Shadow Land

and eventually opened another business. He called it Bomb's Bizarre, selling novelties made by Native Americans and glassware imported from Japan. He trusted his customers, and his generous store credits soon banged corrupted him. He tried again, buying The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. Unable to afford help, he acted as the editor and writer. He often wrote articles on why Native Americans should be exterminated.

He took up photography and captured images of the stark and isolated landscape, though his favorite subjects were tornadoes and in his spare time, he finally took to writing a novel, setting it in Kansas. The twisters and bleak Dakota landscape featured prominently in his novel. First published in Dred, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sold ten thousand copies. People loved Dorothy's story and her struggle to find a better place.

Times were hard, and people related to her. In nine, Hollywood bought film rights and shortened the title to the Wizard of Oz. The movie went on to earn six Academy Award nominations. Bombsed piction of the tornado translated well into a motion picture. Viewers exclaimed aimed that they felt like they were on a roller coaster as the storm swept Dorothy, her dog Toto, and her house into the sky.

Long before the days of computer graphics and special effects didn't come easy to depict the menacing cyclone moving towards the house, of filmmakers constructed a sort of large, flexible muslin windsock wrapped around chicken wire and attached it to a straddling gantry crane on a cart and track that could wind and waver around the sound stage. The prop cost twelve thousand dollars, a considerable amount of money in ninety eight, the effects paid off, viewers flocked to the theaters.

Years later, brothers Harry Spencer and Grover Robbins sought to capitalize on the public's love of The Wizard of Oz. They operated Beach Mountain, a ski resort in North Carolina. In the off season of nineteen sixty five, the brothers set out to turn Beach Mountain into an amusement park. They hired designer Jack Pentis. Two years and forty four thousand yellow bricks later, the park was complete. It would take another three years before opening day, though unfortunately Grover

passed away just months beforehand. Reporters and thousands of visitors were on hand when the park opened on June fifteenth of nine seventy. Actress Debbie Reynolds brought her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Reynolds had always been a big fan of the movie and owned a pair of the famous ruby slippers. She happily posed for the camera as she cut the ribbon. Visitors streamed into the park, eager to ride the hot

air Balloon, which was a ski lift. Others flocked to the gift shops, the museum, or the Magic Moment Show. The brothers had paid attention to the details when designing the park, incorporating natural features in vistas with brightly painted mushrooms, a replica of Dorothy's house in Barn and Emerald City itself, a grand amphitheater with gift shops and a restaurant. Someone set a fire in the Amphitheater in ninety five as

a distraction to rob the museum. The thieves took many props, including Judy Garland's dress from the fell, and though the park was rebuilt, vandalism men failing tourism forced it to shut its doors. In what's left of the park, it seems out of place among the mountains and forest. A yellow brick path appears from nowhere in the North Carolina woods.

And though a few trees still hold eerie masks from the parks, heyday, and it's open a few days a year every fall, it's not America's strangest nor most enduring amusement park. For that, we must travel back nearly a hundred years to a place far stranger than Oz. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It was an actual island once. It's beaches excellent for collecting clams and periwinkle snails.

It's marsh is good for grazing. The Lenapee pe bulls who lived in the area left no written history, so what we know starts when the Dutch began colonizing what they called New Netherland. Land grants enticed more colonists, and not just the Dutch. This island, to the south and east of the capital, New Amsterdam, remained a quiet community of farms for the most part for two hundred years, until after the Civil War. New Amsterdam had become New

