1939-1940 New York World's Fair Souvenir Button, "I Have Seen the Future"

Visitors to General Motors' "Highways and Horizons" Pavilion at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair were given these pins reading "I Have Seen the Future" after riding the exhibit's "Futurama" attraction.

A precursor to the modern theme park dark ride, "Futurama" was the Fair's most popular exhibit. Seated in moving chairs attached to a conveyor belt, Fairgoers were carried over a 35,000 square foot diorama representing America as it might look thirty years into the future.

The experience was envisioned by designer Norman Bel Geddes, who predicted an extensive streamlined highway system connecting the nation, expanding suburban populations, and the use of technologies to improve societal systems. The future imagined by Geddes was so compelling, that President Franklin Roosevelt asked him to consult on America's transportation issues, influencing the passage of 1944's Federal-Aid Highway Act.

The ideas of the "Futurama" coincided with the overall ambitions of the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, whose theme was "The World of Tomorrow." Held in Flushing Meadows, the Fair attracted almost 45 million people, who were introduced to advancements in such technologies as television, color photography, synthetic materials and robotics.

Currently not on view