CSPAN had an interesting show about the World’s Fair of 1939.
The Fair lost money because it failed to meet its revenue projections.
The number one problem the Fair had—folks thought the food prices were too high.
Consumers can get very irritated and rebellious when they think they are getting ripped off...even on relatively small items.
A handful of journalists wrote that the food was too expensive. After reading this, the commissioner of the World’s Fair conducted a survey of the restaurants in the foreign zone, and estimated that full meals at these establishments cost about 43 cents on average, which was a standard price for a sit-down meal at a moderately priced Manhattan restaurant.