Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (American Century)

Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (American Century) | John F. Kasson | Coney Island as an indicator of social change

books:

Amusing the Millio...

	Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (American Century) John F. Kasson Hill and Wang, 1978 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Coney Island: the name still resonates with a sense of racy Brooklyn excitement, the echo of beach-front popular entertainment before World War I. Amusing the Million examines the historical context in which Coney Island made its reputation as an amusement park and shows how America's changing social and economic conditions formed the basis of a new mass culture. Exploring it afresh in this way, John Kasson shows Coney Island no longer as the object of nostalgia but as a harbinger of modernity--and the many photographs, lithographs, engravings, and other reproductions with which he amplifies his text support this lively thesis.

for more information click here

Did you ever wonder why people wanted "to go to the Fair ?

This book was not really what I expected it to be.Rather than giving interesting insight into what went on at Coney Island;it is more a book about why it came into being,why at the time,and why at that location. The book seemed to run out of steam and ended abruptly without completing the story of the reasons for the demise of it all.
Sure ,the book is about Coney Island;but similar Amusement Parks ,although none as large or famous,sprung up all over America and even Canada. And that doesn't even take into account all the State Fairs,County Exhibitions,National Exhibitions,travelling Fairs,Circuses and Sideshows,
These were all much the same in nature,differing mainly in size and duration.Their reason for being and the reason or them becoming a thing of the past is all the same.
The book suggests that they started in the mid-1800's is stretching the point somewhat as Fairs of all types were around for many centuries and only differed in how big they were,how far people travelled to them ,how much new inventions became incorporated and how long they lasted.
It seems that throughout history people loved to gather for just about any reason,but generally some sort of amusement along with the hope of "seeing something new". Thus there were Races,Exhibitions of animals,crafts,products for prizes or sale,Auctions,Magic shows,Plays,Sporting events;and on and on ad infinitism.
This happened at Stonehenge and before,at the Roman Collisium,and Religious Celebrations. It didn't take much to create an event;heck, even a "Hanging" was enough to get a huge crowd out.
The same sort of thing continues today.So instead of taking the Subway to Coney Island or some other Amusement park;we go to the great Theme Parks,National Parks,Sporting Events,Concerts,Casinos,Vegas,Nashville,Ski Hills,Cruises,or even events and locations around the world,such as World Fairs or the Olympics.
The old adage "The more things change,the more they become the same" applies to Amusement Parks,just as it does to everything else.
I suppose the greatest change is in the ease of travel,the amount of disposible income available,and the introduction of TV where everything can be brought right into the living room. That doesn't leave much but the Thrill Rides,the Smells and Sounds ,the Crowds and the Outdoors; but that's coming too.
I for one still like to "Go to the Fair" and still do here in Toronto.The Canadian National Exhibition continues to run for 3 weeks in August:however it gets poorer and tackier every year and who knows how much longer it will continue.

for more information click here

Coney Island as an indicator of social change

In these times, when entertainers bare body parts normally kept strictly covered, it is hard to believe the cover photo of this book was considered rather racy a century ago. It shows a line of girls on the beach at Coney Island where the skirts on their swimsuits have been raised to reveal the shorts underneath. Considering that they also appear to have full-length tights on underneath the shorts, to modern eyes, they look overdressed. There were many social commentators at the end of the nineteenth century that argued that the egalitarian social structure of Coney Island was debasing the social fabric of the nation.
Which was nonsense, as Coney Island was the most conspicuous example of the dramatic social changes taking place in the United States. By the turn of the century, the people were generally no longer rural tillers of the soil, having been transformed into urban tillers of the machines. Furthermore, by this time, the social distinctions between the upper and other classes were being blurred. As the author points out, at Coney Island, many of the stiff social restrictions came down. People who otherwise would not speak to each other became friendly and shared rides, beach water and other amusements.
The members of the compressed urban society craved simple and inexpensive recreation and Coney Island provided it. Therefore, as Kasson points out so well, it was a phenomenon that grew out of a social need and in many ways served as a social release. People could, for a very small fee, leave their crowded dwellings and engage in a day of escape. Everyone was equal on the rides and the beaches, so at least at that location, social distinctions disappeared.
Until I read this book, I had never considered the amusement park as a barometer for social change. However, it is now clear that Coney Island was a metaphor for a dramatic change in the social fabric of the nation and from this book, you can learn many of the details.

for more information click here

Factual but revolutionary

I had to purchase this book for a history class focused on pop culture of 1890's - present. In my opinion Kasson does an amazing job really reviewing the social changes that Coney Island had initiated in the United States. Warning: I did not find this book very stimulating. It was very factual and upfront with no glamourous words inbetween. But "Amusing the Million" was very educational. Kasson showcased the true importance of Coney Island in a way that I had never seen it presented before.

Welcome to the House of Fun

Amusement parks that began to exist during the turn of the century served as venues for fun and excitement as well as helped to release the repressed from the gentility of the Victorian Age of the nineteenth century. John Kasson examines the social and cultural ramifications that occurred in American society in his book, AMUSING THE MILLIONS: CONEY ISLAND AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. In his study, Kasson shows how the American landscape became playgrounds, especially in New York, which extended the use of recreational space, New York's Central Park, and expositions that commemorated and celebrated the American historical past, Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893. They magnified the cornerstones and building blocks of the city, and the behavior that was exhibited with the rising middle class, which attracted a mass audience. The city became cosmopolitan and modern where many engaged and frolicked, and helped to unlatch social, racial, and economic boundaries that were bestowed upon many individuals; they also helped to rejuvenate cities through urban planning.

Indeed, Kasson explores the world of imagination. The amusements ran the gamut from a Barnum and Bailey atmosphere to reveling along the boardwalk amongst exotic and unusual exhibits that coveted Coney Island's Luna Park and Dreamland Park. And within the text Kasson highlights those who helped architect this unrestrained environment of excess, such as Frederick Law Olmstead, Daniel H. Burnham, George C. Tilyou, Frederic Thompson, James Gibbons Huneker, and Maxim Gorky. Undoubtedly these were elaborate and spacious constructed palatial playgrounds of pleasure full of materialism and consumption where many gathered for pure utopian enjoyment. According to Kasson, these amusements also served as an outlet for artists and painters whose works did not particularly belong in museums. However, they reflected the modernist and realist genres of the art world before they came into vogue, and they depicted "technological, urban, populous, egalitarian, erotic, hedonist, dynamic, and culturally diverse" images that the public were not accustomed to (88).

Overall, this is an interesting trip down nostalgic memory lane. Through the revealing pictures and detailed narrative, Kasson shows readers how Coney Island at the turn became a form of liberation for an array of classes. In essence, this is a good source to refer to when studying or reading about the American Dream as it relates to amusement parks that transcended social and cultural change in American society.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2

products you might be interested in