Wonder Gallery CIHP Season Extended

WHAT'S NEW

Exhibit Season Extended Thru October 11

Summer is not over! We're happy to announce an extended season for the Wonder Gallery and the Coney Island History Project. Our free exhibits will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-7 PM through October 11th.

View this season's special exhibits curated by Charles Denson and Amanda Deutch in our Wonder Gallery, a collaboration with Parachute Literary Arts.

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Oral History

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Featured Oral History Interviews

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Norman Stock

Poet who grew up in Coney Island and was one of Dr. Couney's incubator babies

John Hunt

Model builder of roller coasters and amusement rides including the Cyclone and Deno's Wonder Wheel

Patrick Phillips

Memories of working at Astroland's Neptune Diving Bells in the summer of 1964

Steve Burke

Memories of working at Coney Island's pony track as a boy in the 1940s for "no pay, just tips"

Anne Green

Memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s

Sheldon Krimsky

Memories of growing up on West 29th Street in Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s

Explore Our Collection

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Neptune Avenue at West 36th Street.
Childs Restaurant on the Boardwalk
Dragon's Cave ticket booth
Children below the Wonder Wheel
Skin the Wire
The Funny Place
Under the Boardwalk
World of Wax Musee

Hall of Fame

Inventors, performers, impresarios, and community leaders - these are among the many pioneers and visionaries whose creativity and ingenuity helped shape and define Coney Island over the past century. Each year, the Coney Island Hall of Fame pays tribute to a selected group of honorees. Their contributions are highlighted in an exhibit of colorful banners accompanied by illustrated text panels detailing their fascinating lives.

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Featured Video

Memories of Coney Island's Mermaid Avenue in the 1950s

New on our YouTube channel: Charles Denson's Mermaid Avenue in the 1950's brings together photos from the Coney Island History Project Collection and the voices of Michael "Looch" Goldstein and Stanley Fox. They grew up at opposite ends of Mermaid Avenue and recorded their memories of the...
posted Jun 25th, 2020
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Ask Mr. Coney Island
Dear Mr. Coney Island...
I've been doing a search to find images, pictures and films/video and audio showing the incredible Classic Three Rotating Ring Carousel that I remembered, as a young boy, that was housed in the huge indoor Steeplechase Park. As a young boy in the 1950's I had been amazed at the mechanical complexity of such an amazing machine with its 'Three Counter Rotating Ride Rings', Beautifully Hand Carved and Lovingly Painted Motion and Still Horses, and the Powerful music that came from the Huge Mechanical Full Orchestra and Organ/Calliope. I was born and raised in Brooklyn and Coney Island was a regular venue for our family entertainment. I'm hoping you'll be the one to help restore this childhood amazement to me! Regards, namaste
- David

Hello David,

That would be the El Dorado Carousel, now located at Toshimaen Amusement Park in Tokyo. This magnificent machine was carved by Hugo Hasse of Leipzig Germany in 1902. In 1910 it was moved to Coney Island and installed in a building Surf Avenue at West Fifth Street. The carousel survived the 1911 Dreamland Fire, blistered but intact. George Tilyou brought the El Dorado to...
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