This footage is color film of the 1939 World's Fair, including the exterior TV stage at RCA (at 06:33) and the interior stage at GE (at 07:17).

While an area with many light reflectors is visible in the RCA footage, they are apparently using ambient daylight for the two women at the lectern. Note the viewfinder-less RCA camera.

The blue color of the GE footage apparently indicates that they used high intensity mercury vapor lamps. I have read of this practice, but this is the first direct evidence I have seen.

The same high levels of lighting needed for TV were a good match for the slow color film of the day.

https://archive.org/details/Medicusc1939_5

To only be there...but this is close!

A fascinating look back in time! Wonder if Crosley had anything other than their glorified golf carts on display? :scratch2:

So used to seeing black and white film from this time period. Color brings a new reality to it.

So used to seeing black and white film from this time period. Color brings a new reality to it.

Kodachrome was new (4 years old), so 1939 was the first fair with notable use of color movies and slides. Copies of Kodachrome stereo stills were used for Viewmaster 3D reels, which were introduced at the 1939 fair. Being copies, they gained contrast and lost saturation, so the images are not as good as these original movies, but they also had the quite dark-stable Kodachrome dyes, so the color remains after 78 years.
Postcards from the fair were made from heavily edited and hand-colored images, also giving no realistic impression of the beauty of this fair. Color movies and slides give an entirely different and brighter view.

I love seeing the '30's and '40's in color. You finally see that not everything back then was in shades of gray! Clothes, cars, etc., came in brilliant colors. I love 1939. What a special year in the USA. The height of streamline design, great movies, music, radio shows, cars, fairs, etc.. Unfortunately a world war was looming over us.

Wow all these years and I've never seen that footage Simply Amazing. I wonder if any of that quipment still exist. And on another note someone took color footage back in the day I wonder if there's any color footage when Roosevelt opened the World's Fair I've seen all the black and white footage but never any color

http://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_iconoscope_camera.html

Cool footage! Love the Johns-Manville exhibit: "Asbestos-The Miracle Mineral!"

Cool footage! Love the Johns-Manville exhibit: "Asbestos-The Miracle Mineral!"

Gotta have the bestest bestos! :D