automaton | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘automaton’

Last Chance to Dance with “Miss Coney Island” This Year

Posted in Amusement Game, amusement park, Artifacts, tagged automaton, Coney Island, Coney Island Always, dancing doll, Miss Coney Island on November 14, 2014| 1 Comment »

Bring quarters and dance with me! Last weekend for @MissConeyIsland and "Coney Island Always" before we winterize pic.twitter.com/GCf4DDfcwp

— Miss Coney Island (@MissConeyIsland) November 14, 2014

This weekend is your last chance to dance with the life-size dancing doll “Miss Coney Island” and enjoy the miniature animated rides of “Coney Island Always” before they close for the year. These independently owned amusements cost only 25 cents each and are located on West 12th Street off the Boardwalk, beneath Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park.

When ATZ “interviewed” Miss Coney after she moved from Jones Walk in 2012, it was revealed that in a past life she was an Indian princess automaton at Connecticut’s Great Danbury Fair. Though you’d never guess it after her glam makeover, this doll dates back to the 1930s. The shimmying mannequin is a magnet for visiting divas. Catch her at 2:20 in Beyonce’s music vid XO and with Rita Ora in a fashion shoot for Vibe Magazine. Miss Coney Island’s taglines on twitter are “Don’t Postpone Joy” and “25 cents to fall in LOVE.” (more…)

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Photo of the Day: Miss Coney Island’s Dancing Cat

Posted in Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged automaton, dancing cats, dancing doll, Miss Coney Island on April 6, 2014| 2 Comments »

Miss Coney Island’s Dancing Cat. April 6, 2014 . Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

New for 2014 in Coney Island! One of Miss Coney Island‘s dancing cats is sporting a Marilyn Monroe badge. Just call her Marilyn.

The dancing doll and cats are a popular attraction on West 12th Street across from the Steeplechase coaster. It costs a quarter a dance.

Up for Auction: Bimbo Baby Automaton Arcade Machine

Posted in Auction, tagged antique arcade, arcade machine, automaton, Bimbo Box, monkey, vintage on March 28, 2014| 5 Comments »

Bimbo Baby Automaton Arcade Machine. German, c.1950. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery

Isn’t this the cutest? There are already two bids on this circa 1950 “Bimbo Baby” arcade machine featuring a monkey orchestra. It has a starting bid of $1,000 and a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$4,000. The sale is on Saturday morning at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery in Pittsfield, Mass., not far from where my Dad once had a real live monkey on the midway.

Bimbo Baby Automaton Arcade Machine. German, c.1950, coin operated automaton box lights up inside with 6 figural cabana monkeys on a tropical decorated stage, the figures dance, shake and play their instruments; has a speaker built into the base which plays music through a Tefi Spezial-Band cassette (tape in cassette is unwound). Animated mechanism is in good working condition. 38 in. high x 24 in. wide x 23 in. deep.

Now if somebody would just drop a dime in the slot and make a YouTube video of the toy monkeys dancing and playing, we’d be delighted.