Coney Island USA | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island USA’

Photo of the Day: Restored WF Mangels Shooting Gallery

Posted in Amusement Game, tagged 1940s, antique shooting gallery, Coney Island USA, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Mangels, shooting gallery, William F Mangels, World War II on September 5, 2013| 5 Comments »

1940s Mangels Shooting Gallery, Coney Island USA. August 3, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

The restoration of the 1940′s Coney Island shooting gallery that ATZ wrote about earlier this year was completed in August and boy is it a beauty. Located next-door to Coney Island USA’s main building, the vintage gallery brings an authentic, old-timey ambiance to that part of Surf Avenue. It’s the third shooting gallery to debut in Coney Island this season as a replacement for equipment and businesses damaged by flooding from Superstorm Sandy.

Made in Coney Island by William F. Mangels, it’s also the only publicly operating shooting gallery of this vintage that we’re currently aware of. There are a few in private collections. Very few. A collector who contacted ATZ, said he had installed one in his home for family and friends to play. Another gallery is used as a decorative piece at a bar in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, where it was discovered when the restaurant owner was renovating. No shooting allowed!

The gallery restored by Coney Island USA is on loan from Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, where it was uncovered during post-Sandy renovations. Intact Mangels shooting galleries are exceptionally rare since most were long ago sold for scrap metal or broken up by antique dealers who sell the targets individually. In May, a Mangels cast-iron gallery with over 150 targets from the Elli Buk Collection sold at auction for $60,000 after competitive bidding.

Shooting Gallery Revival in Post-Sandy Coney Island

Posted in Amusement Game, Carnival Games, tagged comeback, Coney Island USA, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, haunted parlor, Mangels, revival, Shoot out the Star, Shoot the Clown, shooting gallery on May 16, 2013| 2 Comments »

Mangels Shooting Gallery from Wonder Wheel Park Being Restored by Coney Island USA on Surf Ave. May 12, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Welcome back William F. Mangels and hooray for ScareFactory! Two more shooting galleries are debuting in Coney Island this season as replacements for establishments damaged by flooding from Superstorm Sandy. On Sunday, the circa 1940s Mangels shooting gallery seen above, which hasn’t been used in decades and was hidden behind the Scarface Shooting Gallery under Deno’s Wonder Wheel, was being restored by Coney Island USA in view of passersby. On loan from Wonder Wheel Park’s Vourderis family, the gallery has been installed in the Surf Avenue storefront formerly occupied by Denny’s Ice Cream, which was also destroyed by Sandy. CIUSA’s Dick Zigun told ATZ that the refurbished shooting gallery is expected to open sometime in July.

The shooting gallery has cast-iron targets in the shape of soldiers, paratroopers and torpedo boats. It was manufactured in Coney Island by William F. Mangels, the inventor of such early 20th century thrill rides as the Whip and the Tickler, and the builder of the mechanism for the B & B Carousell. We haven’t seen one of these old-time galleries in operation anywhere for many seasons. What’s more, intact Mangels shooting galleries are exceptionally rare since most were long ago sold for scrap metal or broken up by antique dealers. Earlier this month a Mangels cast-iron gallery with over 150 targets from the Elli Buk Collection sold at auction for $60,000 after competitive bidding.

Meanwhile, at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, a haunted parlor-themed shooting gallery with animated targets made by ScareFactory has replaced the flood-damaged Scarface gallery and is already a hit with customers. Players have 45 seconds or 18 shots to shoot the light beam targets that when hit reveal ghosts and ghouls dropping from the ceiling or popping out of the furnishings in the fortuneteller’s parlor. It’s fun to watch as well as play. When we first tried it and hit one of the portraits on the wall, it swung out and an air cannon went off, evoking surprise and laughter from the crowd.

In 2010, ATZ wrote a requiem for the Henderson Building’s Shoot out the Star, which had operated for more than 20 years and was one of Coney’s few year-round amusement businesses. The same year, the famed paintball game Shoot the Freak was bulldozed on the Boardwalk. This season, new versions of the games by different operators are making a comeback on Coney Island’s Bowery. A talker will call you in to “Shoot the Clown,” instead of the Freak. The game is located near the corner of West 12th Street and replaces a Derby Racer destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. You can Shoot out the Star in a trailer across the way.

Shoot the Clown on Coney Island’s Bowery. March 31, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i

Kickstarter to Save Coney Island’s 2013 Mermaid Parade

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island 2013, Coney Island USA, crowdfunding, fundraiser, Kickstarter, mermaid, Mermaid Parade on May 9, 2013| 2 Comments »

In an article about Coney Island for Islands Magazine’s “Best Beaches” issue in 2000, I asked “How are mermaids different from mortal women?” A siren wearing little more than a sequined fishtail and a sprinkling of glitter looked me in the eye and said, “Mortal women don’t have the boom-boom shimmy-sham that mermaids possess. For another thing, we have all that fantasy on our side.” Everyone who comes to Coney Island partakes in that fantasy. It’s hard to imagine kicking off the summer in Coney Island without the Mermaid Parade, but it could happen for the first time in 31 years unless $100,000 is raised via Kickstarter by June 3rd.

Three-time “Best Mermaid” Kate Dale on Purple Sofa Float in 2008 Mermaid Parade. June 21, 2008. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Coney Island USA, the non-profit arts organization that puts on the free parade, was devastated by Superstorm Sandy. Its sideshow, burlesque shows and Freak Bar have yet to open for the season as renovation of the flood-damaged first floor is underway. While Coney Island’s rides, games and Boardwalk shops and eateries opened as usual on Palm Sunday, Coney Island USA’s theater has remained dark. With no revenue coming in, there’s a budget shortfall in the mermaid department.

Amy Winehouse Mermaids sing They Wanted Me to 2 Go CONDO but I said NO NO NO in 2008 Mermaid Parade. June 21, 2008. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

“A free parade is expensive,” says the intro on Kickstarter. “As the crowds have grown to 750,000 people over the past years, we’ve had to contend with more regulations and restrictions that have sharply increased the cost of the event.” The good news is the crowdfunding campaign to save the June 22nd event has already raised one-third of the $100,000 goal with contributions ranging from $1 to $250. But Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing funding model. The project must be fully funded for the parade to be saved. Thank you gifts include freak flags ($5 or more), pasties and tote bags ($40 or more), and a VIP spot on an elevated roof deck to watch the parade ($150 or more).