It’s a full moon on this summer night along Surf Avenue at Coney Island. It’s the late 1920s, electricity is illuminating restaurant and theater marquees; cars and trolleys cruise the road.
There’s a Nedick’s, the old hot dog chain, and a chop suey place, serving that invented Chinese dish. The moon shines bright over the Cyclone, which must have been just built; it dates to 1927.
[Postcard: MCNY; X2011.34.2119]
Tags: Coney Island Cyclone 1920s, Coney Island in the 1920s, Coney Island postcards, Nedicks Coney Island, Surf Avenue Coney Island
Ephemeral New York 
August 7, 2018 at 12:37 am |
Harold Lloyd’s classic 1928 comedy, SPEEDY, has an extended sequence that takes place on Coney Island and shows quite a number of the rides and attractions. Many other scenes were shot in New York. You can find an excellent print on YouTube.
August 9, 2018 at 12:14 am |
Many of the trolley poles survive at the request of the local community, which wanted to hang banners from them at appropriate times of the year.