Queen of Coney Island
Janet Panetta's family had a locker at the Steeplechase Park Bathhouse in the 1950's. She and her sister were set loose to play in the pool and around the park. One summer, Janet contracted polio and remembers being called the Queen of...
Content type: Oral History Item
87-year-old remembers the Nickel Empire
Joseph Albanese returns to Coney Island after seventy years to talk about his memories of growing up there. He used to steam at the Washington Baths with his family, eat at Nathan's, and go on all the rides (including the train to get there)...
Content type: Oral History Item
Rode the Cyclone at 4 years old
Marion is 75 years old and tells the story of first coming to Coney Island with her grandfather and riding the Cyclone when she was four years old. She subsequently took her children to Steeplechase regularly and then five years ago, she rode the...
Content type: Oral History Item
Remembers details of riding the Parachute Jump
Born in 1952, he remember riding the Parachute Jump with his father.
Content type: Oral History Item
Recalls Coney Island as a boy, especially Steeplechase Park
Jim, who currently lives in Massachusetts, grew up in Brooklyn until he was 17. He brought his son to Coney because he heard rumors that the Wonder Wheel was going to be torn down. He recalls the sights and smells of Coney as a child, his fondest...
Content type: Oral History Item
Depression-era resident and survivor of the 1932 fire
Goldie Durlester, daughter of a ladies' coat and suit pattern maker, was born in 1925. In the period prior to the start of the second World War, Durlester lived in a half-dozen or so locations around Coney Island and the West End. A survivor of...
Content type: Oral History Item
Shared their 1950's childhood under the boardwalk
Stephanie Norr and Betty Cohn have been friends since age four when their mothers registered them on the same day for nursery school on the lower east side of Manhattan. The women recall coming to Coney Island as children in the 1950's. They...
Content type: Oral History Item
Son of Steeplechase Park's general manager, James Onorato
Michael Onorato is the son of James Onorato, who was the general manager of Steeplechase Park from 1928 to 1964 when it closed. Michael remembers the park in vivid detail and describes growing up there. He gives a start-to-finish account of going...
Content type: Oral History Item
Grew up a daredevil in New York City
Corinne describes visiting Coney Island in the 1940's as a girl with her family and even taking the train with other children to spend the day. She rode the Steeplechase horses and even the Parachute Jump, which she first tried out at the 1939...
Content type: Oral History Item
Grew up on Avenue Z in the 1930's and 40's
Jocelyn Cantor remembers walking to the Boardwalk from her home on Avenue Z and spending whole days at Steeplechase Park with her cousin when they were children. When she got older, Jocelyn and a girlfriend recruited some soldiers on leave to...
Content type: Oral History Item