This late 19th century Mangels mechanical shooting gallery owned by Doris Duke and installed at Duke Farms sold at auction last summer for $43,200. Photo via Millea Bros Ltd
William F. Mangels, the Coney Island-based inventor of such early 20th century thrill rides as the Whip and the Tickler, also held the most patents on shooting gallery targets. From the early 1900s until 1969, well after other manufacturers had gone out of business, Mangels’ Coney Island shop turned out cast-iron and sheet-metal targets in the shape of birds and beasts, stars and moons, cowboys and Indians, and soldiers and torpedo boats.
In the early 1900s, shooting gallery operators could select from 25 different kinds of targets for “The Slide” –a chain slide mechanism– all for a dollar a piece. Ducks with moving wings could be purchased for an extra fifty cents! Today, collectors are willing to pay $200 to $1,000 per target, depending on the condition and rarity of the figure. Last June, an intact Mangels mechanical shooting gallery installed at Duke Farms and used by heiress Doris Duke during parties at her home sold at auction for $43,200! It featured a moving clown, ducks, squirrels, birds, stars and circular spinning targets. The late 19th century shooting gallery was stamped “W.F.M. Co. 389” and bears the characteristic plaque “Made by W.F. Mangels Co. – Coney Island – New York.”
ATZ can’t let February go by without honoring the memory of this amusement industry innovator’s birth. Born February 1, 1867, Mangels was best known as a developer and supplier of amusement rides and the mechanisms for carousels and roller coasters After he died on February 11, 1958 at age 92, his family carried on the business for another decade. The Coney Island History Project inducted Mangels into the Coney Island Hall of Fame and some of his kiddie rides can still be enjoyed by visitors to Coney Island’s Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Keep an eye out for the rides that bear the Mangels plaque.
Mangels Pony Cart Ride at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Coney Island. The Mangels plaque can be seen to the left of the numeral 8. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
Related posts on ATZ…
February 1, 2011: Bring Back the Whip! A Birthday Gift for William F Mangels
November 16, 2009: Rare & Vintage: Coney Island Sideshow Banner by Dan Casola
November 5, 2010: Museum Piece or Obsolete? Old Carnival Games, Stick Joints on eBay
June 13, 2009: June 13: Coney Island Hysterical Society Artists in Conversation at A.M. Richard Fine Art in Williamsburg
Amusing the Zillion 
Thank you. That was very nice to see. My son was happy to share this article about his great great grandfather. Keep up the good work. Living down in Florida I enjoy reading about Coney Island. I will have to visit again soon.
Nice to hear from you, Denise! I have a friend with a wonderful collection of old targets. The Mangels Pony Cart ride was our favorite Kiddie ride as a child traveling with a carnival through New England. We put the ponies on our 4th of July float. Many happy memories thanks to your great grandfather
Hi,I went to your website after seeing a plaque on a Whip ride that is currently still running at Keansburg NJ. I rode these old rides as a kid and was happy to see my childs happiness as she whipped around. I am an enthusiast of historical places and I am saddened when they meet the wrecking ball. Palisades, Olympic Park, Asbury Park, the old Kiddie Land on Rt.46, Gaslight Village Lake George NY. I have fond memories of all of them. I hope more people will experience the remaining amusement parks before they are all gone. Anyway,I thought you might like to know about the Whip ride that is still in service as well as many other antique rides at Keansburg.Thanks Ed
Thanks for commenting, Ed. Will have to put Keansburg on my must-see list. There was also a Mangels Whip with the carnival that I traveled with as a kid. I wish there was an operating one in Coney Island, where it was invented! There is an antique Fairy Whip Car on display at the Coney Island History Project and once in awhile somebody gets to pose for a picture in it…
Tricia-
I just happened upon your site and was so pleased to read your birthday greetings to my great grandfather, W.F. Mangels. I have so many fond memories of Coney Island from my childhood, and recently enjoyed the Mermaid Parade with my husband and daughter. I’m so pleased to see Coney Island making a strong recovery, and can’t wait to come back.
Lisa
Hello, I’m Bruce Mangels, and just learned of W.F. Mangels and his amusing work. Do any of you Mangels out there know if we might be related? I sadly know little about my grandfather Hans Mangels, born 1903, other than he had a brother Adolf Schmidt, whose sea chest is my only family heirloom. I know both brothers worked on steamships, that Hans married Katherine, but they told us little of our earlier family. I’d love to know anything about them. Is is coincidence Hans’ son Ted, my uncle, designed the first cars for Autopia at Disneyland? A strange one indeed. bruce@virtuallyjunk.com
Sorry, Bruce, but I don’t think that we’re related. I don’t know the name of my grandfather, but I know that he was born in the 1800’s. My father, Carsten/Carl Mangels, was born in Neuenwalde, Germany (Neuenwalde is between Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven), in 1905, the youngest of 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He and my Uncle Nick came over in 1923 and settled in San Francisco with an aunt (their mother’s sister). I’ve found another William Mangels who came over in 1929, settling first in Brooklyn, New York, and then Chester, New Jersey, founding Mangels Home Made Chocolates. Does anybody know where these gentlemen came from in Germany? Are there any other Mangels from Neuenwalde or anywhere near there?