Friday’s forecast of snow showers with accumulations of less than an inch makes us feel nostalgic for the snowstorms of past years. Jonathan Pineau Bonetti shot “Coney Island Song of the Silent Snow” in Coney Island and Brighton Beach on Christmas Weekend 2010. That was the year the Polar Bears, who appear in the film, got a snow swim as a Christmas present! Time to bring in the snow machines?
Step right up and see “Double Trouble,” an early 20th century peep show reel. Yes, it’s SFW though dancers wearing short skirts were considered risque when this moving picture machine was new. Invented in 1894 and marketed by the American Mutoscope Company, the coin-op machines contained flip book movies with a viewing time of about a minute.
These classic reels were made from 1897 to 1907, when the company turned completely to projection, and were created and almost totally produced in New York City. Although the 4,000-plus titles included a variety of subjects, it was the girly movies with suggestive titles like “Artists and Models” and “Wiggling Wonders” (glimpsed in the photo below) that won notoriety.
Mutoscope machines were popular in Coney Island and the Rev. Frederick Bruce Russell of the Law and Order Society raided and closed several for the exhibition of improper pictures on July 30, 1897. “Those closed by Mr. Russell to-day were at Feltman’s Pavilion, Koster’s Concert Hall, the Sea Beach Palace and the Old Iron Pier,” said an article on the front page of the Brooklyn Eagle. “The particular pictures which fell under the reformer’s eye were entitled ‘What the Girls Did With Willie’s Hat’ and ‘Fun in a Boarding School.’”
What did the girls do with the hat that was so scandalous? They frolicked and kicked it high over their heads while wearing short skirts like the girls in “Double Trouble.” Bring back the peep show! It would be fun to have some of these old Mutoscope movie machine as well as an arcade museum as we noted previously in “ATZ’s Big Wish List for the New Coney Island,” ATZ, October 7, 2012).
Boys looking at penny movies at South Louisiana State Fair, 1938. Photograph by Russell Lee. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division
ATZ is pleased to present this Coney Island Polar Bear’s eye view of the 2013 New Year’s Day Plunge with videos by Polar Bear Club members Jim McDonnell and Princess Mermaid Capri. The Polar Bear Club, which has 150 members who swim every Sunday in the winter, celebrated their 110th year with the 2013 New Year’s Day Plunge. About 2,000 people participated in today’s event, which is free and open to the public. They earned an “I Did It” certificate from the Club and “bragging rights forever,” as one participant says in Jim’s video. The water temperature was 41F/5C, air temp 37F and wind chill 27F, according to Capri.
For the first time in the Polar Bear Club’s history, instead of everyone running into the water at once, waves of people went in approximately every seven minutes, a couple hundred at a time. Also for the first time, registration was mandatory for the New Year’s Day Plunge since participants were issued color-coded wristbands. Those with blue wristbands were in the first wave of swimmers at 1pm, followed by red, green, orange and purple. Here’s the first wave…
“It went very well,” Polar Bear President Dennis Thomas told ATZ. “The Parks Department wanted a little more control and less chaos. And we did a better job of getting everyone registered.” Last year on New Year’s Day, temps in the 50s drew a record number of participants– more than 3,000— making the changes advisable from a safety standpoint.
Besides being a great way to start off the new year, the annual event is a fundraiser for Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life threatening diseases. According to Thomas, almost $22,000 was raised for Camp Sunshine and they expect to meet their goal of $25,000. This year, funds are also being raised for Coney Recovers, a coalition of local nonprofits helping with relief efforts after SuperStorm Sandy. If you missed the event, it’s not too late to donate online or mail in a check.
This video by Princess Mermaid Capri shows the fourth wave of swimmers…
Some of the wacky costumed characters are familiar from previous years’ swims or reminiscent of the Mermaid Parade. In photos and videos, we spotted the bagpiper, the Metrocard Man, Santa Claus, Hawaiians, various superheroes and the guys with the inflatable octopus toy as well as penguins and polar bears! Some carried hand-made signs that read “Free Polar Hugs” and “Polar Bears from the Bronx.” Two Japanese guys in bikinis from Tokyo Circus shared a timeless message: “Your Smile Is Beautiful.” Happy New Year from Coney Island!
Amusing the Zillion 