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Artifact of the Day: Souvenir of Henderson’s Restaurant

Posted in Artifacts, tagged Henderson's, restaurant, souvenir, toothpick holder on January 24, 2011| 8 Comments »

Toothpick Holder: Souvenir of Henderson's Music Hall & Restaurant, Coney Island. Late 1800

When Henry M. Henderson died in Los Angeles in 1909, his obituary said “Mr. Henderson bought property in Coney Island thirty years ago and started one of the first amusement places. He acquired a large fortune and the family now owns all of the property between Henderson’s Walk and Stratton Walk, extending from Surf Avenue to the sea.” Henderson’s establishment began as a restaurant at Bowery and Henderson Walk in 1881. His son Frederick managed the family’s Coney Island empire, which included a music hall featuring vaudeville acts and a bathing pavilion at the foot of Sea Beach Walk.

After we wrote about a vintage coffee cup from Childs Restaurant last month, a reader sent us this photo of a toothpick holder from Henderson’s. Lisa Ramaci collects memorabilia of early New York, including chinaware and utensils from restaurants and hotels. “You will see it was broken at some point in its past – I picked it up for a quarter probably 20 years ago in a small antique store in Manhattan,” Ramaci told ATZ. “They had a ‘jumble’ table in front with stuff they considered valueless. Little did they know that even in the condition it’s in I consider it a treasure. Anyway, hope you enjoy it, only wish I could have eaten there – and at Childs!”

Made in Austria for J. R. Gibney: Souvenir of Henderson’s Music Hall & Restaurant, Coney Island. Late 1800

The souvenir made in Austria for J. R. Gibney is indeed a rare find. We’ve seen only one other example. The auction info site worthpoint has photos of a Henderson’s toothpick holder that sold for $115.49 on eBay in 2009. It appears to be in very good condition. But we find it poignant that Lisa’s souvenir of Henderson’s was so carefully mended after having been broken. “It obviously meant something sentimental to whoever stole it from the restaurant way back when,” she says. “A great example of an earlier time, when things were repaired and re-used rather than thrown out and replaced. And thank God for that!”

Sadly, the last remnant of Coney pioneer Henry Henderson’s empire isn’t being rehabbed and re-used. The building is currently being demolished by Thor Equities. On Friday there was one wall left standing. Henderson’s will be gone in a couple of days. A few weeks ago we posted Charles Denson’s video tribute to the Henderson Theater. In lieu of an obituary, we decided to write about the survival of this humble but treasured memento.

For more info on the history of the building, see “Photo of the Day: Interior of Coney Island’s Doomed Henderson Music Hall” (ATZ, April 29, 2010).

UPDATE 3:20 pm

RIP Henderson Music Hall. Just got word the last wall of this historic Coney Island building was demolished this afternoon. Bad things have happened in threes in Thor’s Coney Island over the past few months: The demolition of the Bank of Coney Island, the Shore Hotel, and finally the Henderson Music Hall. Now when tourists exit Stillwell Terminal, their first sight of Coney Island will be one of Thor Equities infamous empty lots!

Vintage Postcard of Henderson's Music Hall Stage in Coney Island. Cezar Del Valle Collection

Rare & Vintage: Original Coney Island Motordrome Bike

Posted in Artifacts, history, tagged Antique Motorcycle, Coney Island, Indian Scout, Jim Babchak, Motordrome, Wall of Death on December 19, 2010| 10 Comments »

1924 Indian Scout, 30.50 cu in, original Coney Island Motordrome bike! Runs excellent! Jim Babchak Collection. $22,900

This photo of an antique motorcycle offered for sale on Kiwi Bike’s blog caught our eye because of its Coney Island provenance. “1924 Indian Scout; 30.50 cu in, original Coney Island Motodrome bike! Same owner last 30 years. Runs excellent! Gone thru by George Yarocki, noted Indian Scout expert. Own a piece of classic American History 22,999.00”

If the bike could speak, what would it say? ATZ talked with the bike’s owner, Jim Babchak, who happens to be the Classics Editor at American Iron Magazine and a longtime member of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. Turns out he acquired this rare souvenir of the Coney Island Motordrome in the early ’80s. “I was bartending downtown when I saw an ad in the newspaper for an Indian motorcycle,” says Babchak. In order to beat out the competition, he made an appointment to meet the owner at 3 a.m. As soon as the bar closed, he rushed to Avenue U in Brooklyn. Babchak says the seller was an old guy, though not a motordrome rider. He remained mysterious about how he came by the two Indian Scouts he’d kept in his basement for more than 25 years! “I bought one,” recalls Babchak. “He allowed me to buy the second one a few years later.”

Wall of Death: Indian Scout--The Most Popular Motocycle in the World. Location Unknown. Photo via The Selvedge Yard

Babchak brought the bike to master mechanic George Yarocki who got it running for the first time in decades. Condition report: “The frame is reinforced. It had crashed many times. The handlebars have been broken and repaired. Tires are skinned on one side. And the Indian gas tanks are squared.” Babchak says he owns a half-dozen bikes and usually rides a 1941 Harley Davidson three-wheeler, but occasionally takes the Indian for a spin in his neighborhood. He isn’t especially eager to sell it either. He just wanted to put it out there for people to see.

