2.5, Newsletters, 1969-1988, undated

Subseries 2.6, Membership Materials, 1970s-1989, undated

Series 3, New York World's Fair, Incorporated Records, 1900-1988, undated

Subseries 3.1, Administrative Files, 1900-1977, undated

Subseries 3.2, Amusement Zone, 1937-1940, undated

Subseries 3.3, Communications and Business Systems Zone, 1939-1965, undated

Subseries 3.4, Community Interest Zone, 1939-1949, undated

Subseries 3.5, Food Zone, 1939-1975

Subseries 3.6, Government Zone, 1939-1940

Subseries 3.7, Production and Distribution Zone, 1939-1940

Subseries 3.8, Transportation Zone, 1939-1940

Subseries 3.9, Ephemera, 1938-1988, undated

Series 4, Photographic Materials, 1939-1968, undated

Subseries 4.1, General, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.2, Amusement Area, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.3, Business Systems Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.4, Communications Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.5, Community Interest Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.6, Food Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.7, Government Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.8, Production and Distribution Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.9, Transportation Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.10, Miscellaneous, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.11, Oversize Photographs, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.12, Color Slides, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 4.13, Color Transparencies, 1940-1942, undated

Subseries 4.14, Edward Orth, 1967-1968

Series 5, Scrapbooks, 1938-1981

Series 6, Postcards, 1906-1985, undated

Subseries 6.1, Amusement Area, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.2, Business Systems Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.3, Communications Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.4, Community Interest Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.5, Food Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.6, Government Zone, International, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.7, Government Zone, Federal and States, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.8, Production and Distribution Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.9, Transportation Zone, 1939-1940, undated

Subseries 6.10, General, 1940, undated

Subseries 6.11, By Type, 1906-1985, undated

Series 7, Publications Related to World's Fairs, 1922-1989, undated

Subseries 7.1, Magazines, 1922-1988, undated

Subseries 7.2, Newspaper Articles, 1935-1989, undated

Subseries 7.3, Other Publications, 1937-1989, undated

Subseries 7.4, Other Subjects, 1962-1989

Series 8, Materials Relating to Other Fairs, 1851-2000, undated

Subseries 8.1, Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations or Crystal Palace Exhibition, 1851

Subseries 8.2, Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, 1853-1853

Subseries 8.3, International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine or Centennial International Exhibition, 1876

Subseries 8.4, World's Columbian Exposition or Chicago World's Fair, 1893

Subseries 8.5, Exposition Internationale D'Anvers, Antwerp, Belgium

Subseries 8.6, Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition, 1897

Subseries 8.7, Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, 1898

Subseries 8.8, Expositions, 1901

Subseries 8.9, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1906

Subseries 8.10, Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, 1907

Subseries 8.11, Alaska, Yukon, Pacific Exposition, 1909

Subseries 8.12, Panama-California Exposition, 1915-1916

Subseries 8.13, Bronx International Exposition of Science, Arts, and Industries, 1918

Subseries 8.14, Sesquicentennial Exposition, 1926

Subseries 8.15, Barcelona International Exposition, 1929

Subseries 8.16, L'Exposition Coloniale, Paris, 1931

Subseries 8.17, Olympics, 1932

Subseries 8.18, A Century of Progress International Exposition, 1933

Subseries 8.19, Expositions, 1933-1935

Subseries 8.20, Expositions, 1936-1937

Subseries 8.21, Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, 1937

Subseries 8.22, Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939

Subseries 8.23, Festival of Britain, Britain, London, United Kingdom, 1951

Subseries 8.24, Milan Fair, 1955

Subseries 8.25, Exposition Universelle et venti Internationale de Bruxelles, 1958

Subseries 8.26, American National Exhibition, 1959

Subseries 8.27, New York's World Fair, 1961-1977, undated

Subseries 8.28, Century 21 Exhibition, 1961-1962

Subseries 8.29, International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, 1967

Subseries 8.30, Long Beach, California, 1967-1968

Subseries 8.31, HemisFair 68, 1968

Subseries 8.32, Expo 70 or Japan World Exposition, 1970

Subseries 8.33, Expo 74 or International Exposition on the Environment

Subseries 8.34, Expo 75 or International Ocean Exposition, 1975

Subseries 8.35, American Revolution Bicentennial, 1776-1976, 1976

Subseries 8.36, Queen's Bicentennial Festival, 1975-1976

Subseries 8.37, Plovdiv International Exhibition of 1981 or Expo 81

Subseries 8.38, Kobe Port Island Exposition or Portopia 81, 1981

Subseries 8.39, Knoxville International Energy Exposition or 1982 World's Fair, 1982

Subseries 8.40, Louisiana World Exposition, 1984

Subseries 8.41, Games of the XXIII Olympiad, 1984

Subseries 8.42, The International Exposition, Tsukuba, Japan or The International Science Technology Exposition, 1985

Subseries 8.43, Queen's Festival, 1985

Subseries 8.44, 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication or Expo 86, 1986

