Coney Island - Rides & Shows List
The material is copyrighted © 1998 by Jeffrey Stanton.
Revised June 3, 1998
This ride list was begun by Professor Manbeck in 1995 and then greatly expanded and completely
reworked with my research notes using Billboard magazine. Unfortunately
it is by no means complete since I read it quickly and usually just read the
issues from mid-March through the end of July, sometimes through the end of August, from 1904-1955. I also read many of the New York Times articles and May issues of the Brooklyn Eagle from 1902-1920.
Those who have researched Brooklyn newspapers may be able to add to the list, correct it, or provide missing ride descriptions. Many of the rides that are currently at Coney Island today are not on the list (see Independent Rides near end of list.)
Accuracy of List & Completeness
- Sea Lion Park 1895 - 1902 -- 60%
- Steeplechase 1897 - 1907 -- 75%
- Steeplechase 1907 - 1924 -- 85%
- Steeplechase 1925 - 1964 -- 98%
- Dreamland 1904 - 1911 -- 95%
- Luna Park 1903 - 1920 -- 95%
- Luna Park 1921 - 1944 -- 85%
- Independent Rides 1875 - 1910 -- 50%
- Independent Rides 1911 - 1955 -- 65%
- Independent Rides 1956 - 1997 -- 20%
Note: I've attempted to give the date the attraction was installed. When it says m 1925, it means that is the first or last time the ride is mentioned in print. It could have been installed earlier and lasted for years after that.
SEA LION PARK (Capt. Paul Boyton) 1895 - 1902
Location - Overton Pl. and Sea Beach Railroad; behind Sea Beach Palace
- Shoot-the-Chutes - 1895 (water toboggan ride)
- Flip Flap - 1896 (centrifugal force coaster with full inverted loop)
- Sea Lions
- Aquatic show & water circus
- Water Mill ride
- Lagoon
- Cages of Wild Wolves
- Ballroom - 1899
STEEPLECHASE (George C, Tilyou) 1893 - 1964
Location: 15+ acres between Surf Ave., Boardwalk, W 16th @ The Bowery & W. 19th St.
- Revolving Airship Tower - 1894-1907 (aerial corkscrew ride - after fire
converted into a water tower)
Note: aka [also known as] Air Ships
- Razzle Dazzle (patented by William Mangels; build by McCullough) - 1891
(circular swing for 70 people - pushed by workers like a see saw)
Note: later called Wedding Ring & Hoop-a-La
- Ferris Wheel - 1894 - 1964 (125 foot diameter wheel with 12 - 18 passenger
cars)
Note: Originally located The Bowery & W. 8th; transferred to
Steeple chase in 1905.)
- Aerial Slide (slide on pulley from tower to sand)
- Intermural Bicycle Railroad - 1894 (bicycle track - probably moved to
Steeplechase in 1905)
- Gravity Steeplechase Race Course - 1899 (horses raced along six guided
tracks)(Course raised higher in 1907 so could be seen by Bowery crowds)
Note: later called Steeplechase Ride or "The Horses"
- Voylitscope - 1900 (illusion of travelling fast without motion)
- Earthquake Floor - 1900
- The Skating Floor - 1900
- The Electric Fountain - 1900
- The Pneumatic Gun - 1900
- The Hoodoo Room - 1900
- The Electric Seal - 1900
- The Human Cage - 1900
- The California Bats - 1900 (joke attraction - 2 broken bricks in box)
Note: aka Red Bats
- Puzzle Hall - 1900
- The Revolving Seal - 1900
- The Art Room - 1900
- The Eccentric Fountain - 1900
- The Dancing Floor - 1900
- The Maze - 1900
- A Trip to the Moon - 1902 only (cyclorama using projections developed
by Thompson & Dundy - opened April 26, 1902)
- Giant Seesaw - 1902-1907 (2 Ferris Wheels at end of teeter board;
developed by Thompson & Dundy)
Note: aka Aerio Cycle - did not operate after fire, but
used as a giant billboard to hold Steeplechase sign until dismantled in
1929)
- Darkness & Dawn - 1902- 1905?? (cyclorama developed by Thompson & Dundy)
Note: aka Dante's Inferno
- Elephant Rides
- Bounding Billows - ??? (similar to Luna's Witching Waves)
- Canals of Venice - 1903 - 1905?
- Ocean / Steeplechase Pier - 1904-1908 (3 story bathing pavilion with
2000 changing rooms. Cruise ships could dock there. A square-rigged
sailing ship moored there.)
- French Voyage - 1904 - 1907 (walk-in boat?? - shows on map)
- House Upside Down - 1904-1910 (burned 1911) (2-1/2 story structure
with German Village restaurant on ground floor; furniture nailed
upside down on second floor.)
- Holy Land - 1904-1905? (near beach - circular building depicted on Sanborn
map)
- Satin Theater - 1904-1907
- Sea Serpent - 1904
- Dew Drop - 1904 (spiral tower slide)
- House of Too Much Trouble - 1904
- St. Louis Exposition - 1904
- Ballroom - 1904
- Earthquake Stairway - 1905 (split stairs)
Note: aka The Funny Stairway
- Japanese Tea Garden - m 1905
- Atlantis Under the Sea - m 1905
- Foolish House - m 1905 (mirror maze)
- Miniature Steam Railroad - 1906 - 1940 (built by Cagney Brothers)
- Cave of the Winds - 1906-1907 (site where 1907 fire originated)
Note: aka Tower of the Four Winds (funny)
- Pony Track - 1906 (Shetland ponies for children)
- Fads & Fancies Building - 1906 (numerous novel amusements)
- Carousel - 1906 (flying horse apparatus - cost $25,000)
- Automobile Senasation - 1906 (actual name??) (illusion of moving automobile
striking pedestrain)
- Flatiron Building - 1906 (repro of skinny Manhattan skyscraper - hit by gust
of wind (electric fan) that blows men's hats off.)
- L.A. Thompson Scenic Railroad - 1907
- Coaster Figure Eight - 1907
- Third Degree Regions - 1907
- Cyclone House - 1907
- Laricola - 1907
- Skating Rink - 1907
- Haunted House - 1907
- Shoe Fly - 1907
- Wooblywalk - 1907
- Human Roulette Table - 1907 (large spinning wheel where patrons tried
to hang on, but were spun off to the surrounding bowl - located in Monte
Carlo Building)
- Human Zoo - 1907 (in Monte Carlo Building - a crawl-space exit lead to a cage
where other patrons laughed and made fun of those in it.)
- Jumping Floor - 1907 (in Monte Carlo Building)
- St. Augustine Tower - 1907 (wind machine)
- Barrel of Love (moved to Steeplechase Pier in 1907)
- Night swimming in huge tank - 1907
--------------------------------- 1907 FIRE------------------------------------
- Pavilion of Fun - 1908-1966 (building 450 x 270 feet & 63 feet high at
highest point, covered the following amusements:
Insanitarium with Blowhole Theater, Comedy Lane, Battleship Roll,
Laughing Gallery, Bounding Billows, Uncle Sam, Down & Out, Bicycle
Carousel, Human Pool Table, Hoop-la, Panama Slide, and many others.)
Note: In 1912 added 7000 sq ft space to Pavilion - likely the
area under the horse track where the Ballroom was located the following
year.
