Luna Park
"'The problem with this present age' is'too much work and too little play.'"
-Fred Thompson (Register 15)
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Born in 1872 in Ohio, Frederick Thompson surrounded himself with architecture from an early age. Working at his uncle's drafting table, he soon discovered an affinity for an artistic flare. At the 1893 Columbian Exposition, he obtained a position as a janitor but through his prowess, was quickly placed in charge of a display. This is where he saw new inventions that could serve his dream of an amusement park. After, he moved to Nashville where he competed in an architecture contest for a World's Fair that was coming there in 1896 and he won $2500. At his next exposition, he displayed a cyclorama called Darkness and Dawn, a Heaven and Hell illusion. It was the hit of the midway, much to Elmer S. Dundy's chagrin because he too had a similar attraction called the Mystic Garden.
Elmer "Skip" Dundy was born in Nebraska in 1862 and wanted a career in show business. When Thompson declined to do the exposition's second season, Dundy was hopeful that his attraction, The Mystic Garden, would now make some money. Overall, the fair had poor numbers and lost money. Dundy was out $46,000. In the mean time, Thompson was working on his new attraction, Trip to the Moon. He wanted to be able to take his audience somewhere they'd never been before like he had with Heaven and Hell. In 1900, he applied for space at the Pan American Exposition only to find that Dundy had applied with a duplicate of his Darkness of Dawn attraction. Thomspon approached Dundy for a partnership in Trip to the Moon in exchange for half the Heaven and Hell concessions. Dundy agreed, and a great partnership was born.
The Exposition's committee awarded the duo a space called the Trip. Their building would be divided into three sections—The Theater of the Planets, The City of the Moon, and the Palace of the Man in the Moon. These trips would instill the effect of leaving Earth and flying through space. They also hired a diverse cast including 30 dancing Moon maidens, 60 Lilliputians, and 20 giants from over a dozen countries. The attraction ended up being so popular that seating capacity doubled in 4 months (Stanton).
George Tilyou, hearing of their success at the Buffalo Exposition, asked them to bring Trip to the Moon to Steeplechase for the 1902 season. Instead of giving over most of their profits, Thompson and Dundy decided to lease Sea Lion Park, and create their own amusement park. They demolished everything except the Shoot-the-Chutes and built their park over the 1902-1903 winter. On May 16, 1903 Luna Park opened at night (Sandy).
Coney's lavish architecture contributed to the grandiose feeling, while its midway-like substance portrayed a relaxed atmosphere. This juxtaposition blended the White City of the Chicago World's fair with its Midway. The architecture of Coney Island played a significant role in shaping the success of the parks. While at first look Luna might resemble the White City, "Thompson criticized in print the official portions of the world's fairs, both as amusements and as entrepreneurial devices" (Bogart 7). Luna may have been well-planned like the fairs, but they "made no attempt to teach" and instead "viewed laughter, emotional release, and a commercial success as the desired effects of his architecture" (Bogart 7).
The amusement park aimed to shock its visitors by putting them in a dichotomy of aesthetic beauty and theatrical fantasy. Thompson designed his buildings combining classical elements in Renaissance style and put them together in a fun, different way. "I think I am one of the very few who have ventured to make architecture shout my wares. I have tried hard to make it as much a part of the carnival spirit as the band, lags, rides, and lights. I have tried to keep it active, mobile, free, graceful, and attractive; and I have always preferred the remarks 'What is that?' or 'Why is that?' to 'Isn’t that a beautiful building?'” (Bogart 8).
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The tower in the White City at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (above left) shows the traditional Ranaissance style of the Fair, while the Electric Tower at Luna Park (above right) displays fun florets and electric lights. This distinct difference shows that while the park did look similar to the Fair in many aspects, its added details lent itself more towards a Midway feel. With these additions, Thompson and Dundy aimed to create a park that would be inviting. Not everyone felt that way however. “Dozens of white buildings, monstrously diverse, not one with even the suggestion of beauty. They are built of wood, and smeared over with peeling white paint, which gives them the appearance of suffering with the same skin disease” (Gorky 311). Bogart felt that everything was poorly made and in bad taste, but when seeing the buildings lit up at night, "They seem to beckon alluringly, and offer quiet and beauty" (Gorky 310). Thompson and Dundy knew that the lights would be a sight to behold and having a good business sense, decided to open the park at night.
Luna Park's founders were able to design such a successful park because they understood the public's interests. “The summer outdoor public wants to be amused. At the Island we are not dealing with New Yorkers as they are in New York, but with big children who have come to fairyland and want the fairies to make them laugh and show them strange things” (Thompson 1461). Thompson and Dundy accomplished this through their architecture.
Compared to European parks, Thompson felt that Coney was able to bring to the World what European parks failed to do. “I have been all over and seen what Europe has in our line, and the nearest thing that I find to Coney Island is Blackpool, near Liverpool; but it is a long way behind. It is stiff and solemn, and its buildings lack the other-world suggestiveness of our Coney Island erections" (Thompson 1463). The fun of America's midways had not yet reached Europe. "Coney is frankly devoted to fun, the fantastic, the gay, the grotesque” (Thompson 1463). With their lax attitude, Coney was transformed from an upper class haven, to a melting pot of fun and relaxation.
