1939 Golden Gate International Exposition Pair of Souvenir Bronze Bookends

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On offer are rare souvenir brass bookends from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE), a World's Fair held on … Read more On offer are rare souvenir brass bookends from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE), a World's Fair held on Treasure Island in San Francisco. The 1939 Exposition celebrated the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. It was produced to promote unity, tourism and natural wonders across the Pacific and the American West.
These bookends showcase iconic natural landmarks of Northern California, etched in a stark, Art Deco-influenced graphic style. The left panel reads “Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Park -Calif” displaying the upper and lower drops with craggy granite cliffs. The right panel reads “Wawona, Mariposa Big Trees California, featuring the famous Wawona Drive-Through Tree in the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees. The scene is complete with car tracks, depicting how an automobile might drive through the tunnel cut into the giant Sequoia.
These are "clamshell" or folding-pocket bookends. The small outer brass tabs stamped with "BEND" act as built-in hinges. The main vertical plates fold flat against the base plates, which made them easy to pack, mail or carry home from the fair as souvenirs.
These were produced by Lachman-Prinz, a San Francisco-based metal craft company known for making etched brass souvenir wares during this era.
Signature/Maker’s Mark: Nonexistent. However, they do feature production and cataloging marks that confirm their authenticity as official 1939 Exposition souvenirs (photos #3 & 5). See less