York and this island had become Coney Island. By then, sea bathing had become all the rage, bringing wealthy families to its beaches. Hotels and restaurants followed, making the area popular with tourists. In eighteen sixty eight, seeing an opportunity to make a windfall, politician John McCaine sold the land to developers. The fact that he didn't own the land never dissuaded him, and he was never prosecuted. By eighteen seventy three, Coney Island attracted nearly thirty thousand visitors on

the weekends. Developers added railroad lines and two piers to attract even more tourists, while the beach remained popular. The west end played host to a less family friendly group. Gamblers took to the racetrack and ringside bars cropped up and sex workers set up shop. The area became equally as popular, though due to the criminal activity and looser morals, no one in polite society seemed to mention it. Families focused on the roller coaster that opened in four along

with other mechanical rides, sideshows, dime museums, and concerts. Coney Island offered dance halls, games of chance, marching bands, and circus. Patrons could even ride elephants and camels, or sit back and watch buffalo bills Wild West Show. There was a wide array of dining options. At night, the skies lit up with fireworks. There was something for everyone. At a time when society stressed boundaries between sexes and classes. Coney Island played host to the mall, and the park's atmosphere

encouraged visitors to loosen their inhibition. Sans dancers performed the popular belly dance style shows is sometimes known as the Coochie Coochie and considered quite risque in the streets. And then there was the elephant hotel and a hundred and twenty foot tall blue building in the shape of an elephant. The front of the structure had large glass eyes that appeared to scan the ocean. Spiral staircases leading to the hotel's thirty one rooms were constructed in the rear legs.

The cigar shop occupied one front leg, and the other housed a diorama. The odd building had been the brainchild of John McCain, who had developed the eedier side of Coney Island that people called the Gut. Mostly the hotel served as a brothel. People winked at one another when they said they were going to see the elephant. When a fire burned the hotel to the ground in eighteen six,

it did little to improve the area's reputation. Other attractions, like Sea Lion Park, built in eight became temporarily popular, though not very lucrative. Sitters enjoyed a water ride where they traveled down a short incline into a lake. Sea lions performed tricks, and bands played music throughout the day. The park fell from favor in nineteen o two and

was sold to partners Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundee. Between nineteen o three and nineteen forty four, the area became Luna Park and included a host of new attractions and rides like Tripped to the Moon and exhibits in the form of small villages designed to resemble other countries and to compete with Luna Park, a rifle developer, William Reynolds had to come up with more attractions and rides. He created a village of People with Dwarfism, where tourists interacted

with the residents like a human zoo. The park even had a show with a one armed line tamer. One of the biggest attractions was a water ride called The Gates of Hell. Riders boats were swept through a whirlpool as though they had been taken below the lake and into the depths of Hell. An explosion at the end gave patrons the sense of being catapulted back to their fists.

Parents who visited Coney Island thought nothing of letting their children explore much of the park alone, and one of those children would go on to change Coney Island forever. George Tillie was a Coney Island native. His parents ran The Surf House, a family friendly restaurant on the water throughout his youth, George watched the town change. The chick Seaside Haven had become a raunchy playground for all social classes. He observed the tourists parted ways with their cash for

just about anything with a price tag. While any other kid might have had a lemonade stand, George sold bottles of sea water and sand tourists. He paid attention to what people wanted and saw another opportunity transportation to and front the parks. He earned enough to buy a horse and made a ramshackle coach from Driftwood. When tourists arrived at nor His Point on the west End, George greeted them and happily took them wherever they wanted. Of course,

every trip happened to pass by the family restaurant. Before long, George had earned enough to buy six horses and two stage coaches. For a young entrepreneur, life was good. At seventeen, he saw another opportunity and put his energy into real estate. Corruption was plentiful on Coney Island, and real estate was no exception. A government officials leased land for forty one dollars a year and subleased it for a thousand. The person who subleased up charged the next renter down the line.

Using this tactic, George made serious money. But for all his success, he grew bored, so with his father's help, he built till he Use Surf Theater. Still unsatisfied, he returned to real estate. But George had a problem. John McCain presided over a group of thugs who stole from locals and tourists alike. He had plenty of government influence, so every one kept quiet when the New York State Assembly launched an investigation, except for the Tilayu family. Their

cooperation with prosecutors cost them everything. McCain's gang forced George to shut down his real estate business, and m Kingpin managed to use political allies to steal the family's restaurant out from under them. The harassment stopped only after McCain went to sing sing In four for voter fraud and fixing elections. Afterward, George married his sweetheart Nery O'Donnell. The couples spent their honeymoon in Chicago, host to the world's

