Life, 1897-06-10 · page 9 of 20
Life — June 10, 1897 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is a photographic illustration captioned "OPENING OF THE BATHING SEASON AT CONEY ISLAND," showing beachgoers in the surf with an elephant and bird overhead. The accompanying text by Joseph Smith is a celebration of Coney Island as a democratic, culturally diverse public space. It praises the beach's appeal to "all nations" and "all languages," describing the varied crowds—including immigrants, workers, and socialites—who gather there. The text humorously catalogs the musical entertainment, street performers, and types of visitors (policemen, poets, cable-car conductors, "bloomed women"). Rather than satire, this appears to be *affectionate* commentary on American mass culture and social mixing. The whimsical elephant and bird in the photograph underscore the page's tone of entertainment and amusement rather than critique.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OPENING OF THE sidered chic; and physical endurance is not only a test of skill, but of good form. Music is popular, various and numerous by the glad sea waves, and everything can be seen and heard, from Sousa’s band to the impresario on the fine-tooth comb. The islanders do not affect Wagner or Liszt extensively ; their interest in Saint Saens and Moskowski is languid; but when the cornet player with the statuesque moustache advances to the edge of the platform, gazing around haughtily, and blowing gas and steam out of his instrument preparatory to bombarding “Sweet Rosie O'Grady" with variations, all Coney Island stands still and the tide stops. Some men pant for the presidential chair; others would be emperors, policemen, and cable-car conductors ; while yet others dream of literature and public office; yet real fame, true greatness, and the applause of brave men and bloomered women, are garnered alone by the protean, proud and palpitating cornet player who brays popular ditties, with variations of his compass. The short and simple bloomers of nether Brooklyn and Oriental New York are gay and frequent on the strand; and while the frolic biker plunges in the wave or adorns the beer- sodden pavilion, his faithful bicycle stands tugging at its chain in its stall, impatient for its master's coming. BATHING SEASON AT CONEY ISLAND. L nations tread the sands at Coney Island; all languages hail the passing argosies and catboats; while the serene and cynical beach cop keeps the polyglot procession moving with his terse New York dingua-franca. The consumption of clams and other submarine birds is enormous; and while exact figures are not given by the bureau of statistics, we know that the Malthusian theory is not popular in clam circles. The clam isan appendix to the brewery, thereby avoiding the discomfort of being an appendix vermiform, Next to cornets and clams, Coney Island's grand passion is beer. The man with three thimbles, a pea and a confiding manner the lady with tan-colored whiskers, the tattooed mariner, the distressed gentleman from Albany anxious to negotiate a fifty- dollar check for one dollar and a half, the Missouri lady weighing eight hundred pounds, the. Caucasian fairy with corn-broom hair and abrupt skirts, are all in evidence. Lenox, Newport, Narragansett, Asbury, Bar Harbor, Sara- toga and Atlantic City are joyous in a restricted and gorgeous way; but they are not national or American. The patriot must see Coney Island to round out his career; and he who has not seen it can never know the nation, or have his heart thump volcanically when he lands in Halifax or Montreal. Joseph Smith, comicbooks.com