The way we were! Vintage photos show 1940s Coney Island bursting with beachgoers, 'freak shows' and best legs contests

[TomSea]

The way we were! Vintage photos show 1940s Coney Island bursting with beachgoers, 'freak shows' and best legs contests

    The beach and boardwalk at Coney  Island was a hotspot for New Yorkers in the 1940s - and remains so today
    Vintage photographs show revelers young and old soaking up the sun and riding carnival rides 
    Freak Shows were often held on the boardwalk, with attractions including 'the fattest woman in Coney Island'

By Anna Hopkins For Dailymail.com

Published: 07:43 EDT, 15 July 2017 | Updated: 10:58 EDT, 15 July 2017   

It was a troubling decade: America was a nation healing from the Great Depression, and had spent four years engaged in a war that would devastate millions worldwide.

But on the beaches of Coney Island, New Yorkers young and old could forget their worries for the day as they splashed in the sea, relaxed with their sweetheart in the sand or chowed down on a hot dog from the original Nathan's.

Antique photos from the 1940s - before, during and after America's involvement in the Second World War - illustrate the carefree summers of years past. It is an atmosphere that can still be found any given day on the famed boardwalk.


Bird's eye view: This photo of revelers on a fairground ride on Sunday, September 8 1946 illustrates the sheer number of beachgoers at Coney Island where the beaches are packed


Roll up, roll up: So-called freak shows were considered a common form of amusement in that era

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4697914/1940s-Coney-Island-freak-shows-best-legs-contests.html#ixzz4mvUzHJrH
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I've seen these kinds of photos before. Fascinating. More at the link.

[truth_seeker]

The other CONEY ISLAND
(Northern Ireland - Van Morrison)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn2CeHlKrTw

[Gefn]

Now Coney Island has a yearly freak show.

The 4th of July hot dog eating contest.

 

(My feeble attempt at humor. )

[TomSea]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SHCsgqZvQM

Good music but a lot of Lou Reed is fairly personal private music for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POz8d6qTCP8

I suppose there are no more freak shows at carnivals and fairs but it would not surprise me if something like freak shows might still be seen somewhere in the US.

[TomSea]

Now Coney Island has a yearly freak show.

The 4th of July hot dog eating contest.

 

(My feeble attempt at humor. )

 

[Sanguine]

I'm not a big fan of crowds.  Looks horrible.

[TomSea]

One of the pictures is of a "strong man", that was a big attraction back in the days as well while out on the West coast, the Muscle type beach culture was starting to form.



This photo, the heads almost look photoshopped to me


Maybe not but I read a whole book on those developments, Jack Lalanne was back around then.

This one even purports to be 1920 Venice beach, amazing images are out there.


I read a few "physical culture" books, Charles Atlas, all of those kinds of things, also Richard Simmons book which was actually, pretty decent.

[Smokin Joe]

I'm not a big fan of crowds.  Looks horrible.

[Gefn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SHCsgqZvQM

Good music but a lot of Lou Reed is fairly personal private music for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POz8d6qTCP8

I suppose there are no more freak shows at carnivals and fairs but it would not surprise me if something like freak shows might still be seen somewhere in the US.

@TomSea , one of my all time favorite records is Lou Reed's  "Berlin". I don't know why. It's dark, it makes me cry, yet it uplifts me at the same time.

I don't know another living soul who likes it, but I think it's a work of genius- it really moves me.

 I have to confess, I shed a few tears for the man the day I learned he passed recently

[TomSea]

@TomSea , one of my all time favorite records is Lou Reed's  "Berlin". I don't know why. It's dark, it makes me cry, yet it uplifts me at the same time.

I don't know another living soul who likes it, but I think it's a work of genius- it really moves me.

 I have to confess, I shed a few tears for the man the day I learned he passed recently

I did not know there are two studio versions of "Berlin"
http://www.allmusic.com/album/berlin-mw0000650675

http://www.allmusic.com/album/lou-reed-mw0000454881