- Steeplechase Horses - 1908- 1966 (New horse race course had two
separate courses running somewhat parallel with each other. One, 4
horses wide ran completely outside the Pavilion of Fun and the other
also 4 horses wide, mostly inside the structure. The outside track
was about 2100 feet long. It was lengthened by 800 feet in 1912 so
that it ran also on the Surf. Avenue side of building.??
In 1916 added 5 more horses for a total of 30. Park claims 3,000,000
riders to July 1916. Outer track destroyed in the 1939 fire so afterwards
there were only four horses on the inner track. The owners felt that it was
too expensive to replace the damaged 220 feet of track.)
- Insanitarium with Blowhole Theater 1908 - 1961 (Patrons after riding the
Steeplechase Horses walked down a ramp onto its stage. Clowns herded them
through its Comedy Lane where the men were seperated from the ladies with
electric cattle prods, and the jets of compressed air blew their dresses
high up into the air. To escape they had to negotiate a moving section of
floor called the Battleship Roll. An audience sitting in the Blowhole
Theater could enjoy watching others be made fun of, an experience they had
endured minutes earlier.
- Steeplechase Pier - 1908 - Present? (Pier survived Steeplechase 1907 fire.
After Dreamland 1911 fire, steamers from Manhattan began using the pier.
The pier burned in April 1957 and was rebuilt and reopened September 1958)
- Sunken Gardens - 1908 (contained Ferris Wheel & Air Ships)
- House Upside Down - 1908- m 1933 (burned 1911) (2-1/2 story structure
with German Village restaurant on ground floor; furniture nailed
upside down on second floor. Obviously rebuilt after fire.)
Note:Located within the Limit's W. 19th turn and may not
have operated after 1928.
- Ferris Wheel - 1908 - 1964 (125 feet diameter with 12 - 18 passenger cabins
-refurbished after fire - in Sunken Gardens)
- School Days - 1908 (revolving barrel on switchback track)
- Barrel of Love - 1908 - 1964 (revolving barrel at Bowery entrance)
Note: aka Bowery Barrel & aka Barrel of Fun)
- Funny Stairs - 1908 m 1920 (Bowery lobby)
- Uncle Sam - 1908 m 1929 (huge swing - 6 rows of 4 passengers seated on a platform)
- Down & Out Tube - 1908 - 1959 ( a steep scary slide in a dark tube that after
1910 dropped people onto the Human Pool Table - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Razzle Dazzle - aka Hoop-la - 1908 - 1947 (circular swing for 70 people -
pushed by workers like a see saw - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Arkansas Traveler - 1908 m 1914 (a split walkway with hand rails
whose pieces of floor supporting each leg moved independently
and thus threw the person off balance - in Pavilion of Fun)
- The Lion & the Mouse - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Cave of the Winds - 1908 (fun house with wind machine inside - in Pavilion
of Fun)
- Shamrock Bowl - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Grinder - 1908 (a huge sausage machine - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Human Niagara - 1908 (once you ascended the adjacent Golden Stairs you
slid down this bumpty bump slide with 60 ball bearing rollers on an
inclined plane and landed in a big soup bowl. It was confusing to exit
the bowl as others descending would often slide into them and knock
them off their feet)
- Rope & Bridge - 1908
- Shoe Fly - 1908
- The Pit - 1908
- The Wabbler - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Spider's Web - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Over & Under - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Lifting the Lid - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Man of the Flower - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Home - Sweet Home - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- ??? - 1908 (an iron mesh maze - in Pavilion of Fun)
- The Jungle - 1908
- The Neptune - 1908
- Archimedes' Wonder - 1908
- Job's Elevator - 1908
- Bicycle Carousel - 1908 - 1939 (Passengers supplied motive power in this
carousel style ride. Initially in Pavilion of Fun then moved outdoors in
1934 and burned in a 1939 fire)
Note: aka Bicycle Runabout
- Hat Blower - 1908
- Gridiron - 1908
- Animal Cage - 1908
- Bowery Slide - 1908 - 1958 (long 30 foot high slide beneath Horse track near
Bowery entrance)
Note: aka Avalanche
- Roof Garden - 1908 (fake elevator that collapses - in Pavilion of Fun)
- 3rd Degree Regions - 1908
- Ozone Room - 1908 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Dew Drop - 1908 - ??? (outdoor spiral tower slide)
- Human Roulette Wheel - 1908 - 1960 (big revolving platform 30 ft diameter -
room for about 20 people - the ride catapults people into the surrounding
scoop like hollow - Pavilion of Fun)
Note: aka Whirlpool - m 1917
- Mechanical Jackass - 1908 ($5 prize for successful 5 minute ride - man
killed in fall off ride in 1912)
Note: aka Wooden Donkey
- Soup Bowl - 1909 m 1917 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Ocean Pier Trolley - 1909 m 1927 (ran from Steeplechase Pier to Surf Avenue -
1300 feet?? - transported arriving steamship passengers into park)
- Automobile Ride - 1909 m 1917 (in Pavilion of Fun - then in 1917 ride ticket
lists it in the North Graden)
- Country Wedding - ??? - 1934 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Undulating Swing - m 1910 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Chanticleer - 1910-1963 (merry-go-round built by Frederick Savage;
with 38 giant chickens & 14 ostriches instead of horses)
- The Squeezer - 1910 (48 diameter circus ring. The center was a mound
with a downward angle and held a dozen seated people. The ring
revolved and they shot off it as it gained speed. The sexes were separated
on each ride.
Note: Sounds like the Human Roulette Wheel. May be its first name.
- Human Pool Table - 1910 - 1959 (spinning discs under Dew Drop slide - in
Pavilion of Fun - made up of 24 large discs with adjacent ones
revolving in opposite directions. The people are "players" as they
are spun every which way across the ride's flat surface. Each trying
to regain footing) - m 1924
- Dinosaur Exhibit - 1910 (exhibit of a dinosaur dug up in Montana)
- The Rosarium - 1910
- The Tippy Boats - 1910
- Golden Stairs - 1910 m 1920 (50 feet high - in Bowery lobby)
- The South Pole - 1910 - 1932 (in Pavilion of Fun - but later ouside near
Boardwalk)
- Whirlwind Slide - 1910 (Bowery lobby)
- Monster Elephant - 1910 m 1920's (in Pavilion of Fun)
Note: Might have lasted until 1962 at side of stage. The large
pink elephant mentioned during removal of stage & when its howdow
(passenger platform) removed.
- Midget Circus - 1910
- Vaudaville Theater - 1910
- Racing Autos - 1910 (25 full size cars - 1 mile track?? )
- Outdoor Swimming 1910 - 1963 (outside pool was 270 x 90 feet -
depth 3 to 6 feet; 1 diving board - contained 670,000 gallons of salt
water)
Note: Pool was converted to use by season pass holders only
beginning with the 1945 season. Pool was filled but not open during 1964
season. See 1932 for addition of two other smaller pools.)
- Carnival of Babies - 1911
- The Mixer - m 1911 - 1964 (big revolving rotating barrel @ Surf Avenue
entrance)
- Marble swimming Pool 1911 - 1928 (50 x 200 foot indoor swimming pool in
Pavilion of Fun's south end; enlarged in 1919)
- El Dorado - 1912 - 1964 (carousel with 3 platforms revolving at
different speeds; illuminated by 5000 lights - transferred to
Steeplechase's Pavilion of Fun after paint was blistered in the
Dreamland fire.)
