‘A Fine Tourist Lure’: Canadian Nontheatrical Cinema and Tourism Promotion at the New York World’s Fair, 1939-1940

Brégent-Heald, Dominique (2025) ‘A Fine Tourist Lure’: Canadian Nontheatrical Cinema and Tourism Promotion at the New York World’s Fair, 1939-1940. Journal of Tourism history. ISSN 1755-1838 (Submitted)

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Abstract

Using archival research, this essay examines the use of motion pictures as a nation branding strategy at international exhibitions, focusing on Canada’s participation at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair (NYWF). At the time, corporations, industries, nations, and non-profits sponsored the production of ‘useful films’ as a storytelling device to create meaning without appearing as blatant advertising or propaganda. With their throngs of consumer- and travel-minded visitors, world’s fairs were key nontheatrical exhibition sites for these productions. The essay traces the evolution of the Dominion’s exhibition practices from displaying staple resources and recruiting British and American immigrants to tourism promotion. Meanwhile, Canada had become a pioneer in the use of film technology to publicise itself as a modern vacationland for American tourists. The combination of exhibition and film practice as tourism promotion converged at the NYWF. With the pressing need for US currency to succour Canada’s war effort, government officials wagered that adding a stand-alone film auditorium to the Canadian Pavilion in 1940, primarily screening tourism films, was the most effective way to construct a recognisable national brand aimed at fairgoers.

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