A Return to Coney

Above: Coney Island "freak" show, summer of 1935. (seeoldnyc.com)

It has been about a year since we’ve visited Coney Island, and with summer upon us (and upon 1935 New York) let’s have a look at “The Talk of the Town” and see the latest attractions.

June 15, 1935 cover by Garrett Price. Price (1897–1979) illustrated 100 covers for the magazine.

**Garrett Price’s** first *New Yorker* cover, “Heat Wave,” Aug. 1, 1925.

This lengthy “Talk” entry (excerpted), attributed to Clifford Orr, noted that much was unchanged, including the “mustard-laden breezes.” The place was noisier, however, with carnival barkers increasing their range through loudspeakers.

THE HIGH AND LOWS of society were on display in various attractions at Coney Island. Clockwise from top left, gawkers gather at Coney Island freak show, which included the “Armadillo Boy,” August 5, 1935; strollers near the Virginia Reel and Wonder Wheel, circa 1935; Borden’s frozen custard stand, 1930s; couple have a nap on the beach, circa 1935. (seeoldnyc.com)

LINEUP…Beauty contests near the Steeplechase, like this one in 1935, were a common sight at Coney Island. (seeoldnyc.com)

LIKE MOTHS TO THE FLAME, the dazzling lights drew thousands to Coney Island’s Luna Park in the 1930s. (seeoldnyc.com)

THEY LOOK LIKE…ANTS…Aerial view of the beach in 1935. The Steeplechase ride is at the top left. (seeoldnyc.com)

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Ship Ahoy

E.B. White (in “Notes and Comment”) mentioned that he danced aboard the newly arrived S.S. Normandie (presumably with Katharine White) while it was docked at Pier 88.

GROOVY…**E.B. White** noted the “luminous grooves” of the S.S. *Normandie’s* theatre. (drivingfordeco.com)

JUGGERNAUT…The S.S. *Normandie* docked at New York’s Pier 88 after completing her maiden voyage on June 3, 1935. Note the paint chipped from the hull, the result of the ship’s record-breaking speed. (yesterdaystrails.wordpress.com)

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Another Freak Show

Theatre critic Wolcott Gibbs found Earl Carroll’s latest stage production to be nothing more than a “vulgar assortment of comedians, jugglers, and performing dogs,” accompanied by “very lovely and disarming” young ladies who chanted their lines “in high childish voices.” One skit apparently featured Abe Lincoln with “fifty-six young ladies in cellophane hoopskirts.” Too bad no one filmed that performance.

HOLDING IT TOGETHER…Gibbs noted that comedian **Ken Murray** carried most of the show’s comedy (Murray had found success on the New York stage after appearing in Carroll’s *Vanities* on Broadway in 1935); **Sibyl Bowen** was known for her impersonations of famous women. In *Sketchbook* she portrayed Martha Washington, among others. (eBay/entertainment.ie)

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Weathering the Field

Like the recent 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont (won by J.J. Spaun), ninety years ago Oakmont was also plagued by bad weather, and it also featured a tournament winner who outplayed the top golfers in the field. Excerpt:

WHY NOT ME?…**Sam Parks Jr.** (left) was considered an unlikely winner of the 1935 U.S. Open after competing with Hall of Famers at Oakmont. A 25-year-old club pro from Pittsburgh who played on the winter tour without ever winning, he bested a field that included **Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Denny Shute** and **Horton Smith**. His secret? For months leading up to the U.S. Open, Parks played nine holes at Oakmont every morning before going to work at nearby South Hills Country Club. He knew the course like the back of his hand. (progolfweekly.com)

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Straight From the Headlines

Film critic John Mosher noted how the storylines in latest “G-men” pictures seemed to be taken directly from the daily papers. Public Hero Number 1 was no exception.