- Airships - m 1912 - 1940 (set at corner of Surf Avenue & W 16th)
- Illusion Palace - m 1912 (visitors enter park at Surf Ave thru 35 ft
high structure) m 1920
- Tilyou's Dreamland Circus Side Show - 1912 (showed up in an advertisement -
might have been moved there temporarily after a fire at original Surf Ave.
location)
- House Upside Down - m 1913 m 1920 (2-1/2 story structure, rebuilt after
1911 fire,
with German Village restaurant on ground floor; furniture nailed
upside down on second floor - in Sunken Garden)
- Ballroom - m 1913 - 1942 (dancing floor 30 x 220 feet could accommodate 3500
people - it adjoined the Pavilion on the west side.)
- Steeplechase Circus - m 1913 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Ocean Roller Coaster - m 1913 m 1920 (near pier & beach)
- Miniature Railroad - m 1913 m 1920
- Moving Pictures - m 1913 m 1917 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Aerial Slide - m 1913 m 1920 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Panama Slide - m 1913 - 1964 (slide dropped people into bowl - in Pavilion
of Fun)
- Crystal Maze - m 1913 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Mystic Stairs - m 1913 (in Bowery Lobby)
- Human Phonograph Slide - m 1913 (probably a spiral slide - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Automobile Ride - 1913 m 1920 (1/4 mile around park - an article mentions
that after the Steeplechase entrance was rebuilt in 1914, the Arcade ran
the full distance from Surf Ave. to the sea with the automobile tracks
on top.)
- Venetian Gondolas - m 1913 - 1940 (An imported English ride using a circular
and possibly undulated track. Cars are in the shape of gondolas. Located
outdoors)
- Hitting the Pipe - m 1913 (near beach)
- South Pole - 1914 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Roller Skating Rink - 1915 - 1928 (Located above the restaurant on the Horse
track floor but hidden from view along the north end of the Pavilion of
Fun. The rink remained after 1928 but was only used for private parties by
the Tilyous.)
- Wax Exhibit - 1916 (Eden Musee wax figures - probably on loan until their
building rebuilt after fire)
- Dippy Dip - m 1917 m 1920 (in North Garden)
- Penny Arcade m 1918 - 1964 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Babyland - 1920 - 1964 (in Pavilion of Fun - miniature devices for little
folks - contained two Kiddie Slides, Turn-About (1946 - 1958), a turntable,
two Hobby Horses, a Kiddie Carousel (24 aluminum miniature horses with two
chariots) & miscellanous stuff.
Added kiddie airship in 1951)
- Venetian Swings - m 1920
- Carnival Bridge - m 1920
- Diamond Drop - m 1920 (slide??)
- Cakewalk - 1923-1939 (floor shook when person attempted to walk on it -
burned in 1939 fire)
- The Witchway - ??? (swing that whirled passengers)
- Racing Derby Carousel - 1924 - 1963 (built by Prior & Church; horses by
Ilions)(located in front of Chanticleer on lawn along Surf Avenue)
- Dodgem - m 1924 - 1964 (in Pavilion of Fun along east wall)
Note: aka Scooters
- Frolic - m 1924 - 1964
- Glee Sail Boats - m 1924
- Zip - m 1925 - 1964 (roller coaster - 2200 feet long located at northwest
corner of park - Surf Avenue & W 19th.)
Note: aka Steeplechase Roller Coaster
- Noah's Ark - 1925 - 1930 (rocking boat Fun House along Boardwalk)
- The Limit - 1925 - 1934 (out & back roller coaster faced Boardwalk -
ran parallel to beach from W 19th to W 16th. Except for lift hill & first
drop (near W 16th St. end, it was removed to make room for
Flying Turns tobaggan coaster.)
- Old Mill - 1925 - 1952 (Tunnel of Love boat ride - ran under Tilyou
Apartments adjacent to W. 19th.))
- Boardwalk Barrel m 1928 - 1939 (revolving barrel - burned in 1939 fire)
- Caterpillar - m 1928 - 1964 (circular flat ride with slight rise - canopy
closed to look like caterpillar when it reached peak speed)
- Custer Cars 1929 - 1937 (miniature gasoline powered cars on a track along
side the boardwalk.)
Note: aka Autospeedway
- Heydey - 1929 - 1964 (cars with wheels seating 4 people were pulled by cable
around an eliptical track. The cars weren't steerable, but the patrons in
the rear seat could by leaning to one side, then back suddenly, could make
the car whip around to face backwards - inside Pavilion of Fun)
- Dangler - m 1929 (revolving swings - in Pavilion of Fun)
Note: aka Flyers or Swings
- Whirl - 1929 (bought ride but had problems & returned it to manufacturer in
May - might have been used for several weeks)
- Funny Mirrors - m 1929 (in Pavilion of Fun)
Note: aka Revolving Mirrors
- Cuddle-Up - 1929 (not popular - removed after season - located along
Boardwalk)
- Boardwalk Carousel - 1930 - 1953 (Known as the 72H carousel - type unknown??
- destroyed by November 7, 1953 fire. Actually 52 horses survived and were
sold several years later.)
- Funny Cars - m 1930 - 1931 (car's axles were offset so wobbled as it moved)
- Whale - 1931 - 1938 (large structure - one walked into whales belly - along
boardwalk)
- Boardwalk Whip - 1931 - 1959 (8 car ride along Boardwalk)
Note: aka Boardwalk Whip
- Kiddie & Diving Pools - 1932 - 1963 (2 small circular pools built on north
end of big outdoor pool. Kiddie pool - a 1 foot deep wading pool. Diving
pool had one high diving board and two lower boards on either side.)
- Circus - 1933 - 1939 (one-ringed circus - free shows daily performed in arena
near boardwalk. Back stage area burned in 1939 and then removed to make
room for the Parachute ride.)
- Flying Turns - 1934 - 1939 (burned) (toboggan roller coaster - adjacent to
Boardwalk)
- House of Glass - ??? - 1939 (burned in 1939 fire)
Note: aka Glass Works
- Chair-o-Plane - 1936 (circular aerial ride)
- Infant Incubators - 1936 - 1938 (Dr. Couney exhibited premature infants cared
for by trained nurses in a building along the Boardwalk ramp. It was
fortunate that he was exhibiting at the World's Fair in 1939, the year of
the devasating fire.)
- Zoo - 1936- 1958 (maze plus a few gimmicks - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Eli Ferris Wheel 1939 - 1947 (along Boardwalk)
- Kiddie Fire Engines 1939 - (along Boardwalk)
- California Red Bats (1939 - m 1958 (joke attraction - 2 broken bricks in a
box with note asking people not to tell what they saw. - located near
Express Train platform)
- Kiddie Boats - 1940's
- Steeplechase Express Train - 1940 - 1961 (tracks ran in area near boardwalk
where Flying Turns had been previously located. 1200 feet track & 5 minute
ride - gas powered locomotive pulled three passenger coaches)
- Bicycle Carousel - 1941 - 1964 (reinstalled in Pavilion of Fun with 30 steel
bicycles - earlier one above was destroyed in 1939 fire.)
