The 1939 World’s Fair Used Specialized Branding to Target Young Consumers

By Steven Heller · Print Magazine · 2026-08-19

Print Magazine examines how early 20th-century designers utilized nursery rhymes and innocence to sell capitalist ideals to children. Using the book Johnny’s So Long at the Fair as a primary example, the analysis shows how Maxwell M. Geffen leveraged the 1939 New York World’s Fai

Print Magazine examines how early 20th-century designers utilized nursery rhymes and innocence to sell capitalist ideals to children. Using the book Johnny’s So Long at the Fair as a primary example, the analysis shows how Maxwell M. Geffen leveraged the 1939 New York World’s Fai