Filtering by 1940 - 1949
![Ajax the Great with his sword pin](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/6616/images/ajax_with_sword.jpg?itok=8NzrCDPG)
Van Milana
Grandson of sword swallower Joseph "Ajax" Milana and DeWise Purdin "The Handless Sharpshooter"
![Photo © Jay Roberts. Courtesy of Deena Metzger](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/6348/images/deena_outside_by_gate_smiling.jpg?itok=h4mllHcs)
Deena Metzger
Writer, poet and healer who grew up in a Yiddish literary family in Sea Gate during World War II
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/6442/images/2017-10-27_010.jpg?itok=YLEKdv5q)
Jay Green (Gerald Greenberg)
Three-time International Jugglers Association champion and resident of Southern Brooklyn
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/5934/images/coneyisland_0.jpg?itok=ihZ_zQOZ)
Susan Meyer
Memories of growing up in the 1940s and '50s in a tight-knit Jewish community in Coney Island
![Father Pappas hosts a radio program, “Matters of Conscience” on WNYE COSMOS FM at 91.5 every Saturday at 1:15PM. Photo courtesy of COSMOS FM](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/6151/images/father_pappas_cosmos_fm.jpg?itok=gohzIbU5&c=59e95d6993d55339b518572cb12627f3)
Father Eugene Pappas
On growing up in Coney Island in the 1940s and the history of Greek-American businesses in the area
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/5783/images/jeffreyeisenmesser.jpg?itok=G1icneqo&c=b58115d34ba5883146a8ccc6800680fa)
Jeffrey Eisenmesser
Former teacher at Mark Twain Junior High School recalls his Coney Island memories
![Charles Berkman. Photo courtesy of the Berkman family](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/5585/images/charles_berkman_1.jpg?itok=No3g1eIC&c=6a0e535a079a8ec953adeca6802cbb6b)
Charles Berkman
Memories of growing up in Coney Island during the Great Depression and 55 years practicing law
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/5101/images/joel_zika.jpg?itok=ZfBlhElX&c=6a0e535a079a8ec953adeca6802cbb6b)
Joel Zika
The founder of the Dark Ride Project on documenting Spook-A-Rama and other historic dark rides
![Charles Robert Feltman](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/5053/images/charles_feltman.jpg?itok=cAOLa0YM&c=f5646e8ff83c3113b3b4b31fa44fbe66)
Charles Robert Feltman
Great-grandson of Feltmans Restaurant founder and hot dog inventor Charles Feltman
![Totonno's, Coney Island](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/4795/images/totonno.jpg?itok=ulo6SJNS)
Antoinette Balzano
Granddaughter of Anthony "Totonno" Pero tells the story of how he founded Totonno's Pizzeria in 1924
![Aldo Mancusi playing Hofbauer street organ at 5th Annual History Day at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park and Coney Island History Project](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/4523/images/aldo_mancusi_history_day.jpg?itok=DrqNiSVz&c=32efcc1bdf18e6f539c7fdf287ed6f6d)
Commendatore Aldo Mancusi
Memories of Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s and growing up in Brooklyn in an Italian family
![Carolina Restaurant, 1975](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3498/images/carolina.intvw_.jpg?itok=elSG0GJU&c=212d38626433d77167a28dad84a47a23)
Louise Milano
Louise Milano's mother, Carolina, operated Carolina Restaurant on Mermaid Avenue for 60 years