Tickets are on their way. Any other descriptions of experiences in Coney Island really help. You've no idea...

The ticket stubs are great to spark further memories Curator. Nice display. If possible, it might help to see the lettering on some of the tickets in crisper focus so that more memories can be stirred. Is that a ticket for Playland on the far bottom right?

From what I recall, the coney island "whip" chairs were red on the rounded top half and blue on the bottom half... can anyone verify this? As a young kid, this was my favorite ride.

Jonathan

Visiting Coney Island was a real blast back in the 50's and 60's.Only problem for me was ..I was acrophobic [still am].Many of the attractions involved height,so once I committed to going on a ride..it was extra scary for me.

Some of these were The Cyclone,The Thunderbolt,The Wild Mouse,The Parachute Jump[I kept my eyes closed the entire time],The Giant Wooden Slide,and The Steeplechase ride.[the horses had a scary wide eyed grin that gave me nightmares].

I'll never forget the smell inside the Steeplechase...sort of a smokey sweet smell...probably caused by all the friction going on and the cotton candy.

Rich

C-Major,Try this, EXCELLENT! widget

That's from Ross McRae, who posts regularly in the "Believe it or Not" threads. He has some good products, well worth having, with both historical and nostalgic value. Some are video, some audio. One, is a nice set of pitches. Check them out.

I've noticed an inverse relationship between Nathan's hot dogs, and the rides. As a child, the hot dogs made me sick, and the rides were fun. Now, it's the other way around.

...ah, a Nathan's Dog on a chilly afternoon --with mustard and sauerkraut of course! Not just at Coney Island, but at the walk-in/stand up diner, just along side Tannen's NYC building located on Boradway and 42nd Street (or thereabouts).

Hot salted (giant) pretzels with mustard as well, from the outdoor cart across the street. I remember those as well.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.... (well, not an open fire, but someplace mysterious, inside the metallic vending cart. They were put beatly (or not so neatly) into small brown paper bags , if I recall correctly).

But back to Curator's topic at hand...
Coney Island Memories --not memories of Tannens, nor vending carts and chestnuts! lol

Weren't there dozens of strategically placed windowed-booths set up at Coney Island --you know... the ones with the yellow cranes inside to "grab" (or "try" to grab) your prize? If so, weren't these booths colored bright orange? Or are my synapses mis-firing and drawing on an odd memory from another fantasy-type park ?

Jonathan

Any idea about the price of a Nathan's Dog in 1972 and the price of a tarot reading in the 1940's ?
It may be an important detail in my story.

Honestly, I (for one) cannot recall this info (price of dog) accurately.

The dogs were 1 footers (I believe), relatively dark brown, and juicy.

If I said 50 cents, I might be right or wrong.

What I do recall is that, at Nathan's and only Nathan's, you could take as much suarkraut as you wanted, for Free!

And, I believe it was warm. Perhaps you could also take the buns for free. I do remember, that if I ran out of quarters and could not afford th ereal dog, I could (and did) make a saurkraut bun with mustard and enjoy eating it at no cost. Of course it was better with the "hot dog" in the bun and beneath the dressings, but if I had spent all my quarters at Tannens' that day, I was at least sure to have "part" of a "wholesome" meal. lol

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan.
Do you think that 50 cents was a price for a very short tarot reading in the 1940's ? Something like a 10 minute reading.

Dear Curator, please do not take my 50 cents per dog estimate as the "right" estimate. I simply cannot remmebr. I just recall placing a few quaters up onto the formica (orange -colored?) counter to pay for the dogs. But perhps I placed 4 quarters on the counter and got back a penny (99 cents for a dog might have been steep bakc then, but at a dollar per foot, it might also be right).

I am sure there are other Café members out there that truly remember the price. Or why not track down one of the old (still living) Nathan Employees?

As for Tarot readings,I was a kid back then (16 in 1972), and my times at CI were during the early 60's as a very young boy (circa age 6). So I had neither an interest nor knowledge of Tarot readings.

Jonathan

They probably dinged you for 50 cents, if you gave them a dollar.

I was young enough then, not to be conscious of prices. But then, I mess up on that now.

A nice cip
http://www.vtap.com/video/Coney+Island+o......37cb5424

A great bit on Nathans Famous.
http://www.1960sailors.net/09a_Nathan's.htm

Based on the clothes, I'd say this is the mid forties:
http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment......02230019

nathan's famous was famous for selling it's dogs cheap, but I can't find any reference to when they raised the price from a nickel. I'd bet they were going for a quarter in the sixties, and somewhere between that and 75 cents in the seventies.

That clip on Coney Island was great Silverking.

Thanks!

Only a few that have not watched this clip will be able to know just what they are referring to when they talk about the rare and superb delicacy of "Coney Island Caviar".

Okay, perhaps several of you may venutre a guess and guess correctly.

But whose facial image is seen lit up in lights at night, in the background shown in one of the many segments of this great clip:

a) Charlie Chaplin
b) Buster Keaton
c) Oliver (of Oliver and Hardy fame)

or,

d) Dick Van Dyke?

Check out the clip to find out at:

http://www.vtap.com/video/Coney+Island+o......37cb5424

...and enjoy!

That ride on the Cyclone rollercoaster is quite the sight!

Thanks again Silverking!!!

My only disappointments were that there were no shots of the Laff House, Dark Tunnel, or the Parachute jump ... but perhaps I will find one if I check out some other clips on the net.

Found it!

That Vtap site is great!

http://www.vtap.com/video/Stock+Footage%......6e8a236a


...and the Tilt-a-Wirl can be viewed here:

http://www.vtap.com/video/Stock+Footage%......08979bc8

In the clip below, there's at least one shot of the neon signage and storefront of Coney Island's Nathan's. As well, (I believe) some shots of the outside of the Laff House, or the Dark Tunnel ... or some such house of sin. lol :

http://www.vtap.com/video/Open+House+Con......90e4db6a

Enjoy!

Jonathan

Great films and great photo, thanks alot.

Thanks to Silverking for posting the first VTap video on this tread. I had never heard of the VTap video site before.

Glad these images help Curator.

Jonathan