Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York

From a Souvenir Folder (postcard folder) of the 1930s: Coney Island is one of the most famous playgrounds in the world. Located in New York City at the eastern end of Brooklyn at the mouth of the Atlantic. It is about five miles in length and about three-quarters of a mile in width. Accessible by fast Subway, Street Cars and Busses and Excursion Steamers. It is not unusual to find over 1,000,000 people spending their Sundays or Holidays at this Amusement and Bathing Resort. The Boardwalk is second to none. Among the many famous places of Amusement at the Island, are Steeplechase Park and Luna Park. There are many exhibits and side shows which are procured at great expense, showing rare freaks of nature and daring feats of skill. These and other amusement spots at Coney Island attract large crowds throughout the season which usually runs from Easter Sunday until the middle of September. The Grand Finale of the season usually ends with a Mardi-Gras which lasts a week. Each night a pageant is held with floats and spectacles which are very impressive and colorful and a Carnival spirit prevails. From Fortune Magazine, August 1938, "To Heaven by Subway" [Coney Island] is the home of sixty bathhouses, two big amusement parks (Steeplechase and Luna), seventy "ball" games, thirteen carrousels, eleven roller coasters, five tunnel rides, three fun houses, two waxworks, six penny arcades, twenty shooting galleries, three freak shows, a variety of other games, rides, shows, and souvenir shops, and some 200 eating establishments--more than 500 separate enterprises in violent and continual conflict--perhaps the greatest concentration of independent little businesses in the world.