The era of the 1890s in America was a time of great modernization and amazement. America was slowly becoming more, and more industrialized; as industrialization began to sweep the nation so did the innovation of Americans. More and more people were starting to work in factories and live in cities, and never in America’s history has this happened before. Railroads are spreading throughout the nation to make various parts of the country more accessible to people. The telephone, an astonishing invention that allows easy access to communicate with friends, or family on the other side of the country. All of this new access to inventions that are made to make life easier, the public has now obtained some leisure time. With leisure time then comes people aching to fill that time, which is where carnivals and fairs come into play. People in today’s era associate fairs more with the Midwest section of the United States, not the coasts. However, the most popular amusement park of the 1890s through the era of World War 2 was Coney Island. Coney Island was a place meant for people to enjoy themselves and their time off. This amusement park had a variety of different activities to do such and rides, shows, and a beach. However while many young folks, loved the Coney Island era, and the freeness that came along with it, the older generation most certainly did not enjoy the provocativeness that came with the new amusement park of Coney Island.
Millions of Americans went to Coney Island because it was unlike anything most Americans have seen before. This amusement park had a variety of colors and lights and it seemed futuristic, especially at night. At night, the edges of the buildings in Coney Island would glow from all of the lights. There was a point in time where Coney Island was all the rage and was also a place that was open to everyone. People wanted to see what this futuristic utopia was like, and why so many people ranted and raved about its magical scenery. People wanted to visit the amazing Coney Island had to offer and it was now accessible. The amusement park had experienced a major increase in the number of patrons during the 1920’s because of the establishment of a new subway line that was able to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Coney Island was a way for younger people to shed away their worries and become the person they truly want to be for a few days. When one went to Coney Island as opposed to staying in their small town, there was no fear of having familial consequences to one’s actions. In one’s town, the situation that most likely occurred was that everybody knew everyone and that if one did something considered to be unacceptable, the whole town would know about it in a short amount of time, and eventually, one’s own family would know about it. However, when one was at Coney Island the atmosphere was very different from a small town. Here young people were able to let loose and shed those Victorian morals that their parents and grandparents had taught them. Coney Island revealed people’s promiscuity that they were not able to reveal back home. Here women pranced around in bathing suits whereas at home they would be fully covered. Here men and women would have been able to play games, eat, drink and do whatever they desired.
Coney Island brought new meaning to the word leisure, by targeting middle-class visitors instead of the insanely wealthy ones, these parks now had extended the possibility of leisure to these middle-class people in new ways. Thousands upon thousands of visitors came to Coney Island to be amused, charmed, and fed. From this new demand for entertainment, mostly from the middle-class people, had emerged one of the most immense collections of rides, shows, and thrillers that the early 20th-century world had seen.
While Coney Island brought new opportunities to the middle class, there was still very mixed opinions about the amusement park and its entertainment. While some experts at the time liked Coney Island and the experiences and opportunities that came with it, some people like James Huneker stated that “Once en masse, humanity sheds its civilization and becomes half child, half savage.” Huneker believed that Coney Island brought out people’s uncivilized self. While people today may not see it in that perspective is it easy to see how people of the late Victorian era would. The Victorian era is categorized by an excess of clothing, extreme modesty, and good etiquette. When one grew up their whole life in accordance with these categories, seeing the chaoticness that is Coney Island may seem wrong, and immoral. Some also believed that this new mentality that came with the amusement park was simply over exaggerated. Maxim Gorky believed that Coney Island was not the end of civilization as people knew it, he argued that “Life is made for the people to work six days a week, [and] sin on the seventh.” Gorky believed that it was natural for people to want to unwind and let loose because 6/7 days of the week were filled with physical and mental stress, and work that most people did not enjoy doing. Other people also took this opportunity to study the masses at Coney Island. For example, Gustave Le Bon, wrote his novel, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, in 1895 and wrote about how one will act different and do different things when they are with a group of people as opposed to being by oneself. The masses had many different opinions on Coney Island and many took it as an opportunity to study sociology and human behavior in this new environment.
Coney Island was able to make it’s consumers freer. Coney Island was a place where its patrons were able to actively participate in what it had to offer rather than being a passive consumer. The experience is truly what one was able to make of it. However, at Coney Island, people were not passive consumers which is just another word for an absorber. People were engaged with the acts that were here such as the Steeplechase blowhole which would be an actual interaction with the patrons and the acts.
Eventually, though, Coney Island came to a decline due to its own success. Coney Island gave way for new amusement parks such as Disneyland to come to life. Amusement parks like these were considered big and better than Coney Island. Disneyland premiered in the 1950s which would make sense as Coney Island has a steep decline during the World War 2 era. Coney Island also declined, because it was once seen as this multicolored utopia, but over the years became run down. While the condition of the beach could never really change, the condition of the amusement parks eventually started to decline. Coney Island had transformed within a matter of years. Once known as this place everyone and anyone aspired to go, altered into a place that was seen as rundown and even dangerous in later years. If the maintenance was kept of with Coney Island and it was able to adapt with the times, there most likely would have never been a steep decline to the popularity of the park.
Coney Island was a majestic place during the late 19th century to the early 20th century. It seemed to be a place of dreams and memories. While there was certainly controversy surrounding the park thousands of middle-class Americans thoroughly enjoyed the park and this new found activity of leisure time. Coney Island most certainly did bring a wave of promiscuity to a late Victorian Society; however, it may have just been something that was needed during this time of American innovation and advancement. Thousands upon thousands of Americans sought the adventure and amusement Coney had to offer, and most likely got exactly what they were looking for. Coney was able for its consumers to actively engage in the activities that were available to its patrons and made it fun and enjoyable for most people.