Columbian Exposition. The newlyweds enjoyed time at the Midway among the rides, snacks, and entertainment. The most impressive ride was the Ferris wheel. George offered to buy it, but St. Louis had already purchased the ride for the next World's Fair. Undaunted, George set to work on building his own park. When he returned to Coney Island. The Steeplechase ride was his first, a tourists rode mechanical horses that moved along a track. He second purchase was a smaller wheel similar to Ferris's

design in Chicago. His sister, dressed in an evening gown and sporting a diamond necklace, stood at the entrance to attract customers. George finally opened steeple Chase Park. The park remained successful for over a decade. Estimates put over nine thousand visitors through steeple Chase Parks gates where other amusement parks had failed. George had figured out a trick to keep guests at the park longer, and the longer they stayed, the more they spent. George came up with the idea

of a combination ticket. Visitors paid twenty five cents, allowing them to ride any of his parks twenty five rides. Other parks charged ten cents per ride. In addition, George had a particular kind of customer in mind, but he prohibited alcohol in the park and hired a security team to remove troublemakers. While it might appear he wanted a good, wholesome family park, George also understood one more thing, sex sells.

He worked on a balance between respectable and risque. In Victorian times, it was considered inappropriate for on web couples to be alone together or without a chaperone. The simple touch of a hand on an arm might be misunderstood and was certainly frowned upon. George called his park the Funny Place. He designed some rides that allowed polite society

to get a little taste of the taboo. A sign with a grinning jester's face greeted park visitors, and that face alluded to the provocative entertainment they could expect inside. Upon entry, people climbed into the Barrel of fun revolving cylinder ride below the jester's face. The ride tossed people around, frequently on top of one another, and riders often grabbed

the person next to them to keep their footing. The human roulette, a whirlpool, and human pool table were all designed to allow visitors to interact in these taboo ways, the which Way ride spun in random directions. Women riders might be thrown from their seats and into men's laps, but the biggest ride remained the steeple chase. Attendants dressed as jockeys helped guests onto their mechanical horses, and the trumpeters stood at the starting line. The horses undulated and

bobbed around the track before crossing the finish line. Once the riders dismounted, they had to travel through a dimly lit maze that exited onto a brightly lit stage. The blasts of air blue women's dresses upward, and people with dwarfism bearing cattle prods randomly selected men to shock, often just below the belt. Crowds in the stands laughed and cheered as the gas ran through a gauntlet of clowns wielding slapsticks, more blasts of air, and other devices that

left them with little dignity. Then these newcomer as took their place in the crowd to watch the next batch of guests. The park rented out clown suits, allowing patrons to interact with other guests and employees in ways they might not otherwise. Even the park employees got in on act, dressing in animal costumes. With their identities hidden behind masks and costumes, people were free to participate in more risk gay manners in lavish gardens. Uniformed waiters tended to the guests.

As patrons dined, Small hidden jets of air might expose a petticoat or a part of a woman's ankles. For diners, the experience walked the line between chaste and kinky. Over the years, the park grew more successful and popular. George Tillieu had perfected the park with even more rides and tweaks for the summer season. In nine seven, Coney Island was packed, and that's when it all came crashing down.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, July, someone discarded a lit cigarette near the cave of the Winds Attraction. Watchman summoned help, and though the engine company one four arrived, moments later, the fire had spread, and George had been working in his office and raced outside to help douse the flames. The fire ran along fifteen miles of ground through the bowery and the concert hall. Hotels and other businesses were destroyed Before firefighters had the blaze under control.

Though the park had been closed when the fire broke out, and there were injuries throughout it all, George remained calm. He fought the blaze and helped with the injured until seven that morning. Then, with the fire out, he went home, changed clothes, and took his family to church. Over thirty five acres had been burned. George later estimated that the park cost two hundred thousand dollars to rebuild, an astounding amount for the time. He started by charging admission to

the ruins for ten cents. The next day, when he rebuilt Steeple Chase Park, he added a five acre glass building he called the Pavilion of fun Funny Face. The deviantly smiling jester stood amid the stained glass designs, and long after George died in nineteen fourteen, Funny Face remained. Had not only been the park's mascot, but had become symbol of Coney Island, welcoming visitors for years to come. Robert Moses did not care for Funny Face, not at all.