- Rocket Ships - 1941 - 1964 (revamped Giant Swing with six- 6 passenger
aluminum Buck Rogers style rocket cars; tower 80 feet high)
- Parachute Jump - 1941 - 1964 (from N.Y. World's Fair Lifesaver Exhibit -
262 ft high - 12 chutes - cost 27 cents + 3 cents tax with it first opened)
- Whip - 1941 - 1964 (12 cars - outdoors near Surf Avenue; a NEW Whip ride -
not the same as the 1931 Boardwalk Whip)
- Silver Streak - 1941 - 1964 (circular flat ride on 30 degree tilt with 2
passenger cars travelling around perimeter @ 30 MPH - located
along Boardwalk until 1962 when it was relocated)
- Kiddie Airships - 1944 - ??? (moved to Babyland in 1946)
- Turn-About - 1946 - 1958 (a revolving turntable that kids pushed around then
sat on - at Babyland in Pavilion of Fun)
- Television Studio - 1947 - 1964 (half of Ballroom space converted into
a studio - shows like the Arthur Godfrey Show sometimes originated here)
- Flying Coaster - late 1940's? (portable kiddie metal roller coaster -
along Boardwalk)
- Scrambler - 1948 - 1962 (tub style ride - moved erractically as platform
spinned)
- Sea Cruise - 1948 - 1964 (8 car ride over circular undulating track)
- Kiddie Bus Line 1950 - ?? m 1958 (in Pavilion of Fun)
Note: aka Gay Bus Line
- Kiddie Roto Whip - 1948 - 1959 (8 cars - 2 passengers - located outdoors
except for final season)
- C-Cruise - 1948 - 1964 (in Pavilion of Fun)
Note: aka Sea Cruise
- Tree of Knowledge - 1952 - 1964
- Crazy Clock - 1953 (22 feet high animated clock from England. Cost $10,000.
Bells chimed and action started every 15 minutes)
- Optical Viewer - 1954 (coin operated telescope on parachute platform)
- Carousel - 1954 - 1963 (McCullough owned Stubman Carousel moved to Boardwalk
to replace burned 72H carousel)
- Poker Roll - 1954 - ?? (game in building along Boardwalk - replaced the
Shooting Gallery)
- Sky Fighter - 1955 - 1956 (Kiddie ride on Parachute platform)
- Jolly Caterpillar - 1955 (Kiddie ride on Parachute platform)
- Pretzel 1958 - 1964 (dark ride with 10 - 2 passenger cars guided along steel
rail in topsy-turvy fashion. Took only 30 feet of space in old Post Office
building.)
Note: aka Shangrila Ha Ha
- Tilt-a-Whirl - 1959 - 1964
- Roundup 1960 - 1964 (spinning centrifuge ride that hydrulic lifts 90 degrees
in air - in Pavilion of Fun)
- Paratrooper 1961 - 1964 (in Pavilion of Fun)
- Roto Jet 1962 - 1964 (passengers moved planes up and down while ride
revolved - in Pavilion of Fun where stage had been located)
- Trablant 1964 (umbrella type ride which travelled in a circle in undulating
fashion - 24 two person seats beyond umbrella perimeter)
- Whale Boats - 1964 (25 fibre glass 2 passenger battery powered boats)
- ??? Name ??? - 1964 (McCullough's unknown ride for Boardwalk site where
Carousel previously stood)
Note: I believe that there are still several errors of duplicate rides inside the
Pavilion of Fun because of numerous name changes over the years. Also there are
six possible Steeplechase attractions on Professor Manbeck's original list
that I have found no evidence. They are the Whriling Wheels, Japanese Tea
Garden, Ghost House and Tunnel of Laffs.
LUNA PARK (Frederic Thompson & Elmer "Skip" Dundy) 1903-1944
Location: 38 acres on Surf Avenue between W 12th and W 8th Streets next to
Stillwell Avenue depot. (enlarged in 1912 - includes 31 buildings for
shows & amusements, 28 rides, 2054 towers & minarets, 1,450,000 lights
1500 employees, uses 315 miles of tickets each season)
- A Trip to the Moon - 1903-1907 (cyclorama show)
Note: Building converted in 1912 to Trip to Mars by Aeroplane;
later The Battle of the Marne.
- War of the Worlds - 1903-1905 (recreation of sea battle between a fleet of 60
foreign ships that attack New York City - with
models & actors)
Note:aka The Great Naval Spectatorium
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - 1903 (submarine ride to the north pole -
moved on a flat surface. It seemingly dove and surfaced by changing the water
level with pumps. At Pole an eskimo village with dog sleds, igloos set admist
an refrigerated iceberg.)
- Shoot-the Chutes - 1903-1944 (water chute ride from Sea Lion Park)
- Infant Incubators - 1903-1939 (Dr. Couney exhibited at Dreamland
1904-1910 , at 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair & N.Y. World's
Fair 1939-1940)
- Wormwood's Monkey Theater - 1903 only (monkey performers)
- Hindoo Village - 1903 (from India)
- Old German Village - 1903 (included a convention hall & restaurant)
- Hawaiian Village - 1903
- Japanese Village, Garden and Theater - 1903
- Irish Village - 1903
Note: aka Little Ireland
- Philippine Bontac Tribe - 1903 - 1905 (sideshow of headhunters)
Note:aka Filopino Village
- Venice in New York - 1903 only (recreation of Italian city plus canals with gondolas)
- Helter Skelter - 1903 (single slide attached to side of windmill)
- Sea on Land - 1903 m 1904 (???)
- Razzle Dazzle - 1903
- Midnight Express - 1903-1907 (steam train carried 8000 passengers
/ day at five cents each - ad says on real railroad from Luna to Buffalo)
Note: aka Minaiature Railroad; Electric Railroad - 1910
- Dutch Windmill - 1903
- Chinese Theater - 1903
- Casino Ballroom and Restaurant - 1903-1944
- Babbling Brook - 1903 (scenic tunnel water ride through simulated
lakes and rivers) or (A photo marked Babbling Brook shows gondolas)
Note: converted to Old Mill ride in 1904
- Carl Hagenback's Trained Wild Animals - 1903 (in cicular Hippodrome arena)
- Scinta's Band
- Electric Tower - 1903 (200 foot tall tower studded with electric lights -
used 1 year for aquatic shows)
Note:aka Klaidescope Tower??
- 3 Ring Circus - 1903 (Free show)
- Cameroni - Slide for Life
- LaZalle - novelty wire act
- Howard - English equilbrist
- Ernest Melville - bareback jockey
- George Gilbert & his goats
- James Adams - King of Clowns
- The Two Picos - Comedy clowns
- Josie Ashton - Queen of Equilbrists
- Hassan Ben Ali - Arab Acrobats
- Streets of Delhi - 1904 (reproduction of India city street scenes)
- Dubar of Delhi - 1904 (parade of 300 India natives in colorful costumes and
riding 60 elephants, 65 camels and 100 horses)
- War is Hell - 1904-1905 (war drama with minatures)
Note:Great Naval Spectorium
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon - 1904 (10,000 trees & 25,000 potted plants - tea served)
- Japanese Roof Garden - 1904
- Ben-Hur Chariot Race - 1904 (in Hippodrome arena)
- Plunging Elephants - 1904 (baby elephants sliding down chutes into
water.)
Note: Pigs sliding down chutes into water during 1930's.
- Circle Swing - 1904
- Flying Swings - 1904
- Buzzard's Roost - 1904 (located at rear of park to the left and behind Chutes)
Note:L.A. Thompson Scenic Railroad
- Performing Horses - 1904 (horses jump into lagoon from tower; later
King - The Diving Horse)
- Fire and Flames - 1904 (drama of fire in 4-story building and block of
buildings. 1000 performers with 60 firemen commanded by Chief Henry
McAdams.)
