Searching the World’s Fair archives, Untapped New York’s founder Michelle Young came upon a forgotten gem: a mini Trylon and Perisphe replica that once stood at the New Jersey entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. This information booth structure was meant to be eye-catching and to “induce the out-of-town motorist to stop at the booths before plunging into Manhattan.” The Trylon and Perisphere were the centerpieces of the 1939 World’s Fair and this piece of promotional architecture was one of many replicas that popped up around NYC to promote the fair.
At the Lincon Tunnel, the spherical Perisphere part of the information booth is described as “containing a window counter with space for two clerks” and it measured 11 feet in diameter. The Trylon part stretched 38 feet high and was wrapped in a silver and black pennant which read “New York World’s Fair.” The structures were painted white and the lettering on them was red with blue trim.
The booth was advertised with 27 billboards on the highways which called attention to it and directed motorists toward it. It was manned 24/7 while the fair was in operation. The press release notes that the fair guides inside were “equipped to not only dispense information about the fair but about hotels and rooming, garages, road conditions, and similar subjects.”
The Port Authority built similar information booths at entrances to the Holland Tunnel and George Washington Bridge as well, as the document notes. Another information booth in this shape was built at the center of Times Square, at 46th Street and Broadway, mere steps away from the headquarters of its sponsor, Loews Metro Goldwyn Meyer.
You can learn more about the remnants and lost structures of both the 1939-40 and the 1964-65 World’s Fairs on our upcoming walking tour of Flushing Meadows Corona Park!
Remnants of the World’s Fairs Tour
Next, check out more replicas of the Trylon & Perisphere and more remnants of the 1939 World’s Fair
