ResonantLive Sound Archive

Equipment file · Fairground sound-distribution system

1939 World’s Fair PA

RCA / Western Electric · 1939

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

RCA's commercial sound catalogue describes its PA and broadcast control equipment as the nerve centre of a fair-wide network of RCA sound apparatus at the 1939 New York World's Fair, including recorded music and narration inside the Perisphere's 'Democracity' exhibit.

Introduced
1939
Category
Fairground sound-distribution system
Intended use
Announcements, music and exhibit narration across the fair
Production
RCA Manufacturing Company for the New York World's Fair

Equipment photographs · 1

Crowd surrounds television at RCA exhibit at 1939 World's Fair, where RCA sound systems were deployed.

1 / 1 · Crowd surrounds television at RCA exhibit at 1939 World's Fair

Crowd surrounds television at RCA exhibit at 1939 World's Fair·Unknown·Public domain

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    One of the largest centrally controlled sound-distribution installations of its time.

  2. 02

    RCA used it to showcase integrated microphone-to-loudspeaker systems for large venues.

Engineering record

System scope
Central PA and broadcast control units fed RCA sound equipment across the fairgrounds, including the Perisphere[1]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

Reproduced background music and dialogue inside the Perisphere's 'Democracity' exhibit[1]

Manuals & original documents

Sources

  1. 1RCA Commercial Sound Systems CatalogRCA Manufacturing Company · brochure

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