Oral History Archive

Filtering by sideshows back to all
Tiana Camacho
A voice actor's reflections on how growing up in Coney Island in the 1990s shaped her imagination
Robert Whitney
Memories of a gorilla show, a bungalow colony, and an underground city beside the beach
Lisa Marie Pompilio
Horses, hot type, tattoos, sideshows, and graphic design
Van Milana
Grandson of sword swallower Joseph "Ajax" Milana and DeWise Purdin "The Handless Sharpshooter"
Adam RealMan
Coney Island native Adam RealMan Rinn bends steel with his bare hands!
Irene Karas
Sea Gate resident on her girlhood memories of Coney Island and passing them on to her daughter
Mary Loretta Hood
Mary Hood came to Coney Island as a child and worked on the Bowery well into her 90s
Takeshi Yamada
Osaka-born artist creates sideshow curiosities in his Coney Island home
John Strong
Sideshow Proprietor
Trav S.D.
Actor, author, and modern-day vaudevillian
Mark Breyer
Outside talker at the World in Wax Musee and lifeguard in the 1950's and 60's
Terry Silverman
Cousin of Beth Allen, incubator baby