THE GOOD GUYS…from left, **Chester Morris, Lionel Barrymore** and Jean Arthur in *Public Hero Number 1.* One effect of the Hays Code was to replace gangster films—which some believed glorified criminals—with films that depicted the dedication and courage of law enforcement officers. (Rotten Tomatoes)

Mosher suggested moviegoers would get more pleasure out of Public Hero Number 1 than from Our Little Girl, which seems an unfair comparison since gunplay was rare in a Shirley Temple flick.

NO GUNS, JUST SOME SCARY CLOWNS…**Joel McCrea** and Shirley Temple in *Our Little Girl.* (csfd.sk/film)

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Speaking Brooklynese

The June 15 issue featured Thomas Wolfe’s classic short story, “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn.” Written entirely in “Brooklynese” dialect, the simple plot features four men standing on a subway platform arguing about how to get to “Bensonhoist.” The story (seemingly told to the author himself) recalls the existential themes of Wolfe’s contemporary, the Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Here is an excerpt, the second paragraph of the story:

So like I say, I’m waitin’ for my train t’ come when I sees dis big guy standin’ deh—dis is duh foist I eveh see of him. Well, he’s lookin’ wild, y’know, an’ I can see dat he’s had plenty, but still he’s holdin’ it; he talks good an’ is walkin’ straight enough. So den, dis big guy steps up to a little guy dat’s standin’ deh, an’ says, “How d’yuh get t’ Eighteent’ Avenoo an’ Sixty-sevent’ Street?” he says.

GONE TOO SOON…Portrait of Thomas Wolfe taken by **Carl Van Vechten** in 1937. He died the next year, eighteen days before his 38th birthday. (Library of Congress)

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with this two-page spread—what readers of the June 15 issue would have seen after turning the cover page…

…the inside cover ad was part of an ongoing series of spots for Old Gold cigarettes illustrated by pin-up artist George Petty…almost all of the ads featured a fat, homely man (possibly a sugar daddy) mooning over a leggy blonde who relieves the tedium by reaching for an oversized cigarette…

…the ad on the facing page couldn’t be more different, except for the fact the woman is smoking, suggesting, of course, sophistication when paired with the latest fashions from Bergdorf Goodman…

…on the back cover we find these swells enjoying a belt at the horse races…

…while on the back cover, Camel gathered together all of its recent society endorsers for another round of shilling for R. J. Reynolds…

…swells and society women were the only persons (along with celebrities) who could afford to take this early version of a “red eye” to L.A. or San Francisco…it was not all that cushy, however…airliners were loud, cold, and not pressurized, so they flew at low altitudes and were often bounced about by the weather. The Boeing 247 also required several stops for refueling…

‘OL SPEEDY…This Boeing 247 was featured in the above ad. One of the first all-metal airliners, the 247 was considered revolutionary when introduced in 1933—United Airlines boasted that it cruised at speeds of three miles per minute and carried ten passengers across the country in twenty hours, cutting eight hours from previous travel times. Seven refueling stops included Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne and Salt Lake City. (Wikipedia)

WATCH YOUR STEP…Interior of the Boeing 247. Note that the main wing ran through the cabin, so persons moving down the aisle had to step over it. (Library of Congress)

…we learn a lot about a 1930s New Yorker reader by looking at the advertisements…it doubtful the magazine had many truly upper-class readers—the barbarians were content to flip through a copy of Town & Country or similar undemanding fare…what we do have are striving “smart set” readers, some with the means to buy a luxury automobile, fly cross-country, or cruise on the Normandie, all things one would desire as a member of upper-middle class or even the educated bourgeoisie in the middle…this Campbell’s soup ad is for the latter…the upper-middles would sniff at canned soup, while the barbarians would probably eat whatever was set in front of them, since talking about food would be considered vulgar…

…Pabst Blue Ribbon beer has been around since 1844…in the 20th century it was increasingly associated with the working class and rednecks until the brand caught on with urban hipsters in the early 2000s…

…in the May 25, 1935 issue we saw an ad promoting Walter Hagen’s “Honey Boy” golf balls, which contained real honey in their cores…the folks at MacGregor’s had a different idea—they inserted a pellet of dry ice into the center of their golf balls…what will they think of next?…