"WHEN THE CENTURY WAS YOUNG" EARLY 1900s CONEY ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK KINETOSCOPE FILMS MD10034
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ส.ค. 2021
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This black and white silent film compiles early 1900’s Edison and Biograph Kinetoscope motion pictures of Coney Island, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The film features Thompson and Tilyou’s Steeplechase Park, Dundy’s Luna Park, Dreamland concessions and amusements, and Coney Island beach attractions. This retitled Blackhawk Films home distribution print was derived from a 1961 copy of 35mm paper positives preserved in the Library of Congress, originally dating from 1903-1905.
A title card describes Coney Island as a “magic world of razzle-dazzle excitement” and invokes Charles Feltman, who “introduced the first hot dog at his Ocean Pavillion in 1874” (0:39). Titles continue, noting the Edison and Biograph companies that “cranked out” early motion pictures, and alluding to their using Kinetograph cameras for Kinetoscope exhibition (1:01). Another title explains that movies could only be copyrighted as photographs, so 35mm paper prints were filed with the Library of Congress (1:18). Seashore swimmers in modest turn of the-century bathing costumes splash in the water at Coney Island Beach. Couples dance a jig and one woman takes a tumble in the sand. A man flips his partner, then does a cartwheel and a backflip while younger boys look on (1:48). A title card explains how George Tilyou opened Steeplechase Park in 1897, then rebuilt it after a 1907 fire (2:28). Couples mounted on double-saddled mechanical “horses” race down steep iron rails, variously waving and gripping their partners tightly. Men wear straw hats and women wear petticoats. A batch of single riders follow, then more couples without hats (2:59). Title: “Bike riding on the beach was precarious…” (3:38). Women in patriotic stars & stripes costumes and plaid skirts pedal clumsily along the coastline on bicycles (3:45). An intertitle mentions Feltman’s of Coney Island, as well as businessman “Diamond Jim” Brady and stage singer/actor Lillian Russell, indulgent gossip column celebrities of the day (4:04). The electric spectacle of Luna Park, created by Elmer “Skip” Dundy and Frederic Thompson. A panorama from cameraman Edwin Porter’s Edison picture “Coney Island at Night”: Illuminated towers and spires, a spinning chair swing ride, the park’s entrance gate, “Luna Park” signage, Feltman’s hot dog stand, a ferris wheel, the steeplechase, and other thrill rides (4:18). Lady acrobats perform at Luna Park, swinging from a rotating trapeze. They suspend themselves and spin rapidly, then close their act with a flourish (5:22). More of Luna Park from “Coney Island at Night”: Panning closeups reveal crowds in fast-motion due to undercranking, meticulous strands of lightbulbs, and the mouth of an illuminated “fish” (7:12). The Shoot-the-Chutes log flume attraction. Flat bottomed boats race down water chutes and splashdown into a “spacious lagoon,” where a crowd of spectators watch from a bridge overhead. Men in top hats exit the boats, and climb a staircase. A faux castle stands in the background (7:58). The “Fire and Flame” spectacular, featuring the mock firefight of an apartment building. Imperiled actors wave from windows as horse-drawn fire engines lift ladders and climb up from below. People leap from four stories into a safety net as smoke pours from windows (8:46). Tiles introduce Dreamland (11:28). Men in Roman centurion costumes march and ride on horseback around a mock hippodrome track. Men and women in robes and racing charioteers follow (12:08). The 374-ft. Beacon Tower via Porter/Edison (15:07). More of the staged firefight, shot from the ground (16:09). A title card mourns the burning of Dreamland in 1911, and the subsequent Luna Park fires of 1944 that ensured the demise of the amusement parks. (17:21). Dense crowds of bathers and young men in a rowboat at Coney Island Beach. (17:47). “The End” (19:04).
Plagued by fires and frequent redevelopment, Steeplechase park operated from 1897-1944, Luna Park from 1903-1944, and Dreamland from 1904-1911.
Blackhawk Films was founded in 1927 as Eastin Pictures, specializing in newsreel footage, but pivoted to direct mail-order distribution of 8mm and 16mm silent-era classics for private home viewing with the advent of television in the 1950’s. The company was based in Davenport, Iowa, and remained in operation through various ownerships into the 1980’s.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
Absolutely amazing work by all involved! The guys who cranked out the original film, the endless printing of the individual frames, the Library of Congress that was smart enough to know film was not exactly the best for long term storage, the people at Blackhawk who endlessly copied those prints into a cohesive film and finally to Periscope for bringing it to us.
