Posted in Food, Photo of the Day, tagged Coney Island, Photography, street vendor on June 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Mango Vendor in Coney Island. May 29, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
Lunchtime in Coney Island! What could be better than a mango carved into a flower on a hot summer’s day?
May 31,2011: Cat Photo of the Day: Target the Coney Island Cat at Work
April 15, 2011: Photo Album: Whimsical Murals Blossom in Coney Island
April 6, 2011: Made in Coney: TV Commercial for Bonomo Turkish Taffy
March 12, 2011: Signage: Fresh Crispy Popcorn, Candy Caramel Apples
Posted in Food, video, tagged Bonomo Turkish Taffy, Coney Island, TV commercial, vintage candy on April 6, 2011| 15 Comments »
This vintage TV commercial for Bonomo Turkish Taffy stars a precocious little boy who eats the taffy as he rides Coney Island’s carousel, Parachute Jump and Thunderbolt roller coaster! The commercial, which was filmed in the late 1940s, has made a comeback along with the beloved candy bar.
Invented in the 1940s by the Bonomo family and manufactured on 8th Street in Coney Island, the candy was a favorite of baby boomers. But the brand, which came to be owned by the Tootsie Roll Company, was discontinued in 1989. Last year a Pennsylvania candy factory licensed by Bonomo’s new owner Kenny Wiesen began making the Turkish Taffy once again.
On the candy’s Facebook page, fans recall the ritual of slamming the bar against a table to crack it into pieces and then savoring each bite-sized piece. Gary Nomer, the former Bonomo plant manager in Coney Island, told Fortune Magazine the flavor is near the original. “Vanilla is pretty close, strawberry and banana are in the ballpark.”
Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy is available online and in vintage candy stores. If you still have a candy store in your neighborhood!
March 12, 2011: Signage: Fresh Crispy Popcorn, Candy Caramel Apples
January 15, 2011: ATZ Saturday Matinee: Shorty at Coney Island
December 16, 2010: Blast from the Past: LFO’s Summer Girls Music Video
April 17, 2010: Our Fave Coney Island Song: Joe McGinty’s Million Dollar Mermaid
Posted in Food, Photo of the Day, tagged Coney Island, Denny's Ice Cream, signage on March 12, 2011| 2 Comments »
Vintage Sign inside Denny's Ice Cream, Coney Island. February 28, 2011. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
After Denny’s Ice Cream Shop opens in April, we’ll be sure to post a close-up of their to die-for pistachio-banana soft serve in a sugar cone. With sprinkles on top! For now, here’s a vintage hand-painted sign that we just happened to see for the first time the other day. Passing by the Surf Avenue store, we found the metal shutter open a smidgen and called out a hello. Denny’s owner Dennis Corines rolled up the gate and invited us inside, where he and a helper were busy getting ready for the season’s opening day.
Denny has owned and operated the ice cream shop for 33 years, but it turns out the sign has been there even longer. How long? One Coney Islander tells ATZ that it was painted 40 years ago by Alex and Ethel Cohen, a couple whose first sign-painting shop was across from P.S. 239, now Mark Twain Junior High. The husband’s job was the lettering, the wife did the art. So much of Coney Island’s vernacular signage has been destroyed or is endangered by redevelopment, we’re happy to discover one sign that is safe and given pride of place.
Denny’s Ice Cream, 1212 Surf Avenue near Stillwell, Coney Island. 718-266-9371
March 9, 2011: Paul’s Daughter: “We love Coney Island and we love what we do”
October 28, 2010: Photo Album: Requiem for Coney Island’s Shoot Out the Star
September 29, 2010: Saved or Not? Signs from Coney Island’s Henderson Building
September 12, 2010: Video: Coney Island’s Faber’s Fascination by Charles Denson
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