Amusing the Million Question
Amusing the Million by John F. Kasson gives the vibrant history of one of America’s most prized and famous amusement parks, Coney Island; Kasson also describes the society and culture during this time of great change. Society in the 1890s and early 1900s experienced many changes, from the use modern technology being incorporated in daily life, to the modernization of cities, and to the merging of different economic classes through social gathering places.
After the inventions of steam powered engines and electricity, cities became vibrant with lights and different modes of transportation, which attracted more people to the urban setting. Those who began to come to the cities forced them to become over populated. Spectators that watched these hordes of immigrants had mixed opinions, some were for the growth of cities, while others feared that these …show more content…
Amusement parks are made more towards entertainment, while cities are more structured and are used for business and government. Amusement parks are also unsupportive of the economic and social classes that are clearly present in urban cities. Also, at Coney Island, swimsuits began to show more skin and couples began to show more affection towards one another in public, while in cities, public affection was not usual or proper. An example of this is, “A stereoscopic view of 1897 entitled “Ah, there! Coney Island” celebrated particularly the sexual aspect of this freedom...” (46). The cities are a very structured environment where people are expected to act a certain way, while Coney Island exposed the “fun side” of people. Kasson described this by saying, “Coney Island plunged visitors into a powerful kinesthetic experience that, like the surf itself, overturned conventional restraints, washed away everyday concerns, buoyed and buffeted participants as they submitted to its sway”
Amusing the Million by John F. Kasson gives the vibrant history of one of America’s most prized and famous amusement parks, Coney Island; Kasson also describes the society and culture during this time of great change. Society in the 1890s and early 1900s experienced many changes, from the use modern technology being incorporated in daily life, to the modernization of cities, and to the merging of different economic classes through social gathering places.
After the inventions of steam powered engines and electricity, cities became vibrant with lights and different modes of transportation, which attracted more people to the urban setting. Those who began to come to the cities forced them to become over populated. Spectators that watched these hordes of immigrants had mixed opinions, some were for the growth of cities, while others feared that these …show more content…
Amusement parks are made more towards entertainment, while cities are more structured and are used for business and government. Amusement parks are also unsupportive of the economic and social classes that are clearly present in urban cities. Also, at Coney Island, swimsuits began to show more skin and couples began to show more affection towards one another in public, while in cities, public affection was not usual or proper. An example of this is, “A stereoscopic view of 1897 entitled “Ah, there! Coney Island” celebrated particularly the sexual aspect of this freedom...” (46). The cities are a very structured environment where people are expected to act a certain way, while Coney Island exposed the “fun side” of people. Kasson described this by saying, “Coney Island plunged visitors into a powerful kinesthetic experience that, like the surf itself, overturned conventional restraints, washed away everyday concerns, buoyed and buffeted participants as they submitted to its sway”