This was the Coney Island that the working class man visited as an escape from the daily grind of his job and the city. This is the Coney Island I want to visit. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the innocence of the rides which were tame in comparison to today. Strangely, there was a "Human Zoo" where visitors would climb to the bottom of a ladder and would find themselves in a cage and were on display for other visitors who would feed them peanuts.
Certainly I would not care to put on one of the standard swimsuits for ladies which were made of wool and often weighed 15-20 lbs wet and would require ladies to use ropes to extract them from the ocean after a swim.
I remember my father talking about visiting Coney Island as a kid, but sadly I don't remember him telling me anything more about it.
Perhaps it's nostalgia or the desire to visit a simpler time. I'd love to jump into a time machine and visit Coney Island mid nineteenth century. Of course, I'm sure it would be just as great to return home.
Check out the new addition to my frequently read blogs....Ephemeral New York. Just a plethora of really cool information about a city I adore!
3 comments:
Coney Island was the one place I insisted we visit when I first went to New York a few years ago. (Everyone else was DELIGHTED with the hour-long train ride.)
I guess the closest thing to a human zoo they have now is the Shoot The Freak game.
I agree, it would be neat to see how it was years ago, but it was still cool to get a Nathan's dog and stroll along the boardwalk.
I would have liked to been HERE a hundred years ago!
Did you ever see the movie "Warriors"? They were from Coney Island.
My Uncles friends Dads friend used to swim around Manhattan Island.
Guess the water was cleaner then...
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