- The Old Mill - 1904 (tunnel of love boat ride)
- Whirl-the-Whirl - 1904 (boats sail through the air around a tower 100 feet
high)
Note: aka Whirling the Whirl or Whirl of the Wind
- The Fatal Wedding - 1904
- The Laughing Show (Inshaw) - 1904
- 3 Ring Circus - 1904 (Free show)
- Spessardy's Wonderful Bears
- Will Hill - High Wire Artist
- Dracula - Aerial Contortionist
- Zola's - Globe & Spiral Tower
- Hassan Ben Ali - Arab Acrobats
- Stickneys - Bareback Equestrians
- Keller - Swing & Bending Wire
- Josie Ashton - Bareback Rider
- The Jennetts - Equilbrists
- Francola, Du Chow & Lorentz
- Zanzas - Breakaway Ladder
- Bonner - The Educated Horse
- Janice Irwin - Head Ballancer
- Hayne's Wonderful Bulldogs
- Bottomly Troupe
- Gates & Nelson
- Kenyon & de Garmo
- Sandor Trio
- Athurium & Miller
- Dragon's Gorge - 1905 - 1944 (indoor scenic railway with scenes in tunnels of
North Pole, Africa, Grand Canyon, River Styx and Hades)(had
sharpest and steepest curves of any scenic railroad)
Note: site of 1944 fire.)
- Luna Park entrance enlarged & remodeled
- Circus Maxime - 1905 (live circus acts)
- Sanitary Soda Fountain - 1905
- Human Torpedo - 1905 (man shoots down 75 foot incline)
- Mountain Torrent - 1906 (boats? - combines scenic railway on 1/4 mile of
track with short
trip into water - its series of hills looked like the Alps)
- Great Train Robbery - 1906 (show with real train & cars in a western town;
held on world's largest stage 760 x 170 feet)
- Iggorottes - 1906 (village of natives @ rear of park)
- Port Arthur in Russo-Japanese War - 1906 (war drama with miniatures)
Note:aka The Great Naval Spectatorium
- Trip Thru Europe - 1906 (illusion in railway car with moving scenery)
- Heppe's Candy Meat Market (candies shaped like meat) - 1906 m 1917
- Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show - m 1906
- Babylonian Hanging Gardens - 1906 (160,000 plants on roof garden)
- Mundy's Mengerie - 1906 m 1907 (200 performing animals - lions, tigers, etc.
- in Hippodrome arena)
Note: aka Mundy's Wild Animal Show
- Helter Skelter - 1906 (double slide for two couples side by side -
ride improved)
- The Tickler - 1907 (patented by William Mangels - circular cars
bouncing through a maze on inclined plane - 421,000 admissions
@ 10 cents or $42,000 in 1907)
- Neptune's Daughter - 1907
- Molly Coddle - 1907 (25 people in boat within a triangle of mirrors.
Illusion people think they were going to collide with other boats.)
- Marino - 1907 (an illusion)
- Days of 49' - 1907 (show - robbery of a treasure stage-coach on previous
year's 'Great Train Robbery' stage - 75 people on horses in show.)
- Kansas Cyclone - 1907 only (show with electrical scenic panorama)
- Brownie Theater - 1907 (midgets)
- Ostrich Farm - 1907 (races against humans, elephants and bicycles)
- Wiggle Woggle - 1907
- Night and Morning - 1907 (journey through Heaven & Hell based on
Dante's Inferno)
- Theater Pavilion - 1907 (drama: Ship Wreck)
- Human Toboggan Slide - 1907 (ride an inclined plane at "mile a minute")
Note: aka Kelly's Slide)
- Witching Waves - 1907 - 1932 (scooter cars propelled by undulating
metal surface acting as a wave - doubled in size in 1914)
- Laughing Gallery - 1907
- Luna Theater - 1907 (motion pictures)
- Autodrome - 1907 (merry-go-round style - menagerie machine; cost $45,000)
- Double Whirl - 1907 (6 small Ferris wheels on revolving large base)
- The Red Mill - 1907 (boat ride through tunnel)
m 1913 rebuilt & new scenery m 1926 m 1933
- Great Shipwreck - 1907 (show dealing with sacking of Henlopen, Delaware
by Capt. Kidd's brother - while pirates sacking city, storms comes
up and drives "Corsair" on the rocks - 11 minutes)
- Days of 49' - 1907 (show - robbery of train & plunge into ravine)
- Rounders - 1907 (merry-go-round)
- Parisian Cafe - 1907 m 1910 (restaurant for 5000 diners)
- A Musical Flower Garden - 1907 (talking flowers)
- Niagara Falls by Wire - 1907 (show or Penny in slot novelty??)
- Bauer Sisters Candy Delicatessen - 1907-1910
- Virginia Reel - 1908 (circular cars spin as they serpentine down on
a track and into final whirlpool) m 1920
- Burning of the Prairie Belle - 1908 m 1909 (fire on board steamer -
also life on Mississippi during anti-bellum days - negroes in cotton
fields)
- Burning of Natchez - 1908 (show with 300 people & 150 horses)
- Waterless Wave - 1908 (??is this in reference to Witching Wave??)
- Battle of the "Merrimac" and the "Monitor" - 1908 (cyclorama from
Jamestown Exposition in Trip to Moon Building)
- The Man Hunt - 1908 (125 plunging horses, 300 men & women - climax
burning of Mexican-Indian at stake)
- Jolly Follies - 1908 (3 big laugh shows)
- Marionette Theater - 1908
- Human Laundry - 1908 (illusion of people being ironed)
- The Lost Girl - 1908
- Camera Obscura - 1908
- Via Wireless - 1908 (ship saved by telegraph operator)
- Saved by Wireless - 1909 m 1910 (In 1909 a liner saves yacht caught in a
storm - sent an SOS. Show in 1910, town saved from flood by telegraph
operator)
- Crack of Doom - 1909 m 1910(water destroys miniature mining town -
1,000,000 gallons - cost $200,000)
- The Musical Floor - 1909 (moving floor connected to calliope notes)
- Bouncer - 1909 (slide with canvas instead of wood. The cloth, with
the aid of a number of wheels that rapidly revolve - provides the
bounce.)
- Sinking of the Republic - 1909 (maritime disaster where White Star
liner sunk)
- Billilen's Temple - 1909 (laugh show)
- Bouncing Bell Buoy - 1909 (ride around on top of can buoy around
lighthouse - roll & twist on course)
- Magic Chair - 1909
- Falling Statue; trick swings & chairs - 1909
- Human Menagerie - 1909 (show ??)
- Firecracker Maze - 1909
- Enchanted Fish Bowl - 1909
- Thompson Scenic Railroad - 1909 m 1912 (is this Toboggan Railway?)
