I’m absolutely floored by the lack of safety on the rides. Some of these are terrifying to watch because people, including children, are being hurdled through space with no harness. It’s hilarious to look at now.
Also, check out this freaky looking ride. The Steeplechase.
(Incidentally, Donald Trump’s dad, Fred, bought Steeplechase Park with the idea of building condos on the property.)
Proof positive that the Bikini was the down fall of America. And skinny people. Especially women. With big titts. I think I covered it all.
I love these old films! Spaghetti for 20 cents? Wearing a suit, coat and tie, on a roller coaster? And so much more! I wonder how stupid our “normal” lives will look to folks that aren’t born yet. Any ideas on that one?
I remember the Steeplechase. I held (hugged) on for dear life as the horses raced around the building. But the most memorable was the Fun House with the evil clown on guard, after you entered, who wielded a CATTLE PROD! He’d try to get as many of us elementary kids as he could. They also had electric rifled screws in the benches that they would fire off and everyone would get a big shock. Rye Playland had those as well.
Did the not have safety bars on that roller coaster?! Hahaha! And no one got killed? Is that place still there?
True story: I almost fell out the Paratrooper ride at Coney Island when I was little.. As the ride started I slid right out of the damn ride. My mom caught me between her legs and by the arm. Everyone saw me slip out as soon as it happened and people were screaming like crazy, but being the ride was started I went around a few times before it came to a stop and they could get me off. Yup true story! I thought for sure I was going to die.
The freak show in San Fransicko beats the Coney Island freak show by a long shot!
I loved those old death rides! I remember well my favorite at Parque Retiro in Buenos Aires. This was around 1960. Imagine a round roller coaster car with a circular bench seat with everyone facing inwards, maybe a dozen or 15 riders. The kicker was that the passenger part was attached to the wheel part so that it rotated, and the axle was slightly off center so the whole thing would spin wildly as we went around a turn. Each turn would either accelerate the spin or cause the dang thing to stop and rotate the other way. There were seat belts, but they felt like cardboard sandwiched between two layers of cheap patent leather. Wheeeeeeee!
My parents hated it. Duh. So I’d take the commuter train to the park with a couple of friends and not tell anybody. Did I ever mention that I never expected to live to see my 30th birthday? More like 13th with that contraption!
Jeez, the Santa Cruz rides were worse.
Fun, fun, fun
Til the tort lawyers
took the keys away.
I’m dizzy and have motion sickness from watching. I admit, I’m a ride wimp.
I see the crowded beach and wonder why anyone would WANT to be there…
Very nice film. A dollar went a long way back then.
Gonna have to look at some more of those Coney Island videos and remember what America was like before islam and political correctness.
Thanks! I needed that!
I also liked the other 1905 video of the orphan girls at Luna Park in Coney Island.
Cedar Point on Lake Erie is my memory filled amusement park.
The Blue Streak, wimpy by today’s coasters was my first roller coaster ride. You left your seat about 8 times along the track with only a t-bar over your and the person next to you’s lap. How far it went down depended on the bigger person. The ride is still there
but they have replaced the t-bar with over the shoulder restraints
that adjust to each person.
I don’t know about that.
Coney Island actually had Zippy the Pinhead!
And BFH didn’t even mention him.
Those who grew up on the west coast might remember P.O.P.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59E8-Sir-M
//
Found this gem of a video while watching Coney Island clips last night.
I remember having a great time at P.O.P. when I was about ten. Then the pier caught fire and burned for several days. We still went to the beach there after that. Venice beach was a nice place in the 60s, back before the city leaders decided to give it all away to the homeless and the degenerate progtards.
Now people only go there to make question and answer videos with the mentally ill.
As a fellow sufferer of motion sickness (from childhood), I feel your pain. Not that I didn’t TRY to do the rides, mind you, it just wasn’t worth the consequences. On the positive side, though, I figure I’ve saved hundreds of dollars over the years from not riding roller coasters and such.
😉
Because they want to go to the beach, and that’s probably one of the few open to the public there. That’s what happens when you allow wealthy people to buy up all the beachfront property and make it private.
Just another good reason to live in Texas.
🙂
When I think of Venice Beach I think of this.
Homer Simpson – “Kids, let me tell you about another so-called wicked guy. He had long hair and some wild ideas, and he didn’t always do what other people thought was right. And that man’s name was..(thinks)…well I forget, but the point is…(thinks)…I forget that, too. Marge, you know who I’m talking about. He used to drive that blue car?”