Bob was a great traveler and he enjoyed going to amusement parks. He visited the worlds most famous and iconic amusement park Coney Island. At this time of the year I think of Coney Island and Nathan's Hot Dog stand for the famous Hot Dog eating contest on July 4th. Unfortunately there is not an image of Nathan's, but he did take this photograph of the sign for George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park featuring the smiling Coney Island man.
He also managed to take a picture of the Cyclone Racer in it's glory.
Not content to just take a static image, Bob boarded the roller coaster and snapped an image of the cars heading up the first lift hill. Bob was quite brave sitting at the second row of seats.
Tomorrow another New York theme park.
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7 comments:
WOW, wonderful! I have never been to Coney Island (was going to go the last time I was in New York, but it was raining). For some reason I am fascinated by it though! I think it's the fact that it has such an influential place in amusement park history. The hard-to-find Viewmaster packet is pretty cool!
Right now my desktop wallpaper is a vintage (1913) photo of Luna Park, which was also part of Coney Island.
Also, Disneyland was Walt's response to the kind of "seedy" amusement parks like this, although I find the seedy quality kind of appealing.
There was another "Cyclone Racer" which was located in Long Beach CA (at The Pike). Wonder if that one was a duplicate. Anyone know? In addition there is a Luna Park in Melbourne Australia.
Great post! I've been to Coney Island many times, and only wish it still looked like this.
My Mom is originally from Bay Shore (Brooklyn) and in 1972 we took a vacation back to NYC to see her old haunts from the 50's.
We called a cab and when it arrived, my ethnically challanged familly climbed in and asked for a one-way drop off trip to Coney Island.
From the look on the cab drivers face, you'd thought we asked for a trip to the gates of Hell. But there was money involved, and in a short time we were there.
To the cab driver's credit, he gave us is dispatch number and a code word to use when requesting a pickup, and he would come back and pick us up personally. "We don't usually pick up in this area".
Within five minutes, even an twelve year old me could see why.
BTW, we did look at several large wooden roller coasters (I think it may have even been the Cyclone itself), but after closer examination of its condition, decided it would better be enjoyed as a piece of nostalgia than as a carnival ride.
Besides, if the taxi drivers were reluctant to come into this part of town, we weren't willing to bet on the bravery of the Ambulance Drivers.
Wow, these are great photos of Coney Island! Especially like the coaster photos. I believe that the coaster depicted is actually not the Cyclone but is the old Thunderbolt that was located in Steeplechase Park. Built in 1924, this was the coaster that was in the movie "Annie Hall" with a house located underneath the structure. It ran until 1983 but was left standing-but-not-operating(SBNO)until it was torn down around 2003, I believe. I've always thought that it & the Cyclone looked very similar in style & track layout. Again, awesome posts! I always enjoy seeing & reading the cool stuff that you share. Thanks!!
I agree-great pictures. And I also think the coaster is Thunderbolt. Thanks for sharing.
Westcot2000- I based the coaster on the location of the Hot Rod Speedway seen in the second photo. The third photo may be from the Thunderbolt it is very tough to tell and I could not find any good photos of the Thunderbolt. Most I found on the net were of the coaster being demolished.
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