Trip(s) to Steeplechase Park

Steeplechase Park was located on Coney Island from 1897 through 1964. My dad took me there a few times the summer before it closed - 1963. Right before Kennedys started dropping and the Beatles rescued us. The stories I have are a composite from all the memories I have from those visits. Steeplechase Park was one of the most fun (as well as bizarre, scary and sinister) places I have ever experienced. Certainly a place to leave indelible marks on many a young mind.

Even before you entered the grounds - as you approached the front gates - you faced an over-the-top image of 'the steeplechase face'. If The Joker and Groucho Marx had a son together, and they fed him daily doses of LSD, this is what their progeny would look like. "Steeplechase - Funny Place"

The first (funny) place you visited was the ticket booth where for two different prices (5 cents for a small or 35 cents for a large) you could purchase the ticket card. Ticket cards were about 3 or 6 inches in diameter respectively (see the image of the large ticket card, above right). The deal, as I remember it, was this... when you passed through the turnstiles to get on a ride the ticket puncher punched a single hole in the ticket. For as long as there was space left on the card for the puncher to punch holes, you could ride on rides. I remember my dad saying, "There's still plenty of space on that card. Let's save it for next time." And we would. Imagine getting two visits to an amusement park for 35 cents?

Next stop was the giant rotating barrels. These barrels were about 6 feet in diameter and about 15 feet long, situated on their sides with the ends opened, on motor driven rollers, causing the barrel to rotate slowly. The object was to enter each barrel and pass through to the other side, sort of crab walking while trying to avoid falling down. Those visitors who weren't six years old - and could reach the top rim or surface of the barrel by raising their arms and spreading out their arms and legs - could support themselves as the barrel rotated and, as a reward, received a slowly rotating upside-down view of the world (like the virtuvian man - with clothes on, of course). The rest of us tried to remain mobile, if not vertical, but ended up falling all over ourselves, rolling around on the bottom of the barrel, laughing our butts off. There were several of these barrels to pass through before we made it to our ultimate destination and the journey was hilarious.

Having successfully passed through the gauntlet of rotating barrels we were then able to enter the Pavilion of Fun! The Pavilion of Fun was a completely indoor, rectangular, steel and glass building about the size of Shea stadium with inside dimensions similar to that of an airplane hangar. At least that was the view through the eyes of a six year old. To keep things in perspective, more recent (actual) research shows that the Pavilion of Fun covered about five acres of Steeplechase Park.

Paradise. More excitement, rides and bizarre attractions than you could shake a stick at - and all indoors. I was too small to go on some of the rides, but it was just as much fun watching adults get thrown off the Human Roulette Wheel as it was going on the rides themselves. They had everything from giant slides and tilt-a-whirls to flea circuses and freak shows. The soundtrack was men, women and children screaming, maniacal laughter, whirring mechanical wonders and carnival barkers. The 'scent track' was peanuts and popcorn and, vaguely, horses. The floor was covered in sawdust. Clowns were everywhere, and I've come to find out recently that they actually rented clown costumes to patrons to wear while exploring the wonders of the Pavilion of Fun.

The most vivid memory I have of Steeplechase Park - one that I will never forget - is that of the actual steeplechase ride itself. The steeplechase ride was a full-sized simulated horse race that took place on a eight-lane 'track' which wrapped around the outside of the Pavilion of Fun building. The track was suspended between about 20 - 30 feet in the air, depending on if the track was going over a hill or not (again, see the pictures on this link). You sat atop a wooden (carousel-like) horse which glided along the track at what seemed like speeds of up to 60 miles per hour - the theme of the ride was "Half a Mile in Half a Minute - And Fun all the way!" All there was in terms of safety was a thin, worn leather strap that wrapped around your waist and clipped to the horse's mane. The kicker is that sometimes you were suspended over open tracks and could see directly down onto the paths below. It was hair raising. When the ride was over, there was a winner - who everyone cheered - and all riders then dismounted their steeds and made their way to the winners circle or - as we liked to call it - 'the arena'.

In the arena was where it happened. The arena was an old circus ring with sawdust and peanut shells coating the floor. There were high walls all around it, with one way in (from the steeplechase ride) and one narrow way out. There was crazy laughter coming from somewhere above us. As my dad and I were making our way towards the exit across the arena, I looked over to the other side of the ring and noticed a clown hassling a woman. They looked like they were having fun so I didn't give it much thought. I turned my attention forward again, but before more than two seconds had passed (the ring was not that large) I felt a tap on my shoulder. As I turned, I found myself face-to-face with the clown. Not more than one inch separated my nose from the bulbous red schnozz between his evil eyes. Have you seen the clown from Stephen King's IT? Now you have an idea what I was facing. For a moment, his nose filled my entire field of view.

I immediately jumped back in terror and noticed the clown was carrying something shaped like a miniature baseball bat in his right hand. I don't remember if the clown actually spoke or not but in a flash he lunged forward and touched the miniature baseball bat to my butt. It wasn't a miniature baseball bat. It was an electrical cattle prod, which sent a bunch of volts shooting through my pants. This whole scene was way too much for me to process. I yelped, jumped back again and immediately began to cry.

My dad was torn between embarrassment and wanting to rip the clown's head off. 'Everyone's looking at my wimp kid' and 'Shock my son, will ya?' He settled for a humble exit. Grabbing me by the hand, we quickly left the arena.

Post Script - To leave the arena you exited through a narrow passageway through the high walls surrounding the ring. This passage led to a ramp that wrapped around and followed the circular shape of the arena up around clockwise. By the time my dad and I reached the top of the ramp I had just about stopped crying. We entered an open area where the hysterical laughter, we had heard hovering above our heads earlier in the arena, was coming from. A man sold peanuts off to one side and, on the other, a crowd of people was leaning over a wall, looking down at something and laughing hysterically. Dad took me over to the wall and lifted me up so I could see what the people were laughing at down below; the riders exiting the steeplechase ride getting hassled by the clown in the arena. I laughed with everyone else, but at the time I sensed it was a pretty sick thing.

Incidentally, I've heard it said that this place was the original Peanut Gallery ("...no comments from the peanut gallery, please..."). It makes sense. They sold peanuts and it was a kind of gallery. Some say the term originated with the 'cheap seats' in vaudeville, but they both developed at the same time - mid 1880s - so who really knows for sure?

Any of you ever make it to Steeplechase Park? How about Coney Island? I know you've got some stories about The Cyclone.