Souvenir napkin ring

This plastic napkin ring is a souvenir from the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. It is in the shape of the 700-foot-high Trylon and Perisphere - the exhibition's official logo.

Souvenir red plastic napkin ring in the shape of the Trylon and perisphere at the 1939 - 1940 New York World's Fair: American, c. 1939

Exhibition souvenirs can be traced back to items sold at fairs and produced in connection with the national exhibitions of manufactured goods held in France and elsewhere in the first half of the nineteenth century. The first great international exhibition was held in Hyde Park in 1851. The key development between the two World Wars was the general agreement to decorate exhibition souvenirs with the exhibition symbol or principal architectural feature. The 1939 New York World's Fair endorsed this movement and provided the model for later exhibitions.

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