Coney Island as a Symbol of What Humanity Is Capable Of

Coney Island may have more impact on America then someone might think. The 1920s was a time where America was very vulnerable as to what it would become in the future. Mainly because World War I had just ended and the Great Depression. It was a time where America would create all sorts of new inventions and make a bunch of new laws. For example, this is the time where women got the right to vote. This is also the time when Coney Island started to raise in popularity. Also, when Coney Island sheds the light in Brooklyn from all the darkness in World War I. Coney Island is where a poor man could go and have fun during this age. Coney Island was a symbol as to what humankind is capable of.

Coney Island was first and foremost a beach, the occupation of the beach was reflected by the density of New York, where finding space was difficult. Often times not even able to find a place for a towel. It was also a boardwalk, in this pre-cellphone era, the risk if having so many people and no cellphones was becoming lost and away from their friends or family. During the 1870s and 1880s, luxury hotels were built there, and a railroad was extended to the resort (‘New York Amusement Parks’). This made it easily accessible to anyone trying to experience Coney Island.

In the year 1895, Paul Boyton selected Coney Island as the nice region for what is now considered to be the very first genuine park for amusement. Performer Boyton, who had a focus globally for acting out publicity stunts, added his massive water circus, Sea Lion Park, without delay in returned of the Elephant Hotel at Coney Island. Two years later on, George Tilyou, who created Steeplechase Park, featured a Ferris wheel decorated with incandescent lights, as well as a horseracing center. In 1903, Frederic Thompson and his friend, Elmer Dundy, opened Luna Park, with its astral attraction, a day out recognized as ‘Trip to the Moon’. Dreamland, achieving the very best factor for the time with a 375-foot core tower as tall as the white fake Beaux Arts buildings (Shaw). These large park owners invested intently in land, buildings, and machinery, giving them unparalleled control over the content material cloth and kind of enjoyment within the park. As a result, Coney Island managed to draw in an estimated twenty million humans at some stage in the summer season of 1909, as well as greater more revenue than Disneyland drew during its opening at some point of 1955 (‘New York Amusement Parks’). At Coney Island, with the entry rate set at ten cents, heaps of hundreds of dollars have been made each summer, with the cash going to each and every associate and investors. To compare it to Disneyland, Coney Island was part of a real city, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It was not a specially protected secluded atmosphere that rigidly controlled its visitors. Coney Island was open for anybody to come its way.

The amusement park created was the science behind some of the first things that shaped the culture of American amusement in the 1920s. One of them being the hot dog. Although this fine dish already existed, Coney Island transformed the hot dog into a unique American food, the hot dog also popularized roller coaster culture (Pescovitz). Then Charles Loof, an artist, created the first carousel ever in 1875, it operated by steam power, and he carved many of the animals himself (‘New York Amusement Parks’). Coney Island was also the first gated amusement park and can be closed anytime. This didn’t stop the rebellious gangs during the falling time of this park in the 1960s.

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One of the greatest structures of Coney Island was the Elephant Hotel. It was, essentially, a wood carcass that was once formed similar to an elephant. Its length from the hind legs to the tip of its trunk was once one hundred fifty feet. Its legs on my own were eighteen toes high and its tusks have been forty toes in diameter (Pescovitz). The forelegs contained a cigar keep and the hind legs held circular stairways, additionally recognized as the diorama, leading to the rooms on the subsequent floor. The entire physique was once covered in a coating of blue tin. Inside the body have been thirty-one rooms that various in shape and size, such as a grand hall, a gallery, quite a number leisure and novelty stalls, and a museum, that was placed near its left lung. The Stomach Room used to be 60 x 35 feet and triangular shaped (Pescovitz). The Cheek Room was once where the traffic would experience a notable view of the Atlantic Ocean and down the trunk. Tragically, the Elephant Hotel collapsed as a result of a hearth in 1896, after being unoccupied for numerous years. After its initial success, it finally grew to become vacant. During the fire, it took almost an hour for the shape to crumple for the reason that it was made from timber and water was once scarce.

Coney Island had a magnificent growth in the quantity of site visitors in the 1920’s due to the introduction of a new subway line that related Manhattan and Brooklyn (Eiland). The subway fare used to be a single nickel, which drew tens of millions of site visitors to Coney Island to experience the many attractions. Thus, causing he nickname ‘The Poor Man’s Paradise’ (‘New York Amusement Parks’). People journey to New York City’s closest beach and spent time on the sand with their family and friends. They loved walking on Coney Island’s regular boardwalk, which contained the newly set up 150-foot-tall Wonder Wheel and five cent hot dogs coming from the resorts Nathan’s Famous. On June 26, 1927, the Cyclone was once built and grew to be Coney Island’s most well-known curler coaster (Pescovitz). Amusement parks such as Luna Park, Dreamland and Steeplechase Park have been very famous with visitors. These parks generated a constant float of profits for the area, while providing fun for households and children.

After the Great Depression, the entertainment parks and other sights suffered economically. Even though people nonetheless traveled to Coney Island because of the inexpensive nickel fare, they weren’t as inclined to spend money when they received there. Most human beings spent time on the beach rather than going to the parks. Another issue that pushed people to flock to the seashore used to be the warmth wave that took location all through the Great Depression. There had been nevertheless some people that had extra money on the facet to have fun, however the entertainment parks had a hard time making a profit. In the 1930’s, most of the leisure parks grew to be bankrupt and shutdown (Eiland). These parks sooner or later opened up again due to new proprietors, but in no way became as successful as pre-Depression days.

The fame of Coney Island began to decline over the years, changing from the family-friendly to shabby and broke-down. The seashore remained famous however the leisure parks began to deteriorate. The entertainment parks unfortunately were no longer in a position to make up for the economic harm that the Great Depression delivered. Starting from the early 1960’s, Coney Island slowly started out to reap a reputation for being unsafe, as so many teenage gangs, such as ‘The Jokers’, congregated there (‘New York Amusement Parks’). The subways had been stuffed with contributors of teenage gangs which discouraged many interested visitors from taking the subway to Coney Island (Eiland). Only a fraction of the attractions remained by the early 21st century; Luna Park closed. Then the Sea Gate district is a residential section which covered Luna Park (Eiland). It additionally grew to become a center of racial tensions due to the fact of the changing population density of New York and an array of new white people from the city.

Coney Island holds a unique place in American history, and the nations imagination. It became a working-class symbol, a symbol of the American democracy, a place where people came to have fun. Coney Island provided thrills that couldn't be found anywhere else, it had a large combination of rides, circuses, carnival sideshows, magicians and more. This type of feel and positivity changed the 1920s journey to where we are today.