Time Travelling to Coney Island, 1905 to 1952

Now that summer is fast approaching here in the U.S. (it begins at the end of June), thoughts of past years of frolic at the beach come to mind. So to get a head start on summer and the inevitable thoughts of Brooklyn's Coney Island come to mind (especially among those who once visited there), I have put once again online the five videos about Coney Island that once graced the Museum of Family History's Film Series. You can now watch them at your leisure.

These short films include:

--A group of young women from a boarding school spending the day at Coney Island in 1905.

--A film of Fatty Arbuckle at Coney Island, 1917, which includes visions of Luna Park.

--Coney Island of the 1940s.

--Coney Island Freaks, B-Girls, and a Touch of Tatooing.

--Coney Island in 1952.

So you can now spend nearly an hour getting a whiff of sea air and yesteryear watching these five short films which cover a span of nearly fifty years of the once great Coney Island. Now it is a mere shell of what it was with perhaps large buildings filled with condominiums and a shopping mall in its future, but we can still keep alive the memory of Coney Island in our own minds as long as we can travel back in time through the magic of film. Enjoy--and don't forget the sunscreen!

The videos can be found by clicking here.

The rest of the Coney Island exhibition begins here and consists of the introductory page and a short history of early Coney Island. You can find the first page here.

A Look Back at the Coney Island of Yesteryear: A MOFH Video Presentation

Hurry, Hurry, step this way, for a nostalgic visit to the Coney Island of yesteryear!

The Museum of Family History invites you to spend an hour looking back at the once magnificent beach, boardwalk and amusement areas in Coney Island (from 1905 to 1952!), located in Brooklyn, New York. All videos come to you courtesy of YouTube. These films should be watched using Internet Explorer (though feel free to try using another browser!)

Here's what you can see for just one thin dime :

First, tag along with a group of young ladies from Miss Knapp's Select School as they spend the day at Coney Island in 1905.

Second, see Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in the silent film "Coney Island." The clip shown features Beautiful Luna Park in 1917.

Third, For many decades the beach and boardwalk at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York was the place to be on a hot summer day. There were also side shows and amusement parks with plenty of thrill rides, not to mention Nathan's famous hot dogs. See a YouTube video of the Coney Island of the 1940s and get a sense of how our family members who lived in the New York metro area spent their time more than five decades ago.

Fourth, you will see some of the Coney Island "freak show," which includes fire eaters, dancing girls and more, cir 1940s and 1950s.

Last, but not least: "Coney Island, U.S.A." (1952): "An impressionistic view of a day in the life of Coney Island from the desertion in the early morning to the hysteria at midnight. Commentary by Henry Morgan."

Come one, come all!!
The videos can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-coneyisland-ytv-01.htm .

MOFH Film Series: Now Showing, for Two Weeks Only

The current short films available within the Museum's Film Series will no longer be available for viewing beginning this coming Monday. Starting today, to be shown for two weeks, you may see the following:

"Immigration: An Instructional Film" (10:22).
Produced by the Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc. in 1946, this short film "reviews the history of immigration to the United States up to the restrictive law passed in 1924. A dramatized scene in a European steamship office is used to show the economic, political and religious motives for immigration. Contains scenes of Ellis Island and New York City in the early 20th century." This film plays only with Internet Explorer; however, a link is provided to another site that should enable you to play this film with other browsers.

See the Coney Island of the 1940s! (9:22).
For many decades the beach and boardwalk at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York was the place to be on a hot summer day. There were also side shows and amusement parks with plenty of thrill rides, not to mention Nathan's famous hot dogs. See a YouTube video of the Coney Island of the 1940s and get a sense of how our family members who lived in the New York metro area spent their time more than five decades ago.

The Al Jolson Film Festival - "Broadway Highlights: Intimate News of the Gay White Way" (10:39).
This short takes us down Manhattan's Broadway in 1935 with five stops where interesting events are occurring. First at Jack Dempsey's Restaurant, there is a testimonial dinner to famed band leader, the "King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman; second a stop at the Winter Garden Theatre where there is a casting call for Earl Carroll's Vanities; third, a stop at the Hollywood Restaurant where Sophie Tucker performs "Some of these Days"; fourth we get a peek at opening night of "Ceiling Zero," a 1935 play with Osgood Perkins and Margaret Perry, performed at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street. The final stop on this tour is the NBC building at Radio City, where there is a rehearsal for "Shell Chateau," one of Al Jolson's radio programs, with the Victor Young Orchestra and starring boxer Max Baer. Two months after this broadcast, Max Baer would lose a famed fight to down-and-out James J. Braddock (The "Cinderella Man" bout.)

World Jewish Communities: "Buying a Religious Book in Mukacheve" (1:08).
In this 1933 film clip, you can see students leaving a yeshiva and one boy seeking to by a religious book.

You can find links to these films at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-films.htm .