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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Coney Island Shooting Gallery from 1940s Makes Comeback

Posted in Amusement Game, tagged antique shooting gallery, Coney Island, Coney Island USA, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, Dick Zigun, Mangels shooting gallery, shooting gallery, Vourderis Family, William F Mangels, Wonder Wheel on February 28, 2013| 9 Comments »

A rare vintage 1940’s Coney Island shooting gallery that used to be under the Wonder Wheel is about to come out of retirement and make a comeback on Surf Avenue. Last night Dick Zigun, artistic director of Coney Island USA, announced in a series of tweets that the iconic shooting gallery, which had operated for many decades next to Spook-A-Rama on Jones Walk, would reopen at 1214 Surf Avenue.

Thank You to WonderWheel Park's Vourderis Family for caring for their Mangels Shooting Gallery even in storage & now letting us reopen it!

— Dick Zigun (@DickZigun) February 28, 2013

Zigun said that the historic shooting gallery will be a “major working exhibit/game fronting CIUSA’s new Art/Culture gallery formerly Denny’s Ice Cream.” The nonprofit arts organization bought Dennis Corines’ ice cream shop and building next door to Coney Island USA’s headquarters last March for $1.3 million. Unfortunately, Denny’s was one of the first casualties of Superstorm Sandy in Coney Island’s amusement area. The building had to be gutted and there was talk of replacing the ruined ice cream machines with a paintball game, mini-golf or a roller rink. The idea of using the Mangels shooting gallery in storage at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park came up when it had to be moved during renovations after the storm.

Pictured above in a 1975 photograph by Coney Island History Project director Charles Denson, the 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. Researching a story on antique carnival pieces for Games Magazine a few years ago, we learned from a collector that Mangels held the most patents on shooting gallery targets. From the early 1900s until 1969, well after other manufacturers had gone out of business, his shop on 8th Street produced a wide variety of targets.

Morphy Auctions

Intact Mangels shooting galleries are exceptionally rare since most were long ago sold for scrap metal or broken up by antique dealers. Last April, ATZ wrote about this Mangels’ paratrooper target up for auction in Pennsylvania. It appears identical to the large paratrooper seen in Charles Denson’s photo. The price realized for the single target was $1,020. In 2009, an intact Mangels mechanical shooting gallery installed at Duke Farms and used by heiress Doris Duke during parties at her home sold at auction for $43,200!

Photo Album: February Is a Mixed Bag in Coney Island

Posted in Photo Album, Photography, tagged arcade game, beach, candy apples, Coney Island, Sandy on February 25, 2013| 2 Comments »

Temporary Sand Dunes on Coney Island Beach. February 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

In February, we photographed Coney Island’s shifting sand dunes, ruined arcade machines, newly painted ride cars and freshly dipped candy apples. With 28 days till the amusement area’s traditional Palm Sunday opener on March 24th, everyone is busier than usual getting ready as post-Sandy recovery continues in the People’s Playground.

Coney Island Beach: Sand Dunes, 21st Street. February 22, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The temporary sand dunes of West 15th Street have been sifted and trucked back to the beach. During SuperStorm Sandy, Coney Island’s beach lost two to three feet of sand. Windblown sand covered the boardwalk and adjacent streets, burying the kiddie rides and parking meters. Back in November, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contracted crews closed West 15th Street and created temporary sand dunes from the Boardwalk to Wonder Wheel Way.

Willie the Whale Cars at Deno’s Kiddie Park, Coney Island. February 22, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

At Deno’s Kiddie Park on the Boardwalk, freshly painted cars from the whimsical Willie the Whale ride are here and there, waiting to return to their circle.

Wm F Mangels Pony Carts Being Painted at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. February 22, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The Ponies and Carts from the classic ride manufactured in Coney Island by William F. Mangels are in the workshop getting a fresh coat of paint.

Arcade Machines Ruined by Sandy, Coney Island Arcade
Bowery and 12th Street, February 22, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

One of the saddest sights in the amusement area is this graveyard of brand-new arcade machines ruined by water damage from Sandy. With the exception of Skeeball, the electronics of Coney Island’s machines were damaged beyond repair. Coney’s arcades will reopen with new games this season.

