A bright dandy named Sigmund Freud supposedly once tell , “ The only thing about America that occupy me is Coney Island . ” Harsh , but let ’s examine the evidence : there are mile of flaxen beaches , a boardwalk , entertainment parking area rides galore , a parade that ’s all about braless mermaids , and a televised contest that ’s give whole to stuffing red-hot dogs in your face . Whether or not you agree with Mr. Freud , there ’s no fence Coney Island – which is really a peninsula , not an island , BTW – puts up some unbendable contender to other region . To back his title up even further , and in honor of this weekend ’s annualMermaid Parade , we took it upon ourselves to grok up some lesser - known gems about “ America ’s Playground . ”
The Wonder Wheel was an IOU wedding present
In 1948 , Hellenic immigrant Denos Vourderis gave his future wife Lula what every womanhood dream of receive on her wedding day : a 150ft - high Ferris wheel in the nerve of Coney Island . Well , almost . He promised that if she marry him , he would buy it for her as presently as he was able . solve his means up from a hot dog trafficker , Vourderis kept his word and eventually purchased the ride , which first open up in 1920 , X after in 1983 . keep the custom awake , the ride , which is now run by his son Steve , is still a prime spot for proposals .
The boardwalk once showcased premature babies for money
Though the Coney Island boardwalk is dotted with shop and solid food seller today , it exhibit a little something unlike in the former 1900s . If you were to saunter down Luna Park back in the day , you ’d likely come across spyglass incubators of tiny , premature babies . The man behind the operation was Dr. Martin Couney , who localize up a modest display , to which parents rushed their premature babies to help them subsist . Though he did n’t load for care , hedidask patrons to cough up a fourth part to view . Sure , the voyeuristic aspect is utterly foreign , but of the 8,000 previous baby that were brought to Couney , some 6,500 survived .
A giant elephant hotel-turned-brothel once called Coney Island home
Back in the day , on a less - than - worthy incision of Surf Ave and West 12th St , stood a seven - storey elephant - shape building in all its gimmicky glory . ( Just depict Nicole Kidman ’s boudoir fromMoulin Rouge . ) Inside the Elephant Colossus , which was erect in 1885 , was say to be a concert Charles Francis Hall , museum , cigar shop , and spiral staircases ( the legs ) leading up to rooms and telescopes ( the eyes ) . Its designer , James Lafferty , even referred to it as the " Eighth Wonder of the World . " But as the locution give out , nothing go forever , and what started as a 31 - room hotel finally ended up as a brothel brimming with harlot . The whole matter burned down in September 1896 , but there ’s no doubt it lived a fabled life while it lasted .
If Coney Island didn’t exist, neither would frozen custard
It was the summertime of 1919 , and glass pick vendor across the neighborhood were panic about their fast - disappear icy treats . That is , until two sibling , Archie and Elton Kohr , came to the rescue with a genius idea . They blended orchis vitellus into the trash cream mixing , which not only slowed the melting , but also by chance created the domain ’s first silky - unruffled frozen custard . Rumor has it the pair sold over 18,000 cone the first weekend alone . mate , Italian ice .
Coney Island introduced the world’s first roller coaster
No , we ’re not talking about the Cyclone . Before the rickety wooden drive we sleep together and love arrived in 1927 , there was a 600ft - long switchback railway line . open in June 1884 by a cat named LaMarcus Thompson , the coaster , which stood where the Cyclone is now , traveled at 6 miles per hour 50 ft above ground . To put thing into perspective , the Cyclone is 85 ft tall , and the tall in North America hovers around 456 ft . Oh , and it only be a nickel to ride ( today , the Cyclone costs 10 quotation , or $ 10 ) .
It was responsible for a lot of other firsts, too
you’re able to also thank the trailblazing neighborhood for introducing the first bike track in the res publica . design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and built in 1894 to relate Coney Island to Prospect Park , the route , which carry five miles along Ocean Parkway , is still a pop selection among rider ( though it no longer connects to Prospect Park ) . Back in the day , bicycler were limited to speeds of 12 miles per hour on the bike course to avoid racing – now , you ’re free to speed along as you please .
Cary Grant owes some of his stardom to Coney Island
Before the raffish Hollywood player get ahead the kernel of audiences on the Ag screen in movies likeNorth by NorthwestandHis Girl Friday , he captivated crowds as a Coney Island entertainer , teetering on 6ft - high stilts through the ‘ cap . Grant was hired by Steeplechase Park founder George Tilyou in the early 1920s , and his costume consisted of a bright - green coating , jockey cap , and black trouser .
The beaches weren’t always open to the public
trust it or not , Coney Island was quite cliquey during its other days . While the locality ’s three miles of sandy beaches welcomes gang from all pass of living detached of charge today , this was n’t always the case . family line could either husk out 10 centime to a quarter at the private bathhouse for access to the sole beach , or take their sunbathing elsewhere . It was n’t until 1923 that the city built the public boardwalk and spread the ground to everyone .
Before the Mermaid Parade, there was the Coney Island Mardi Gras parade
The Mermaid Parade was n’t the first spectacle to pip the street . For five decades , from 1903 - 1954 , Coney Island host a weeklong extravaganza , which became love as the Coney Island Mardi Gras parade , complete with swim bladder , music , and thousands of cheering viewer . Unlike its fishtail - and - consistency - paint - focus twin , which co-occur with the summer solstice , merrymaker echo in this parade watch over Labor Day . A lot of good get along from saturnalia – in fact , the whole shindig was organized to fundraise money to reconstruct the Mission and Rescue Home for Wayward Girls , which was demolish in a fire .
The eerie yellow submarine in Coney Island Creek has zero to do with the Beatles song, but…
… it does derive with a reasonably nerveless backstory of its own : year after the S.S. Andrea Doria , an sea liner , sunk off the coast in Nantucket in 1956 , a lightbulb went off in shipyard welder Jerry Bianco ’s nous . He resolve to build a submarine with the intention of recovering the ship ’s worthful remnants . Although the vas toppled over on its first trip – and was afterwards damaged and washed out by a tempest – his vision lives on in the water system .
The first Nathan’s hot dog cost a nickel
The neighborhood dogs may now be $ 4 a pop , but Nathan Handwerker ( yes , as in that Nathan ) charged client just five cents in 1916 . As the chronicle cash in one’s chips , he did so to contend with his former employer , Charles Feltman ( who some say make up the live dog ) , who was doling them out for 10 cent each . Not everything has changed , though – the hidden recipe is the same as the original from 100 year ago , and it ’s still sold on the recess of Surf and Stillwell Avenues .
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