World’s Fair “Italy” uniform design

Nearly 60 nations, 33 states and U.S. territories, and more than 1,000 exhibitors participated in the 1939–40 World’s Fair. The event’s Board of Design tightly controlled the fair’s aesthetics, including approval of this guard uniform design associated with Italy’s pavilion. The fair looked toward a brighter future, offering America the opportunity to distance itself from the Great Depression. But World War II loomed on the horizon, and the optimistic slogan of 1939, “Dawn of a New Day,” was in 1940 replaced by “For Peace and Freedom.” Ten nations did not return for the second year of the fair, including the Soviet Union and several under Nazi occupation.  Italy’s exhibits continued, featuring handicrafts, tourism, and technological advancements, as well as a popular restaurant and night club. The country’s huge pavilion—the largest after the Soviet Union’s was dismantled—combined classical architectural elements with Fascist design, and gave Italy a highly visible presence at the fair during the first phases of the war.