Amusement parks of the 1920's project.

I'm doing a presentation on the parks of this time period for history and I was wondering if any of you knew where I could get information on them. I was also wondering if you could give me any ideas for a ten minute presentation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

www.defunctparks.com has some old pictures of early parks. You can do the presentation in many different ways. The parks themselves changed totally in appearance and operations. Most parks had roller skating rinks, dancehalls and big lakes for swimming and fishing. Even though most rides changed drasticly some are still thrilling people from those days, (whip, carousels, roller coasters). Or you can just pick a particular park to talk about like Kennywood or Coney Islands Luna and Steeplechase Parks.

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

AOL & MSN IM Name: coasterpunk

You could talk about the rapid growth in a the post World War I era. Show how the automobile has brought people by the masses to the park. How company picnics came out by the dozens to ride the new wooden coasters, swimming pools, etc. Parks like Kennywood, Euclid Beach, Conneaut Lake, Riverview, Crystal Beach, Hersheypark, Cedar Point, Elitch Gardens, etc. all hosted some of their largest group outings to date, anywhere from 10,000-20,000 people at one time. Rapid growth might be formulated subject.

I have a book called "The Great American Amusement Park-A Pictorial History", by (the spelling is off) Gary Kyryzak ?, well he put out a book that has an timeless collection of photos from that era. It cost me about $125 to get a copy of that book, since some nice park enthusiast felt to need to lift it out of my hometown library. I have to fight with my owners to get it back when they borrow it.

Charles Jaques ? has some great books on Kennywood and west View Park, also in Pittsburgh, and Hersheypark. Amusement Park Books has several out, including the one on Conneaut Lake Park in PA. I am sure that the next reader can direct you to an ebay site where some of these books are for sale.

Parks of that era offered a daily getaway for the entire family at the end of a city streetcar line, and brought Coney Island style amusmements and entertainment to parks all across the country.

It never ceases to amaze me how much knowledge some of our members have. Good form!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Contact Gunther Hall Ltd. They have best selection of books and material on amusement park history available today. They don't have a web site (yet) but can be reached at (603) 875-2248

Now I needed that number. She left me off her mailing list this year, and Santa is bringing Agent Johnson no books this year. Thank You, maybe the Easter Bunny will

Thanks alot. All this will help me alot. I just went to my local library and found a book on the history of Palisades Park. Its very interesting even though it doesnt have alot of information on the Traver Cyclone. Oh well.