POTW: The Thunderbolt

Alice

black and white photo of a boardwalk. A man leans against a wall in the foreground with his bike in front of him. A wooden roller coaster if in the background with the curve closest to the camera. A closed food shop is also in the foreground.
[Bike on Coney Island boardwalk], 1984, V1992.48.21; Anders Goldfarb photographs of Coney Island; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

 

This week's Photo of the Week features an Anders Goldfarb photograph of the Coney Island boardwalk in 1984. A man with his bike rests in the sun against a wall in the foreground. In the background is not the Cyclone, but the original Thunderbolt, a wooden roller coaster that operated from 1925 to 1982. The Thunderbolt soon became a ruin and the structure was demolished in 2000. A new steel roller coaster at Luna Park took the Thunderbolt name in 2014. 

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

Jim Eigo

The Thunderbolt was featured in Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall, in which the character Alvy Singer lived in the former hotel under the roller coaster.
Tue, Jul 30 2024 7:46 pm Permalink
Kamel Brown

What is the process by which photographs are selected to be featured for photo of a week? I have a number of images from my archives that I believe would possibly fit the criteria for consideration.
Tue, Jul 30 2024 7:52 pm Permalink

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