March | 2012 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for March, 2012

In Just-Spring, the Wonder Wheel’s Cars Return

Posted in Amusement ride, Photography, tagged Charles Denson, Coney Island, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Ferris wheel, Wonder Wheel on March 19, 2012| 3 Comments »

Wonder Wheel Car. Photo © Charles Denson/Coney Island History Project via flickr

The traditional sign of spring in Coney Island is the return of the Wonder Wheel’s cars to the 1920 landmark ride. It happened on Saturday– Here’s freshly-painted car number 2 going up, up and around for the first time this year.

The 16 red swinging passenger cars and 8 white stationary cars were taken down for the winter at the end of October. Deno’s Wonder Wheel and all of Coney Island’s rides and attractions will open for the season on Palm Sunday, April 1st. Thanks to Charles Denson of the Coney Island History Project for these photos.

Newly Painted Wonder Wheel Car number 3, Photo © Charles Denson/Coney Island History Project

Rest in Peace: Jerry Albert, Co-Founder of Coney Island’s Astroland Park

Posted in In Memoriam, News, tagged amusement park operator, Astroland, Astroland Park, Carol Hill-Albert, Coney Island, Dewey Albert, Jerome Albert, Jerry Albert, obit, obituary on March 16, 2012| 12 Comments »

Coney Island lost an historical figure who helped transform one of the amusement area’s oldest properties into a space age theme park in the 1960s. Jerry Albert, the co-founder of Astroland Park with his father Dewey Albert, died on Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. This year is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Astroland, which broke ground in 1962 and closed at the end of the 2008 season.

Astroland was built on the site of Feltman’s, the restaurant and amusement park complex owned by Charles Feltman, the inventor of the hot dog. The new park started with little more than a miniature golf course, a Double Diving Bell, a Sky Ride, and six kiddie rides. When the Alberts decided to develop the park, Jerry Albert began making trips to the West Coast and Europe to seek out state-of-the-art rides.

“The Mercury Capsule Skyride,” “The Ascension Tower,” and “The Rocket Ship Star Flyer” were among the space-age rides mentioned in an early press release about Coney Island’s new park. Neptune’s Water Flume was one of the early flumes made by Arrow Development, a pioneering ride builder for Disney, in the early 1960s right after the New York World’s Fair, and it was built specifically for this park. The $1.7 million Von Roll Astrotower from Switzerland was the first ride of its kind in the United States when it was installed in 1963.

In the historic photo above from Charles Denson’s Coney Island and Astroland, Jerry Albert (center) pictured with Astrotower manager Charlie Bower and welder Joe Peluso, slides the Astrocule time capsule into the tower foundation. “The press nicknamed it the ‘Bagel in the Sky’ or ‘Flying Bagel,'” writes Denson in the book. “Jerry Albert embraced the name, serving bagels and lox at the tower’s opening, as his mother cracked a bottle of champagne on its base. When the tower opened in July 1964, the conversion of Feltman’s into Astroland was complete.”

Jerry Albert took over the operation of Astroland Park after Dewey Albert’s death in 1992, notes Denson. After he retired due to the onset of Parkinson’s, his wife Carol Hill Albert operated the park until it closed. In 2004, the Coney Island History Project, a nonprofit that aims to increase awareness of Coney’s legendary and colorful past, was founded by Carol Hill Albert and Jerry Albert in honor of Dewey Albert.

In 1987, on the 25th anniversary of Astroland, the New York Post hailed the Alberts as “the family that keeps Coney Island rolling,” adding that while so much of Coney Island had burned down or was in decay, the Alberts kept the Cyclone running and kept expanding the park. By way of explanation, Jerry Albert told the reporter, “We have sand in our shoes.” Spoken by those who have an intimate working connection with Coney Island, the phrase conveys an unwavering commitment to this place where the amusement industry was born.

Funeral services will be held at ~~11 am~~ 10 am Sunday at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, 630 Amsterdam Ave at 91st Street in Manhattan, to be followed by interment at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to the American Parkinson Association, 135 Parkinson Ave. Staten Island, New York 10305

UPDATE March 17, 2012:

More tributes…

“In Memorium: Jerry Albert, Co-Founder of Astroland Park” by Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project

“Jerome Albert, Who Helped Bring Space Age to Coney Island, Dies at 74” by Dennis Hevesi, New York Times

Museum Objects Inspire Writing Contest at New-York Historical Society

Posted in Artifacts, history, Reading & Writing, tagged essay, gambling wheel, New-York Historical Society, short story, writing contest on March 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This gambling wheel was used at Coney Island in the early 20th century. Wood, glass, metal. New-York Historical Society Collection

As a child I believed that rich kids were born with silver spoons in their mouths and carny kids were born with wheels of fortune spinning in the background. One of my favorite objects on display in the New-York Historical Society’s Luce Center is this splendid 65-inch gambling wheel from Coney Island with carved dragon heads as spokes and a center surrounded by gems and electric lights. Purchased in 1994 at Sotheby’s auction of the renowned Smith Collection of arcade material, this unique wheel was used at Coney Island in the early 20th century. If it could speak, what tales would it tell of fortunes won and lost back in the day when Coney was nicknamed Sodom by the Sea?

The Coney Island wheel and the stories behind it come to mind because the New-York Historical Society’s blog has announced a “Behind-the-Scenes Writing Contest.” They are asking visitors to select a favorite from among the 40,000 objects on display and write a short story or essay about it. Here are the contest rules:

1. We’re looking for a story of around 1,000 words based on any object in the New-York Historical Society’s collections, whether it’s what one Women’s Suffrage marcher thought as she put on her “Votes for Women” pin, or the life of a silver spoon made by a slave and used in a rich family’s house. But don’t worry too much about word count; write as much as makes sense to your story! Entrants should be fifteen (15) years or older.

2. Please submit entries by April 30, 2012 to jaya.saxena@nyhistory.org, subject “Behind-The-Scenes Writing Contest.” Include your full name and e-mail address.

The winner will receive free admission for a subsequent visit to the New-York Historical Society, and a copy of When Did The Statue of Liberty Turn Green? and 101 Other Questions About New York City. The top three entries will be posted on the blog!