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Views of Coney Island viewbooks

Call Number

ARC.231

Date

1905, inclusive

Creator

L.H. Nelson Company (Role: Publisher)

Extent

0.06 Linear Feet in two folders.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Views of Coney Island viewbooks were published in 1905 and 1909 by L. H. Nelson Company. The viewbooks contain views of Coney Island.

Historical note

Coney Island is an oceanfront neighborhood located in Southwest Brooklyn that is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Sea Gate to the West and Brighton Beach to the East. Coney Island became known as a destination as early as 1824 when the first oceanfront resort, the Coney Island House, opened. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, the development of Coney Island progressed quickly due to the opening of train lines that connected Southwest Brooklyn to the more populated areas of Brooklyn and beyond. The accelerated development of Coney Island brought seasonal businesses, as well as more visitors. Between 1897 and 1904, three amusement parks opened along the main street closest to the ocean in Coney Island, Surf Avenue. In 1897, Steeplechase Park, filled with shows and rides such as the Steeplechase Horses, the Human Roulette Wheel, and the Blowhole Theater, opened to the public. Luna Park was the next to open in 1903, offering attractions such as the Trip to the Moon, the Helter Skelter Slide, and the Dragon's Gorge, as well as a lavish nighttime setting illuminated by thousands of electric lights. By 1904, Luna Park was pulling in a daily attendance of 90,000 people during its busy season. Also in 1904, Dreamland opened to the public. Dreamland differed from the other two parks in that it featured attractions inspired by international destinations such as the Japanese Tea Garden and the Fall of Pompeii, as well as a lagoon surrounded by an enormous hippodrome and rides such as the Haunted Swing and Shooting-the-Chutes. In 1911, Dreamland suffered a major fire that destroyed most of its attractions and killed many of the animals that were used in its shows. The park closed soon after.

In 1920, the subway was extended to Coney Island which helped to transport an average of one million visitors per weekend to Coney Island's amusement parks and public beaches during its busy summer season. In 1924, a 2.51 mile boardwalk opened (officially called the Riegelmann Boardwalk) that extended from Sea Gate to Brighton Beach. In 1944, Luna Park suffered a major fire and closed. During the 1940s and 1950s, New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses changed the scale and focus of Coney Island by widening its beaches, getting rid of many of its older attractions, building a municipal aquarium and skating rink, and supporting the rezoning of much of the area for residential use only. Astroland, the space age-themed amusement park, opened in 1962, filling in some of the gaps left behind with the closing of Dreamland and Luna Park. In 1964, the last remaining original amusement park, Steeplechase Park, closed. Astroland too was closed in 2008. As of 2011, Coney Island still has an amusement district, but on a much smaller scale than in its heyday. Several rides have survived, in part, due to their National Historic Landmark status, including the Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone roller coaster, and the Parachute Jump. A new version of Luna Park opened in May of 2010, but much of Coney Island's beachfront property is still in dispute between the city, local residents, and real estate developers.

L.H. Nelson Company was a publisher based in Portland, ME. They published viewbooks and photographs of prominent cities and summer resorts. Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

Sources:

  1. Getty Research Institute: Art & Architecture Thesaurus. "Viewbooks." Accessed June 28, 2011. http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=viewbooks&logic=AND¬e=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300026684
  2. Bradley, Elizabeth. "Coney Island." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 299-301. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 2010.

Scope and Contents

The Views of Coney Island viewbooks were published in 1905 and 1909 by L. H. Nelson Company. The viewbooks contain views of Coney Island including images of attractions, buildings, and structures at Luna Park and Dreamland, street scenes of Surf Avenue, as well as group portraits of people on the beach at Coney Island and images of people attending the attractions at Coney Island. The original softcovers of both viewbooks have been recovered with hardcover library bindings which are now brittle, and pages from the viewbooks have separated from the bindings. The viewbook printed in 1905 contains 30 pages and its page size is 7.75 x 10.30, while the viewbook printed in 1909 contains 28 pages with its page size measuring 8 x 10 inches. Digital versions of the images from the viewbooks are available via the image database located in the library.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction rights for images from the viewbooks have not been evaluated. For information on securing rights to publish or reproduce, please see the Brooklyn Historical Society Reproduction Rights Policy.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Views of Coney Island viewbooks, ARC.231, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source and date of acquisition for this collection are unknown. The collection was formally accessioned in 1986.

Related Materials

Brooklyn Historical Society also holds other viewbooks relating to Brooklyn, and more specifically, to Coney Island. Please consult library staff for more information.

Other Finding Aids

Item level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library. Please consult library staff for more information.

Collection processed by

Patricia Glowinski

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:11:58 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English.

Processing Information note

Fully processed to the item level.

This collection combines the accessions V1986.024 and V1986.025.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: Prints by Accession 48 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201