- Ocean Wave - 1909 (long circular boat ride - 5 minutes)
- The Cake-walk - 1909 m 1910 (ride)
- The Newlyweds - 1909 (show)
- Affinities - 1909 (laugh show)
- Trip to Mars by Aeroplane - 1910-1912 (formerly A Trip to the Moon
refurbished with airplanes under own power. 100 passengers taken on
a trip which starts from Governor's Island, sails thru the clouds to
Mars. A lecturer on board to narrate the sights. Some accounts
say it then flies to several stars before returning to earth)
- Pneumatic Tube & Miniature Subway - 1910 m 1911 (subterranean railroad
3500 feet in length for 2 minutes - passengers are enclosed for
protection - winds its way through caverns and gorges, alternately
descending and descending - burned in 1911 fire)
- Elephant rides - m 1910 (Gyp and Judy often carried 9000 people / week)
- Chanticleer Carousel - m 1910 (certainly was there earlier as I've seen it
in a postcard, but 1910 is the year it debuted at Steeplechase)
- The Teaser - 1910 m 1911 (Mangels laughing ride)
- Baby Rides - 1910 (miniature motorcycles ride)
- The Brainstorm - 1910 (laughing illusion)
- Human Tarpons - 1910 (patrons with rod & reel tried to land expert swimmers
in a tank. Three sized swimmers for people of different skill levels and
for children.)
- Maude, the kicking mule - 1910
- Minia Vita - 1910 (novelty trick show)
- Third Rail Mountain Coaster - 1910 (roller coaster - Mountain Torrent
converted into 3rd rail coaster - two cars long???)
- Sinking of the Maine - 1910 m 1911 (show includes blowing up U.S. ship
the Maine, also famous castle in background)
Note: aka Havana
- Airplane Dip - 1911 (10 passenger planes, propelled under own power?? -
shoot over towers and across lagoon - Was this installed?)
- Luna Dips - 1911
- Motordrome - 1911 (automobiles race around 85 ft circular track)
Note: aka Automobile Speedway ??
- Cookoo Clock - 1911 (machinery show - had clock works all about audience)
- Tumbler - 1911 m 1937
- Monkey Music Hall - 1911 (ape show with 60 monkeys - they play in a band; shows interior of a monkey's house and how they get dressed))
- Japanese bowling alleys
- Joy Ride - 1911 (underground course with great scenes on route)
- Checkers Slide - m 1911 (burned in 1911 fire)
- Temple of Mystery - m 1911 (burned in 1911 fire - rebuilt & m 1916)
- German Carousel - 1911
- Great Fire Show - 1912 only (show depicting a western town at height
of activity actually destroyed by fire) 1 year only
- Cabaret Circus - 1912 (show with 32 acts)
- Turkey Trot - 1912 m 1913
- China's Fairy Fountain - 1912 (show - magic acts)
- Japanese Village - 1912
- Travelling merry-go-round - 1912 (ride name??)
- Gyroscope ride - 1912 (ride name??)
- Toboggan - 1912 m 1920
- Coal Mine - 1912 (donkey ride through reproduction of Pennsylvania
coal mine) m 1918 m ;new scenery in 1913, m 1926
- The Lolly Pop - 1912 m 1913 (circular ride in water)
- Kiss Waltz - 1912 (cars waltz in an odd-shaped tube)
- The Frolic - m 1912 (probably there earlier - flat spinning ride with
suspended cars tilting out with centrifugal force)
- The Burros - 1912 (ride over mountain trails on real burros for 1/4
mile)
- Fall of Adrianople - 1913 (spectacle on a stage 475 x 175 ft - a
Turkish city with mosques, bazaars, minarets & embattled castle.
Forts with 12 inch cannon & mountain backdrop - grandstand for 1,800
Invading Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrens & Greeks bombard Turks,
storming of fort & surrender of garrison - cost $250,000)
aka Fire & Sword - one year only
- Tornado and Flood - 1913 (Omaha and Dayton disasters)
- Captain Lousi Sorcho's Deep Sea Diving Show - 1913 (in Trip to Moon Building)
- Diving Girls - 1913 (girls diving into tank of water)
- Crazy Town - 1913 (Mother Goose characters - Thompson's whimsical
conception made up of a collection of children's play blocks set at
various angles. Each attraction cost a penny. ex. Jack & Bean Stalk -
girl sits in a chair and you set a dial striker - immediately she
shoots up 30 feet into air - costs another penny and another strike
to get her down. Ticket taker or seller is a convict in stripes
surrounded by barrels of money. Wardens with guns prevent people
from robbing convicts. )
- Bughouse Theater - 1913 (admitted into a barn & take an involuntary
slide into a haymow. There is the house that Jack built. A barber
pole at top with cage where a bearded lady shaves you for one cent.
Crowds of freaks etc.
- Deep Sea Divers - 1913 m 1914 (Captain Sorcho's demonstration - ship sinks to
bottom & submarine men clad in diving suits try to raise ship and recover
valuables.)
- Tango - 1913 (dancing car ride)
- Arkansaw Traveler - ??? (visitor stands on tracks which move
independently)
- Bunny Hug - 1913 (mirrors disorient riders)
- Fairyland - 1913 (cars drawn through tunnel by electric-propelled
animals) m 1914
- The Flyers - 1913 (aerial merry-go-round by Novelty Machine Co.)
- The Circling Waves - 1913 (sea voyage) aka Ocean Wave??)
- The Bridge of Laughs - 1913 (bridge across a lake - shakes)
- The Circle Swing - 1913 m 1926
- The Gyroplane - m 1913 (spinning aerial ride with two-seated gondolas
probably there earlier)
- The Sleigh Ride - 1913
- Kiss Waltz - m 1913
- The Mexican War - 1914 (show)
- Titanic Disaster - 1914 (show by Ellison & Zovan using miniature counterparts
of Titanic and Carpathia to portray principal events)
- Castle's Summer House - 1914 (dance hall near entrance - backed by dancer
Vernon Castle - tango lessons)
- Honeymoon Express - 1914 m 1927 (tunnel ride via miniature Pullman's
rounds the Chute the Chute lake)
- Whip - 1914 m 1926 m 1941
- Crazy House - 1914 (is this also Crazy Town or new attraction??)
- Oklahoma Wild West Show - 1914 (3 buildings represent town of Deadwood
30 cowboys, cowgirls and Indian riders)
- Mirano Brothers - 1914 (act 80 feet in the air, whirling thru space, propelled
by Captive Aeroplane - they perform aerial stunts)
- Noah's Ark - 1914 (filled with toys of every description - stuffed animals.
Noah personally distributed gifts to children)
- Oriental Village - 1915 (large area on east side of park - native workers
plying metal working trade. Whriling dervishes, dancing girls, acrobats,
camels & cafes serving Turkish coffee.)
- Village of Midgets - m 1915 (Miniature houses & shops where little people worked at their occupations as cooks, merchants, etc. Tiny theater.)
- Bioplasticon - m 1915 (new movie device)
- San Francisco Fair - m 1915
- Edge of the World - m 1915 (show?)
- Aerial Night Attacks - m 1916 (miniature German Zepplins bomb miniature
Allied (French?) town.)
- Bostock's Animals - m 1916
- The Jungle - m 1916
- Ballroom - m 1916 (200 x 25 ft floor - seating around floor for 1800)
- B.B. Miniature Review - m 1916
- Artists' Models - m 1916
- Captive Balloon - m 1916 m 1920 (balloon ride tethered - aeronaut
Frank G Seyfang)
- The Top - 1917-1921 (spiral roller coaster that tilted like a top
70 feet diameter - 45 tons of steel)
aka Scenic Spiral Wheel
- Butterfly - 1917-1918 (Traver experimental ride that never worked -
rotating aerial ride with butterfly style cars - top of the tower
was tilted so that the cars soared upwards then downwards rapidly)
- Submarine Attacks - 1917 m 1918 (mechanical wartime production)
- Darktown Follies - 1917 m 1918 (revue of colored entertainers)
- Worm's Eye View - 1917 (illusion)
- Pawnee Bill - Pioneer Days - 1917 (wild west spectacle)
- Bushels of Fun - 1917
- Alligator Farm - 1917
- Star Ride - 1917
- Steel Roller Coaster - m 1917 (which one was steel??)
