Featured Looking for info on Vintage 1930s Art Deco "Heroic" Plaques

the holes look unused....

& I'll add , that someone has to post a photo of these online for them to be found ...& u may be the 1st.....which could in time lead others with these items...or pictures of, to find yours......and maybe even inquire right here !!!

 

I found this site that showcases some World fair collectibles (including 1933 and 1939). Though I don't see your items, perhaps you can contact them if they can shed more light and if they have dealt with them before.

https://tri-stateantiques.com/worldsfair.html

TTA

 

Here are the backsides, plus in situ just for fun! The plate hanging brackets are obviously my own.

Frankly, I don't know the answers to either of the first two questions. I'm only working off guesses.

At the very least, this would be ideal. I found my two plaques in March 2023, but a Google Lens search didn't turn up any visual matches until this past weekend, when the image of the Communication plaque suddenly appeared at the top of the search results. Not sure how that makes sense seeing as that photo was posted years back, but I'm not complaining as it confirms there are more.

Pictures of one or more plaques in situ would certainly help determine whether they were each one-offs or part of a batch in the same style. For now, I think I'll explore 1930s-40s San Francisco as the post-Depression architectural style there is remarkably consistent with the three plaque designs. Case in point, this relief on the SF Stock Exchange:

 

If you are still interested in the Chicago fair 1933-1934, here is a big list to go through:
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.CRMS226

 

Just out of curiosity, I found these two photos depicting wall relief works or plaques at the entrance of the electricity building in the 1933 chicago fair (right and left of the entrance). They were designed by Ulric Henry Ellerhusen (1879-1957)

https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/...photo/black-and-white-photograph/asset/744059


https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/...the-century-of-progress/nomedium/asset/744062


And at the entrance of the Communication hall there is another giant plaque.It was designed by a different person(s).

https://explore.chicagocollections.org/image/uic/67/qr4nv4s/

But judging from the communication hall plaque,it is different from that of the smaller "heroic" plaque we have . In principle similar inquiry can be made for the 1939 NY as well to see the plaques at the entrance of the respective halls, though search results are hard to come by. The idea I wanted to check is whether the giant plaques at the entrances of the respective sector walls were similar to the miniature plaques we saw or not...

TTA

 

Good finding.

 

Another day, another lead! Just found the Transportation plaque on an auction site, listed and sold just last year:

https://www.linkauctiongalleries.co...ansportation-plaque-1939-world-s-f_34E4C53BFC

The listing here purports it is indeed from the 1939 New York World's Fair. That seems more consistent with the dress style, pointed out previously. It's also nice to know the one I found is in less worn condition, as this listing appears to have lost the vertical propeller tip, and doesn't seem to have any trace of the former gold paint remaining.

What's more important, though, is this confirms these were not one-offs!

 

I love how strikingly similar this image of one Rosalie Fairbanks is to the imagery on the Transportation plaque!



Source: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/1939-new-york-world-fair/

 

That is quite a good lead. Keep looking then.

TTA

 

It seems I'm not alone in my search... Someone posted another Transportation plaque on here a couple years ago: https://www.antiquers.com/threads/a...syrocco-wood-plaque-airline-stewardess.69195/

The search for answers continues!