Steeplechase Face Explained

The Steeplechase Face was the mascot of the historic Steeplechase Park, the first[1] of three amusement parks in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.[2] It remains a nostalgic symbol of Coney Island and of amusement areas influenced by it.[3] It features a man with a wide, exaggerated smile which sometimes bears as many as 44 visible teeth. The image conveys simple fun,[4] but was also observed by cultural critics to have an undercurrent of Victorian-era repressed sexuality.

It was also known as the Funny Face after the park's slogan "Steeplechase - Funny Place" or as Tillie, after the park's founder George C. Tilyou. It has also sometimes been named Steeplechase Jack. The mascot represented the area's wholesomeness and neoclassical architecture combined with its veneer of hidden sexuality.[5] [6] Though the park was a "family-friendly" area, it was nearby the "freer sexual expression of the dance halls, beaches, and boardwalk."[7]

The "Funny Face" logo has become an iconic symbol of Coney Island.

History

Introduced in 1897 with the park's opening, it existed in a variety of forms for most of its history, and was only standardized as a design in the late 1940s.[8]

The face's most prominent appearance in Coney Island was in glass on the exterior of Steeplechase's Pavilion of Fun,[9] created when the park was rebuilt in 1909.[10]

The pavilion was destroyed by Fred Trump in 1966[11] in an unsuccessful attempt to create condos on the site.[12]

Impact

The smile of the Joker, a Batman villain, may have been partially inspired by the face.[13] [14] The face is sometimes seen as an evil clown today, but this was not the original understanding.

The face also appeared at other Tilyou amusement properties, such as Steeplechase Pier in Atlantic City, and was also copied regionally, as with the Tillie of Asbury Park.

The face remains a popular symbol of Coney Island, embraced by many neighborhood institutions and businesses. A version is used in the logo of Coney Island USA, and for a time another, more clown-like, version was used by Coney Island Brewing Co. It is used in parts of the modern Luna Park, particularly in its "Scream Zone".

As of 2019, the Steeplechase Face continues to appear as sticker art in Coney Island.[15]

An exhibit on the history of the face was shown by the Coney Island History Project in 2014.[16] An exhibit on Coney Island's history, which included artifacts of the face, was displayed at the Brooklyn Museum in 2015.[17] [18]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ryan, Hugh . When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History . 2019-03-05 . St. Martin's Publishing Group . 978-1-250-16992-1 . en.
  2. Web site: George Tilyou's Steeplechase Smithsonian American Art Museum . 2022-12-28 . americanart.si.edu . en-US.
  3. Book: Cross, G.S.. The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century. registration. Columbia University Press. 2005. 978-0-231-12724-0. 39–40.
  4. Web site: 2014-05-19 . "The Face Of Steeplechase" Opening May 24 at the Coney Island History Project . 2021-07-10 . Coney Island History Project . en.
  5. Book: Goldfield, David R.. Encyclopedia of American urban history. Sage Publications. 2006. 978-1-4522-6553-7. Thousand Oaks. 185. 162105753.
  6. Web site: "The Face of Steeplechase" at the Coney Island History Project. May 30, 2014. Brooklyn Paper. July 15, 2019.
  7. Book: Ryan, Hugh . When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History . 2019-03-05 . St. Martin's Publishing Group . 978-1-250-16992-1 . en.
  8. Book: Silverman, Stephen M. . The Amusement Park: 900 Years of Thrills and Spills, and the Dreamers and Schemers Who Built Them . 2019-05-07 . Running Press . 978-0-316-41647-4 . en.
  9. Web site: May 20, 2016 . Remembering the day Trump's dad destroyed a Coney icon . July 16, 2019 . Brooklyn Paper.
  10. News: The Lambs' Gambol.; Brooklyn Amusements. Greater Dreamland, Opening Steeplechase Park.. May 16, 1909. The New York Times. July 11, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  11. Web site: Schulz . Dana . May 17, 2016 . 52 years ago, Donald Trump's father demolished Coney Island's beloved Steeplechase Park . July 16, 2019 . 6sqft.
  12. Web site: Coney Island History Steeplechase Park . 2022-06-18 . Heart of Coney Island . en.
  13. Book: Richardson, Chris. Batman and the Joker: Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture. 2020-10-27. Routledge. 978-1-000-16970-6. en.
  14. Book: Morton, Drew. Panel to the Screen: Style, American Film, and Comic Books during the Blockbuster Era. 2016-11-28. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-4968-0981-0. en.
  15. Web site: 2019-09-05 . What's Left of Coney Island? Part 1: The Golden Age . 2022-06-18 . Coaster101 . en-US.
  16. Web site: Bredderman. Will. Photo exhibit celebrates Coney's iconic countenance. Brooklyn Paper. 23 May 2014 . 2021-07-11. en-US.
  17. News: Bortolot. Lana. 2015-11-19. Coney Island: Signs, Schooners and Spook-A-Rama. en-US. Wall Street Journal. 2021-07-11. 0099-9660.
  18. Web site: Stav. Ziv. An Offsite Tour of Coney Island, Through Time. 2021-07-11. Newsweek. 28 November 2015 . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Steeplechase Face".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.