Savoy Ballroom Exhibit – 1939 World’s Fair!

I found a bunch of old photos of the Savoy Lindy Hop Dancers performing somewhere outside in New York on the New York Public Library Website and after a little more searching I found these drawings/concept art for the exhibit that would become the Savoy Ballroom at the 1939 New York World’s Fair!
Here is an artist rendition / concept drawing of the Savoy Ballroom Exhibit found at the New York Public Library. “Also known as the “Temple of the Jitterbug,” Moe Gale’s $100,000 Savoy Ballroom Theater featured the dances of the day and “tomorrow” in twenty-minute performances by the country’s greatest rhythm dances.” (Taken from this website about the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Savoy Ballroom Exhibit)


A description of the exhibit typed on the back of the drawing reads: “Lovers of the Big Apple, the Lindy Hop, the Shag and other dances made popular by Harlem will flock to this modernistic building in the Amusement Area of the New York World’s Fair 1939. A troupe of 25 to 30 entertainers will stage a new show in the Savoy theatre every fifteen minutes day and night.”



In the video below, we get to see what the Savoy Ballroom exhibit looked like, in color! And yes, the Savoy marquee was yellow and red. Then we get to see what the 20 minute shows might have looked like ,on an outdoor stage, featuring live bands that played at the Savoy along with Lindy Hop dancers jamming out with them!



And finally, this is a present gifted to me by my big brother for my 21st birthday. Now I’m not sure if it’s a ticket to the Savoy Ballroom in New York or to the exhibit in the Fair it self but I know it was a part of a larger book of tickets you could purchase at the Fair. Either way, this is an amazing find and thank my big brother, John, for the amazingly thoughtful gift. The ticket is so beautiful and the artwork on it is awesome!