Otto Dreschmeyer, [Night, Coney Island], August 10, 1965, color slide, V1988.12.117. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Have you visited Coney Island this summer? This Photo of the Week is a multiple exposure—created when several exposures are overlaid to create a single image—of amusements along Surf Avenue. Despite the layering of the photograph, many of the brightly lit signs are still legible including Faber's Fascination, the Cavalcade Skooter ride, the Tornado, Nathan's Hot Dogs, and a theater marquee for…
[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…
[Portrait of man posing on a boardwalk in Coney Island], 1898, v1974.022.4.068, Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks, ARC.199; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This From the Vault post was originally written by Tess Colwell and published on September 13, 2017 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter.
In the dog days of summer, it seems fitting to call out a collection…
[Hot dog coat of arms], 1939, Gelatin silver print, CONE_0198; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
It's the dog days of summer here in Brooklyn, a perfect time to head down to Coney Island and enjoy a hot dog on the boardwalk. This coat of arms honoring the 50th anniversary of the hot dog in 1939 shows a royal figure knighting a kneeling hot dog in the center. On the sides are two dachshunds (wiener dogs, of course) standing on their hind legs with faces turned up towards a radiant pot of "sinapi" ("…
HERZ_0080, Bathing beauties, 1959, black and white silver gelatin print. Irving I. Herzberg photograph collection, BCMS.0056. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Welcome to August! To bring us into the final weeks of summer vacation, this Photo of the Week is all about those summer vibes. A bevy of the titular "bathing beauties" is seen frolicking in the surf at Coney Island, each with a different stylish swimsuit and creative coif. The palpable joy on their faces is what drew me to this image. Of course during these…
Group at Coney Island seaside home, 1892, gelatin silver print. Julius Wilcox photograph collection, WILC_0022. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
The Seaside Home for Children, run by the Brooklyn Children's Aid Society, was a seasonal charitable facility for sick and lower-income children and their mothers. Located in Coney Island amongst the luxury shoreline resorts, the Home offered families a few days by the sea at no cost. On-site medical care from a dedicated team of doctors and nurses was also available.…