Thanks so much. The good news is that there is work being done today to make new versions of paper prints using modern technology; doubtless they will look even better. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
They are having so much fun. I love it
I spent my toddler years in Coney Island and I have fantastic memories.
Amazing record of the early 20th century. Equally amazing is what a company like Blackhawk Films could do with vintage material from this period, in terms of preservation. It's incredible.
Fire and Flames.....omg...I am speechless.
Thanks so much! It was great to see the parks and the revealing bathing suits back then haha!
This is another great episode of actual footage of Coney Island in the early 1900s was a simple life i bet that Steeplechase ride was fun back then and all the other rides they had back then
thanks for sharing this, it reminds me of the "CONEY ISLAND" that was in cincinnati ohio, that is where I grew up. I think that park started up in the 1880's!!!!!
When I was a kid, my parents gave me a Super 8 film projector for Christmas. I remember buying some films off a rack in our local Kmart, but my favorite thing to do, though, was to peruse the HUGE Blackhawk Film catalog. I loved that thing with it's hundreds of films to choose from and the short synopsis of each film. Feature films were out of my (very) limited price range, but I did have a good selection of early two-reel silent comedies. The Blackhawk Bulletin. Eastin-Phelan Building. Davenport, Iowa. Dang, I even remember the address!
Blackhawk was an amazing company -- and their catalog included many non-fiction films about railroads, history, and more.
Oh wow, my grandmother always told me about the steeplechase ride and this is the first time I’ve seen it. It looks fun but to dangerous lol. She said the parachute ride was great too but really precarious lol. There’s a wonderful horse race ride at Rye Playland. I think it’s one of 3 in the world.
Amazing
Thank you! Cheers!
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Frecks. Sometimes our Mom and Dad would take my three older Brothers and I and drive up to Brooklyn and Queens from Washington, D.C and see some of the Family and on to Coney Island and have some great fun. Gino's Sicilian sausage and pasta right on the boardwalk was the best. God Bless.
shame that "ticker" couldnt have been placed a bit lower... cutting off some of the last portion of the word slides
Agreed...Periscope Films should really do something about this. It really is annoying and diminishes the viewing experience. PF should reconfigure their copyright licensing tickers/tags a better way.
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes.
In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous TH-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do.
Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
People were just tough as nails back then, it's unreal. The things they did for fun would likely put us in the hospital or worse. That fire and smoke show was insane! Thank you Periscope Films for yet another wonderful contribution.
That's not quite was it was. I read a book explaining the context of Coney Island those days, and it was a kind of "land of rebellion" where people would go to give the middle finger to the restrictive rules society put on them the rest of the time. So in a way, it's less like fun in general and more like the way rebellious teens act when their parents are controlling - only in this case the "teens" include adults, and the "controlling parent" is society - Victorian society, basically, and it's not hard to see how strict THAT was. And as such, yes, there would be fun acts that could put you in the hospital, because the reasoning behind those acts is the same as a rebellious teen would do. And it's similar to the reasoning used today by TH-camrs like Jake Paul who sell indiscriminate rebellion as their brand.
It's so depressing getting a glimpse of what it was, and knowing what it is now, and has been for at least 50 years. Such a calamitous decline.
* love your channel, longtime sub, but I must ask - is that rolling number bar at the bottom absolutely necessary? It kinda ruins your videos. 🙏🏼
But whatever, I’ll never stop watching. Great content.
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes.
In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous TH-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do.
Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Back when people knew how to have fun without Smartphones.
Exactly....AND no big fat people waddling around with their noses stuck in a phone or ipad. Just people and families enjoying the day and being together.
👍👍👍👍👍
I just have a question, what type of energy sources should be used in Luna Park to provide the large scale of the lighting system in early 1900s ?
Phooey! Your timestamp keeps obscuring the last line of every title card. This is completely unhelpful.
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes.
In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous TH-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do.
Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Thank you for posting this fascinating historic footage. I also enjoyed the thoughtful choices of music as well. Excellent job!! (btw I added this to TH-cam's Awesome Coney Island Videos..... th-cam.com/play/PLZY0gh4CnM6glItC0gJ3lbZ2xQJpVx0RU.html&si=CKis33aVU__l9Iyh )
Sad. They are dead from old age. 😮😮😢😢
Even their kids are probably dead from old age. This was a century ago!
@@nakayle one lady said her great granny was there. At the very places and time. And still alive in a Nursing Old' Age Home! Amazing!
The film is nice but I wish the damn timer wasn't in the film. (PF#vMD10034 and the timer blocks ou the good stuff)