- Heppe's Kandy Meat Market - 1917
- A Trip to Me-Lo-Dia - 1917 m 1918
- China Mystery - 1917 (show)
- Frolic - 1918 m 1920 (circular ride where suspended cars swing out)
- Over the Top - 1918 (Spinning tub ride down serpentine track) m 1920
- Trained Wild Animal Show & Circus - R.T. Richards - 1918
- Captive Airplanes - m 1918
- The Tanks - 1919 (ride)
- Submarine F-7 - 1919 (show includes company from Naval Reserve)
- Treat-em'-Rough - 1919 (ride)
- A Night in Peking - 1919 (Chinese illusion)
- Swimming Pool - m 1923 ((largest salt water pool in the world?? - replaced
Sea Beach Palace)
Note: aka Aquadrome? m 1931)
- Van Kemp's Pig Slide - m 1920 (could be the same as Chute the Pig-1926)
- Soft Spot - 1920 (figure 8 slide for kids & adults - land in huge soft air
bag which throws previous patrons who are trying to walk to its edge, off
balance - they fall)
- Down & Out Slide - 1920 (one of the longest & highest slides)
- Speedway - 1920 (3 car trains are accelerated by friction contact and both
end turns by huge roatating wheel)
- Falling Statue - 1920 (pivoting statue gives illusion that is falling over -
people rush over to support its weight and prevent its destruction)
- Humpty Dumpty Wheel - 1920 Installed?? - small roller coaster style trains
operate within twin treadmills as it simultanously rotates horizontally
about a common axis.)
Note:Old Grind Wheel
- Bushel of Fun - 1920 (whirl about in tub ride)
- Thru the Falls - 1920 (walk in and around crazy house)
- The Scrambler - m 1920 (rotary floor)
- Ouijaland - 1920 (show in black art)
- Kentucky Derby Game - 1920 (Sam Sidi's game)
- Monkey Hippodrome - 1920 (monkey performers with monkey orchestra)
- U.S. Battleship Recruit - 1920 (show) (Toboggan encircles it)
- Mlle. Dorles Vallecita's Leopards - 1920
- Mlle. Berzac's Ponies - 1920
- The Helkvists - 1920 (man & woman dive amidst flames)
- Rosatti's Band - 1920
- Dodgem' - 1921 (20 cars)
- The Shiek's Harem - 1922 (show)
- Skia - The Perfect Woman - 1922 (show)
- Monkeyland - 1922 (show)
- A Trip to China - 1922 (show)
- Charles Weir's Performing Tigers & Bears - 1922
- Over There - 1922 (100,600 sq ft of miniatures - a panoramic sensation)
- Joyplane - m 1923 m 1925 (80 ft high) m 1926
- Mile High Sky Chaser - 1924-1944 (roller coaster more than 80 ft high)
Note: burned in 1944
- Drop the Dips - 1924 - early 30's? (this compact roller coaster was believed
to have been moved to Luna in 1924 when Coney's streets were widened. It
appears in a 1930 map southeast of the lagoon. Its loading building may have
had a moon theme; thus its new name)
Note:aka Trip to the Moon.
- The Pit - 1924 (fun house cost $100,000) m 1926
Note: aka Luna Funhouse in 1930 - with 57 fun devices
- Charles Weir's Baby Elephants (3) - 1924 m 1925
- Mouse City - 1924 (500 white mice)
- Carousel - 1924-1944 (Philadelphia Tobaggan Company)
- Captain Muller's Skating Bears - 1925
- Tumblebug - m 1925 (Traver ride - 5 connected saucers moving around a
circular but undulating track) m 1941
- The Love Nest - 1925-1930
- Scooter - 1925
- Royal Samoan Village - 1925
- Swimming Pool - 1925 (enlarged)
- Skating Rink - 1925 (announced building subterranean skating rink
as a course rather than oval - decorated with floating icebergs ??)
- A Night in Cairo - 1925 (troupe of 7 girls & 2 men - magic, mind
reading & Egyptian dancing)
- Magic Carpet - 1925 m 1941 (fun house - people on soft-cushioned
carpet - they were jounced, bounced and bumped as they helplessly
slid down on an undulated incline)
- Custer Cars - m 1925 (kiddie car ride on miniature winding road)
- Scrambler - 1925 m 1926
- Mysterious House - m 1926
- Hummer - m 1925 & 1926 (an older ride)
- Skooter - m 1926
- Kiddie Playground - m 1926 m 1928
- Chute the Pig - m 1926 m 1940 (pig slide tripped by tossing ball
at target?)
- Modern Miracles - m 1926-1927 (show)
- Hula Hula Land - m 1926 (show)
- Charleston Girls - m 1926 (show)
- Rodeo - 1926 (featured Whirlwind a champion jumping horse that can
jump over a 6 passenger auto)
- Circus - m 1926 (features football playing ponies)
- Burro & pony rides - m 1926
- The Grand Canyon - 1926 m 1936
- International Fun House - 1926
- Broadway Revue - 1926 (show)
- Spiritland - 1926
- Auto Polo - 1927 (show - two - 4 car teams - closed July 1st)
- The Bug - 1927 (Tumblebug??)
- Tilt-a-whirl - 1927
- Electric Miniature Railroad - 1927
Note: aka Overland Limited Miniature Railroad
- Penny Arcade - 1928 (140 different types of machines)
- Battle of Chateau-Thierry - 1928 m 1929 (aka Battle of Marne -
show $300,000 cyclorama battle painted on canvas 315 x 50 ft high.
Perspective obtained with painted screens at various distances.
Small parts of the cyclorama such as motor trucks, tanks and a
bridge that drops out of sight in a cloud of steam when "blown up"
Uses electric flashes, jets of steam, drums, rifles and machine gun
to make battle realistic.
- White Mouse Hotel - 1930's
Note: later was cockroaches
- Lindy Loop - 1930 m 1941 (ride - cars rotate in vertical circles)
- Leaping Lena - 1930 m 1933 (62 ft diameter flat bumpy auto ride -
steered by drivers)
- Motordrome - 1930 m 1940
- Enchanted Princess - 1930 (show - girl underwater with trick
passageways)
- Od-It-Ido - 1930 (show)
- Little America - 1930 (cyclorama show featured painting of new world
at the South Pole - 350 feet circumference x 50 ft high - canvas
was animated with electrical effects & realistic moving figures of
icebergs, native inhabitants, dog teams, etc.
- Plantation Days - 1930 (show)
- Shooting Thru a Woman - 1930 (illusion)
- Monkey Island - 1930
- Art Edridge Circus - 1931
- Pretzel (ride) - 1931
- Dodgem - 1931 (25 cars) (possibly same as 1921 ride)
- Zacchini - The Human Cannonball - 1932 (shot out of cannon show)
- Olympic Wild Animal Show & Menagerie - 1932 (show)
- Hell 'n' Back - m 1932
- Red Bug - 1932? (ride replaced in 1934)
- Hell Freezes Over - 1933 (show?)