Subseries 8.45, World Expo 88, 1988

Subseries 8.46, Universal Exposition of Seville or Expo 92, 1992

Subseries 8.47, Expo 2000, 2000

Subseries 8.48, Other Events and Celebrations, 1886-1989

Subseries 8.49, Combined Fairs, 1968-1994

Subseries 8.50, General information about world's fairs, 1964-1980

Series 9, Ephemera, 1892-1989, undated

Subseries 9.1, New York and New York World's Fair, 1892-1989, undated

Subseries 9.2, Other States and Countries, 1835, 1939, undated

Subseries 9.3, Motion Picture Film and Entertainment, 1937-1981, undated

Series 10, Audio Visual Materials, 1939, 1964-1965, undated

Subseries 10.1, Moving Images, 1939, 1964-1965, undated

Subseries 10.2, Sound Recordings, undated

Series 11, Oversize, 1835-1992, undated

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical

Edward Joseph Orth grew up with a strong interest in history, particularly the history of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Orth's visit to the fair as a twelve-year-old boy led to a life-long passion of collecting. At the time of his death, he had amassed enough materials to fill two homes in California. Orth also collected materials from several other fairs. In addition, he saved some of the records of the Exhibition Collectors Historical Organization (ECHO) and the World's Fair Collector's Society.

Orth was born April 19, 1927, to Andrew Joseph Orth and Florence Minnie Gordon Orth in Glendale, New York. In the 1930s, the Orth family lived in several locations in New York including Ridgewood, Brooklyn, Glendale, and Queens. The home that made the most impact in young Orth's life came in 1935 when the family moved to St. Albans, Queens seven miles from Flushing Meadow Park, the future site of the 1939 fair. Sadly in 1939 there were several deaths in the family including three grandparents. The severe loss of life limited family social activities but a drive by the future site of the fair provided Orth a glimpse of the Trylon and Perisphere. He would later remark that the sight appeared to be magic. In the summer of 1939, he went to the fair with his classmates from Public School 136. The next summer Orth and his father purchased a 10-admission ticket from an elementary school in Hollis, Queens, New York. He saved every souvenir and any information he could find about the fair. He filled scrapbooks with images from newspapers and postcards from the Curt Teich and Manhattan Postcard companies. When his family moved from an apartment to a house, he acquired a fair bench which was kept in the backyard.

In 1941, Orth attended Newton High School in Elmhurst, and Queens, New York. The high school offered a college preparatory program with heavy emphasis on mathematics, science, mechanical drawing, and workshop courses. Orth's education and training combined with the knowledge he gained from motion picture films viewed at the fair, including Thomas Edison's "The City of Light," Ford Motor Company's "Road of Tomorrow," "Democracy," and General Motors' "Futurama" provided the foundation and inspiration for a career in architecture and landscaping. He ultimately became a city planner for the state of California. By 1943, Orth was exploring used magazine and bookstores in New York City to acquire more fair materials before enlisting in the United States Army in 1945. Upon his discharge he resumed buying and trading fair postcards. From 1948-1953, Orth attended the University of California and the University of Connecticut where he studied architecture and landscape design. During these years he posted advertisements in various publications in his continued pursue for fair materials.

In March 1953, Mr. Orth moved to Los Angeles, California. There he formed lasting friendships with other collectors. By 1967, Orth and several of his closest friends including Peter Warner, Oscar Hengstler, David Oats, Larry Zim, and Ernest Weidhaas conceived the idea of a fair collector's organization. By the summer of 1968, the group had formally created the Exhibition Collectors Historical Organization (ECHO).

As time passed Orth became increasing concerned about the welfare of his collection. He wanted it to go to a museum rather than be sold in parts. In his will he stipulated that the collection would be given to the Smithsonian Institution upon his death. Jon Zackman, former Smithsonian employee, interviewed Orth's brother George and fair collector Peter Warner. Orth and Warner corresponded and traded objects over many years. Mr. Orth primarily covered the west coast area while Peter Warner was his east coast counterpart. Edward Orth died on September 6,1989 in Los Angeles, California at the age of sixty-two.

Related Materials

New York World's Fair Collection, NMAH.AC.0134

Landor Design Collection, NMAH.AC.0500

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subject Category, World Expos, NMAH.AC.0060

Larry Zim World's Fair Collection, NMAH.AC.0519

Alice R. Hillis World's Fair Film, NMAH.AC.0531

Borden Company 1939 New York World's Fair Collection, NMAH.AC.1063

Memories of the New York World's Fair, NMAH.AC.0592

Archives Center World Expositions Collection, NMAH.AC.0825

Daniel H. Meyerson World's Fair Collection, NMAH.AC.0745

Division of Community Life World's Fairs Collection, NMAH.AC.1132

Princeton University Posters Collection, NMAH.AC.0433

Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated Records, NMAH.AC.0395

Smithsonian Speech Synthesis History Project, NMAH.AC.0417

Messmore and Damon Company Records, NMAH.AC.0846

Thomas Norrell Railroad Collection, NMAH.AC.1174

William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection, NMAH.AC.1288

Wurlitzer Company Records, NMAH.AC.0469

Victor A. Blenkle Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0200

New York Public Library The New York World's Fair 1939 and 1940 Incorporated Records, 1935-1945, MssCol 2233.

New York City 1939 World's Fair architectural drawings, circa 1935. Museum of the City of New York. Museum of the City of New York.

New York City 1939 World's Fair Collection, 1939-1940. Museum of the City of New York. New York World's Fair 1939/40 Collection. Queens Museum.

1939 New York World's Fair Postcards, Identifier: 1972-320, Audiovisual Collections Repository, Hagley Museum & Library