The House of Too Much Trouble

Many people think of light and electricity when they think of old Coney Island.  Thomas Edison famously electrocuted Topsy the Elephant at Coney Island, in 1903,  during his AC vs DC current rivalry with George Westinghouse.  (A terrible sight, which can be viewed through the Mutoscope at the Coney Island Museum).  The illumination of Coney Island at night around the turn of the century, was a notable sight.  The lights were so bright that they could be seen 4 miles out to sea.  I have had several Brooklyn-born friends tell me their parents used to exclaim “turn off the lights! It looks like Luna Park in here!”  Visitors would come from all over to see the “The Electric Eden.”

A somewhat more surprising electric attraction that predated all three major parks at Coney Island was the practice of “Electric Bathing.”  The New York Times article (below) claims that Coney Island was first illuminated in 1878 (though by the pre-incandescent arc lamps), the very same year that Joseph Swan created the first incandescent light bulb, and Thomas Edison founded the Edison Electric Company.  Lights were placed high on poles on the beach, in the water and on piers to light the water, and allow visitors to continue their fun into the night.  

New York Times, September 7, 1924

In an article entitled “The Progress of the Electric Light,” dated August 8, 1880, the New York Times refers to electric light as the only thing that will appease “those lunatics that persist in bathing after nightfall.” This seems particularly dangerous, with modesty customs dictating that bathers wear full-length bathing costumes, the limited light these lamps offered, and the fact that water and electricity pose a serious electrocution hazard. 

Scribner’s Monthly, July 1880

The fact that Coney Island’s illumination and the very popular electric bathing predated even the first Edison Electric power plant in New York City, and the adoption of the incandescent lightbulb, to me, is nothing short of astonishing.  I can only imagine the wonder of people arriving at Coney Island for the first time and witnessing the glow of the lights.  

Puck Magazine, February 21, 1914 (image via)

As everyone knows, yesterday was New Year’s Day, and with that comes the annual Coney Island New Year’s Day swim.  It is organized every year by the Coney Island Polar Bear Club and has always raised money for charity.  It also brings luck and a good year to those that jump in every January 1st.  

While I knew that every year, hundreds and sometimes thousands come to Coney Island for New Year’s Day, what I didn’t know is that winter swimming has a very long history in Coney Island, and was extremely fashionable around the turn of the century.  

New York Times, January 8, 1908

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club is the longest-running winter swimming club in the United States.  It was founded in 1903 by Bernarr Macfadden, the self-titled “Father of Physical Culture,” who promoted winter swimming as a health-building activity.  

Bernarr Macfadden (photo via)

He began the magazine Physical Culture, in 1899, in which he published many of his ideas about good health and fitness.  Among them were the promotion of exercise, the drinking of milk, sleeping on hard surfaces, regular sex, and fasting.  He warned against the dangers of eating white bread, wearing corsets, drinking, smoking, taking medication and wearing glasses.  

The cold baths were supposed to promote vigor, strength, good circulation and better overall health, though today I think most do it for the fun of it.  

So, in the spirit of a freezing-cold New Year’s day plunge, I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, vigorous New Year.

For more information about Coney Island USA and our hurricane recovery efforts, please visit www.coneyisland.com.  

Stauch’s Baths Postcard, 1907

I always wondered what this image was all about.  It is only one of several baffling images in our postcard collection, but until recently, I never understood its significance.  While researching the Coney Island Mardi Gras Parade for last week’s post, I came across many mentions of the “ticklers” and confetti at the parade.  

New York Times, September 19, 1906 - the full article can be found here.

It turns out that these ticklers were the weird feather-duster-like objects in the postcard.  Along with confetti, they were very popular among the crowds, but caused quite a few problems at the Mardi Gras Parade.  

Originally used to annoy fellow parade-goers, the Mardi Gras Parade, on September 23, 1906, the ticklers were involved in much more mischief.  People were beaten by them, “women were insulted,” and fights broke out.  People were also throwing confetti mixed with pebbles and tin in the faces of other spectators.  Fighting escalated and many were arrested.  Things got so out of hand, that the sale of ticklers and confetti had to be stopped.

New York Times, September 26, 1906 - the full article can be found here.

The ticklers and confetti became such a nuisance and health hazard that by 1926, all ticklers and all reused confetti was banned, with the threat of jail to anyone caught with either.  

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 13, 1926 - see full article here.

After this weekend’s upcoming Mermaid Parade, I hope to find out even more strange little details about some of our more baffling images.  

-Katie Karkheck