- 13 Spook Street - 1933 m 1934 (show)
- Papa Mantee's Marionettes - 1933
- Willow Grove - m 1933 (features Victor's Orchestra & 10
vaudeville acts - seating for 1000; beer garden in 1933)
- Hollywood Pet Show - 1933
- Dagmar's Temple of Mystery - 1933
- Ghost Train - 1934-1942
- Tilt-a-whirl - 1934 m 1940
- Five President's Wax Show - 1935
- Romance of Niagara - 1936 (mechanical show)
- Custer Cars - 1936
- Streets of Paris - 1936 m 1937 (12 buildings - show replaced in 1938)
- Old Man River - 1937 (miniature flood layout)
- VooDoo - 1937 (show)
- Mickey Funhouse - 1937
- Naughty Fifties - 1937 (show)
- Bamboo Funhouse - 1937
- Daffy Dill & Captain Thompson's Wonder Ship - 1937
(show?? with deep-sea monster)
- Dodge-em - 1939 m 1941
- Indian Show - 1939 (show with Hopi indians)
- Alligators - 1939 (near Dragon Gorge)
- Bouquet of Life - 1940 (medical & anti-syphilis exhibit)
- Frozen Alive - 1940 (show)
- Harem Scarem Inn - 1940
- Niagara Falls - m 1940 (???)
- Mirror Maze - 1940 m 1941
- Aeroplane - m 1940 m 1941 (equipped with model British fighters)
- Paris Nights - 1940 m 1941 (show)
- Lone Ranger - 1941 (ride?)
- Lindy Loop - m 1941
- Scoota Boats - 1941 (electric boats powered overhead like Skooter -
near entrance)
- Baby Incubators - 1941 (back from World's Fair)
- Streamlined Whip - m 1941
- Dangler - m 1941 m 1944 (circle swing)
- Roll-o-plane - m 1941
- Caterpillar - m 1941
- Iron Tanks - m 1941
- Stars on Ice - 1941 (tank from Winter Wonderland show at World's
Fair - 16 people in show - performed one day only May 30th. Closed
probably because they charged 44 cents)
- Aqua Girls - 1941 (girls perform underwater in a glass tank 10 x 40 ft
x 6 ft deep - 20,000 gallons - 40 ft high dive - seats 400 / 15 cents
- Midget Town - 1941 only (show - 40 midgets, 2 baby elephants, 4 dogs,
5 Shetland ponies and singing duck - 700 seats charge 10 cents
for children & 20 cents adults)
- Show Girl - 1941 (show)
- 25,000 Legs Under the Sea - 1941 (show)
- Have You Seen Stella - 1941(show -license commissioner closed it as too lewd)
- East Side, West Side - 1941(show -license commissioner closed it as too lewd)
- Ride Circle - m 1942
- Fighting Wasps - 1942
- Boomerang - 1942 (16 - 4 seated cars)
- Swooper - m 1942
- Chair-o-plane - m 1942
- Darktown Follies - m 1942 (show)
- Dump the Lady Out of Bed - m 1943 (ball toss game in which hitting target
dumps the girl out of bed.)
- Flying Forts - m 1944
- Hell 'n' Back - m 1944
- Wonderland Freak Circus - 1944 (near Surf Ave)
- Anderson Dog & Pony Show - m 1944
- Flashing Pond - ???
Dreamland (William H. Reynolds; Samuel Gumpertz, manager - 1904-1911
Location: south of Surf Avenue at W. 5th St - across from Luna Park
Coney Island - Independent Rides & Attractions
ATTRACTIONS NOT BUILT
- Steel Globe Tower - advertised in New York Herald in 1906 as
competition for Luna Park, Dreamland and Steeplechase; architectural
drawings were released, money solicited, but the building never
materialized; declared a hoax.
- Palace of Joy - designed in 1919 as a pier containing "the largest
enclosed swimming pool in the world" with dance hall, skating rink,
2000 bath houses, 500 private rooms, but it was never built.
However, a Palace of Joy did open in 1921 on Surf Avenue near Luna
Park. It only housed an indoor swimming pool.
OTHER AMUSEMENT PARKS
Brighton Beach Park (on site of Brighton Beach Baths
Location: Brighton Beach & Coney Island Avenues
- Boer War - 1905 (re-enactment by veterans; 1 year only)
- Giant Roller Coaster - 1906 (located across from Brighton Beach Hotel
built by L.A. Thompson - longest ever built @ 6150 feet)
- Bathing Pavilion & Pool - m 1906 - 1919 (destroyed by fire)
- Japanese Pagoda - 1906
- Ye Olde English Kitchen - 1906
- Mechanical Steeplechase - 1906
- Chiquita - 1906 (woman dwarf dancer)
- Mamie the Mysterious Girl - 1906
- Katzenjammer Castle - 1906 (fun house)
- Mahdi Temple of Palmistry - 1906
- Indian Museum - 1906
- Monkey Town - 1906 (show)
- Fire & Flames - 1906
- London Ghost Show - 1906 (from London)
- Happyland - 1906
- Bonnybrook Fair - 1906 (a duplicatuion of the one in Ireland with real imported Irish soil)
- Dance Hall - 1906
- Skating Rink - 1906 m 1910
- The Chase Thru the Clouds - 1910 m 1911 (steel racing roller coaster
built by Giant Safety Racing Company)
- Pain's Fireworks - ???? (grandstand)
- Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show - 1906 (affiliated with Buffalo Bill)
- Midway: shooting galleries
- Carousel (carved by Mike Illions; at Surf Avenue & Ocean Parkway)
- Japanese rolling balls
- Brighton Music Hall - 1892
- New Brighton Theater - 1909-1955
- Brighton Casino - 1910
- Frolic - 1911
- Riegelmann's Boardwalk completed to Brighton Beach (from Coney Island
Avenue to Corbin Place) - 1941
Ulmer Park-By-the-Sea - 1893-1899 (formerly Unionville at Harway)
Location: 38th St. - 40th St. , Gravensend Bay
- Track Meets
- Dance Hall
- Pier
- Shooting Gallery (on Stryker St)
Ambrose Park - 1893-1901
Location: 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave, 24-38th Streets
- Concerts: Sousa
- Traveling shows such as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show - 1893
- Scottish games
Locust Grove - 1870's
Location: Bath Beach: Bay 31st St., Bath Avenue, 23rd Ave, Cropsey Ave.
at Coney Island Cove.
- Locust Grove Hotel & Pavilion - 1876 (constructed by Gunther for his
railroad; prop. Capt. Stillwell
Bergen Beach Amusement Park - 1894-1925
- Ferris Wheel - 1894
- Baths - 1905
- Bergen Beach Casino - ???
- Trocadero Theater - ???
- Automation - ??? (game)
- Scenic Railroad - 1912
Golden City Amusement Park - 1907-1934
Location: Seawiew Ave. & Canarsie Rd., Canarsie
- Roller Coaster - ???
- Miniature Steam Railway - ???
- Carousel - ???
- Circle Swing - ???
- Skating Rink - ???
- Dance Pavilion - ???
- Boat Rides - ???
- Fun House - ???
- Airplane Ride - ???
- Virginia Reel - ??? (Bowery & W. 12th St.)
- Submarine Attacks - ???
- The Whip - ???
- Tunnel of Love - ???
- Penny arcade & shooting gallery - ???
- Boxing Exhibitions - ???
- Boardwalk (on Seaview Ave.)
- Music Hall (outside park)
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