Theodore Roosevelt Grade School - preliminary illustration

Zuckerman

From a series of what we presume were promotional storyboard illustrations for a large event. Some of these were signed simply "Zuckerman" but the origins and dates of the artist are as yet unknown. With the ultra-stylized Art Deco designs, the references to American history and Hollywood, and the recurring fashions throughout, we suspect these might have been created during the Los Angeles World's Fair of 1923: American Historical Review and Motion Picture Exposition.

The exposition ran from July 2nd to August 4th and was built around and inside the newly opened Los Angeles Coliseum. While the driver of the exposition was the 100th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, the focus was the rapidly expanding film industry based in the Hollywood and Culver City. Joseph M. Schenck, the movie director, wrote that the exposition “is of vital importance to Los Angeles and every Angeleno should give it his whole-heated support.”

Expectations were high in predicting attendance with the figure hovering around a million. The marriage of history with the romance of the film industry fell flat and the final total was only about 300,000 spectators. Many of the those in attendance during the last week of the fair were teenagers who were given free passes.