“Indian Scouts were New York City police bikes,” explains Babchak. The story goes that the reason Indians have a left-hand throttle was so that the motor cop could draw a pistol with his right hand. Harleys have a right-hand throttle, says Babchak, who thinks the Indian probably had a first life as a New York City police bike and was later acquired by the motordrome.

Curly Lou Cody Riding the Wall of Death. Photo via Thrillarena.com

Where was the Coney Island Motordrome? ATZ did a little research on the web about motordromes in Coney Island. Not surprisingly, there have been a number of them over the years. Perhaps the bike came from the motordrome built in 1937 in Luna Park by Curly Lee Cody and his brother Cyclone Jack. The two men had a Wall of Death show with touring carnivals and had motor dromes built to their specifications. A reminiscence by one of their crew is posted on Sam Morgan’s marvelous Thrillarena site…

My job was to gun the engine of a display machine without a muffler and rear wheel to bring people in from all over Luna Park to see the show. I still remember stretching to reach the grips while gunning the engine. Cyclone Jake married a gal with brilliant red hair. Red actually got into the show. The 3 of them would ride the wall together criss-crossing and do amazing stunts. The one that I remember very vividly is when another uncle would hold me inside the motordrome and Lou would come up and eventually slap my hand every time he went around for a few minutes. The show, as all of Luna Park, became more and more deserted as people went to war or worked long hours after Pearl Harbor and the show became a victim of WW II. It was a good life, lots of broken bones when bikes didn’t have enough centrifigal force and came down sometimes on top of the rider(s) but it was a great life. I recently saw a few 1923 and 1929 Indians in the NHRA museum in Pomona, California and was hit hard by the old time memories.

An earlier Coney drome, on the Boardwalk at 23rd Street, made headlines in July 1932 when its oil-soaked wall and gas tanks burst into flames after some boys started a bonfire under the Boardwalk. The blaze spread quickly, destroying blocks of wooden bathhouses and bungalows. The fire caused an estimated $2 to $3 million dollars worth of property damage. The next year, another Coney Island fire destroyed yet another motordrome.

But we were surprised to learn that the popular Wall of Death attraction of our carnival childhood can trace its origins back to a drome which debuted in Coney Island in 1911. The New York Times described it as “the biggest single sensation at Luna Park.” The smaller, portable carnival dromes were inspired by the huge wooden board racetracks for professional motorcycle and auto racing which were popular in the early 1900s. Among the board racetracks were Brooklyn’s Brighton Motordrome (1912) and the Sheepshead Bay Speedway (1919).

Inspiration for the Wall of Death: Cleveland's Luna Park opened in 1906. Its Motordrome was a wood-planked motorcycle speedway. Postcard via The Cool History of Cleveland

Inspiration for the Wall of Death: Cleveland's Luna Park opened in 1906. Its Motordrome was one of the wood-planked motorcycle speedways that were popular in the early 1900s. Postcard via The Cool History of Cleveland

According to the Times, the saucer-shaped drome in Coney Island’s Luna PArk was 85 feet across the top and half that at the bottom and banked at 65 degrees. It featured two racing automobiles attempting to pass each other. “It usually takes about 50 laps for one to do this, and when it is done, the race is over–for twenty minutes–when it begins again.” By the next season, a competing motordrome with racing motorcycles had opened across Surf Avenue on the site of Dreamland Park, which had burned down in 1911. We found a clip about a rider in the Dreamland drome who was mortally wounded after crashing through the top of the track. R.I.P. William Mullen aka Dare Devil Bill, Age 22.

Smashup in Coney Island Motordrome. New York Times, May 19, 1912

Artifact of the Day: Vintage Coffee Cup from Childs Restaurant

Posted in Artifacts, tagged Childs Restaurant, collectible, Coney Island, Shenango china on December 4, 2010| 5 Comments »

Childs Restaurant Shenango China Mug via Restaurant Ware Collectors Network

The terra cotta palace on the Boardwalk at 21st Street that was Childs Restaurant is one of Coney Island’s official New York City landmarks. Ornamented with fanciful nautical motifs of sea creatures, seashells, ships and King Neptune, the building remains a favorite of photographers, though it’s now vacant.

Since the restaurant closed more than 60 years ago, we’ve never had the pleasure of dining there. Yesterday we came across this delightful vintage coffee cup on Eater, where Greg Moribito posted “Remembering Childs, a Gem from Coney Island’s Golden Age.” His tribute features an abundance of photos, ephemera and historical info. But it was the 1930s Shenango china cup top marked “Childs” and marked on the inside with “This is ‘Beechnut’ Coffee” in script that caught our eye.

The cup must be a rarity because a web search for “Shenango China” and “Childs Restaurant” turns up mostly children’s china. Just to be clear, we’re talking about the Childs Restaurant, not the Children’s Restaurant. Here’s to a hot steaming cup of joe in a Childs cup! If you have one to spare, let us know.