Arcade Machines Lined up Outdoors at Luna Park. February 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Marshmallow-on-a-stick and four kinds of candy apples are available at Williams Candy on Surf Avenue. The candy shop is under renovation but is still open daily year-round.

Candy Apples and Marshmallow Treats at Williams Candy, Coney Island. February 17, 2013 Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Music: Carol Lipnik’s List Of Attractions (Of Coney Island)

Posted in Music, tagged A Coney Island of the Ear, Carol Lipnik, Coney Island, Joe's Pub, List of Attractions, Spook-A-Rama on February 21, 2013| 8 Comments »

If chanteuse Carol Lipnik had a sideshow bannerline it would say “The queen of Coney Island phantasmagoria” (Lucid Culture) and “A Coney Island of the Ear” (New York Times) in addition to “My Life as a Singing Mermaid.” On March 17, Lipnik will appear in concert at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater with keyboardist Dred Scott. She calls her band Spookarama after the dark ride at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Her multi-octave voice and Scott’s wurlitzer do indeed make you feel as if you’ve stepped inside an old-timey spook house or are careening down the drop of a roller coaster. In this Q & A, ATZ asked Carol about her association with Coney Island.

ATZ: We were surprised to realize the lyrics of “List of Attractions,” one of the songs that you’ll be singing at Joe’s Pub, really are a list of long-vanished Coney attractions. The House Of Too Much Trouble, Wormwood’s Monkey Theater, The Cave Of Winds, The Haunted Swing, and so on. How did you come to write the song?

CL: Growing up in Coney Island during its decline I quickly understood that it was a place filled with historical ghosts. I loved wandering the boardwalk and the amusement park area, especially off-season. Staring up at the decaying rides I felt Coney Island to be a place where the presence of things that were there were more there than the things that remained there. There was something so compelling to me in this wabi-sabi dreamland decay of sadness and hysteria. I can remember how the abandoned Thunderbolt Coaster became covered with vines and full of birds, and how the Parachute Jump’s cables whipped in the wind, and still to this day the hollow constant moaning of the wind through The Astro Tower like a giant flute. In my researches I found the names of past attractions to be so enigmatic that I got the idea to string them all together as a long list which when sung would tell much of the story – you fill in the imagery!

ATZ: These are all long ago attractions, but if you could bring three of them back, which ones would you choose and why?

CL: The Haunted Swing seems really fun – I believe it was a ride where the actual swing was stationary and the room swung around! Trip To The Moon a la George Melies film world would be so fun! The Cabaret De La Mort – Zombie burlesque anyone? Disaster Illusion rides like The End Of The World and The Fall Of Pompeii (maybe with a Global Warming slant?)

ATZ: When you say “Growing up in Coney Island…” Did you live in Coney Island as a child or do you mean you came here often as a child growing up?

CL: I grew up in Coney Island on Neptune Avenue — in Trump Village. Also, by the way, my uncle had a wonderful Jewish Delicatessen on Mermaid Avenue called Rosenberg’s that was all black and white art deco and mirrors. He made his own mayonnaise for potato salads and coleslaw, his own stuffed derma, and he was very strict about serving sandwiches properly — no white bread or mayo with the pastrami! He loved it and he held out till he finally got burned out.

ATZ: Why did you name your band Spookarama?

CL: The Spook-A-Rama dark ride pretty much summoned up my experience of Coney Island and what I was trying to project with my songs — a shamanic trip through a slapstick/vaudeville/cartoon/demonic/maniacal/ carnival world which turns out to be a distant cousin to the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Chöd where initiates wander through fearful haunted dark places and co-exist with all these odd monster spirits. A place I frequent in my head and in my music. Also, I had a big crush on the Cyclops who’s reappeared last year from the storage bin and hoping he’s OK since Sandy. I’m hoping Spook-A-Rama will pull thru after Sandy. I saw them drying the paper mache monsters. How are they?

ATZ: The Cyclops has miraculously survived but many of the other props were badly damaged by the flood. Some will be restored for use as static figures. The interior of the ride is currently being rebuilt with new props and is expected to open this spring.

Carol Lipnik and Spookarama at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC, March 17 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30), $15 cover.