He didn't like what the grinning jester represented a Coney Island and amusement parks. In his opinion, anyone who visited them was low brow and low class. In the nineteen thirties, Robert set out to rid Coney Island of the parks. In the nineteen forties, he managed to take over Dreamland and relocated the New York Aquarium in its place to prevent other amusement parks from take over, and soon he built low income high rise apartments nearby, which made him

a tidy profit. The downturn came during the nineteen sixties. Coney Island's crime rate sword and new theme parks like Disney opened elsewhere, loring vacationers away to safer environments. Consumers began to share Robert's opinion that Coney Island had become dated and trashy. Over the years, George's children had done everything possible to keep Steeple Chase Park going, but now they had grown older and the time had come to

sell it. Astra Land, a neighboring park, offered to buy, but Mary till You turned them down and began looking for a higher bidder. Without consulting her siblings, she sold the park to a New York businessman and real estate developer by the name of Frederick in July of nineteen sixty. Fred was more than happy to shell out two point five million dollars for it. He had big plans for the area, and none of them had to do with

amusement parks. In the nineteen fifties, he had owned both Luna Park and another park nearby, but lost them in nineteen fifty five after the federal government blacklisted him during a profiteering investigation. Finally, it seemed that Fred's plans for more low income housing on Coney Island were about to come to fruition. The land wasn't zoned for residential construction, but that hadn't stopped Fred from purchasing it or from

moving forward with the project. Other parks had since been demolished and rebuilt into housing districts, and with his political connections, he felt confident that rezoning would not be a problem. His close friend A Beam was almost certainly going to

be elected mayor in the upcoming election. The surrounding beaches had become public domain, and Fred worried that Steeplechase Park might become a designated landmark, so he planned a farewell party for September twenty one of nineteen sixty six, in which he would destroy everything historical about the park. He posed with bikini cloud models wearing hard hats and sporting sledgehammers. He handed guests bricks and instructed them to smash the

stained glass, especially the iconic funny face. After the guests left, an earth mover destroyed everything else except for the pier and the parachute jump. The election rolled around and John Lindsay was elected mayor. In a surprise upset, he agreed with the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce to keep the area's zoning laws intact and to turn Steeple Chase into a public park. Without the new mayor's political support, Fred sold the property to the city. While it would never

earn him the profits a housing project would have. Fred c Trump walked away with a one point two million dollar profit. There's more to this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. She was born sometime around eighteen seventy five in Southeast Asia, where she enjoyed a care free life with her loving family. In eighteen seventy seven, that life ended when she was taken from her family and put on a boat to New York. There, circus owner Adam Forepaw named the baby

elephant Topsy, and promptly put her on display. Fearing backlash, potential criticism, or to be one up on competitor P. T. Barnum. He claimed that she had been born in captivity. Although she wasn't his first elephant, Topsy became his only elephant, and without a herd. She did her best to please her human handlers, but in that time and place, it was believed that the only way to maintain control of

an animal was to use pain and fear. At first, handlers and trainers thought Top's compliance meant she had accepted their power over her, but the opposite came true. The continued abuse made her more difficult to deal with, and her handlers began jabbing her with pitchforks or burning her with a lit cigar for her disobedience. On two circus attendee j Fielding Blout wandered her tent. As the story goes, he had been drinking heavily. Blount lit a cigarette and

tried to force feed it to Topsy. It was one torment too many. Topsy grabbed Blount and threw him to the ground, killing him. Her handlers and the papers labeled her a bad elephant. Never once considering her treatment. Instead, reporters wrote stories about her man killing past, though there were no records, reports, or truth to the tales. For Pa didn't mind the sensationalist headlines, though atopsy, the man

killing elephant drew large crowds. Meanwhile, Topsy's abuse continued, and in June of nineteen o two, the abuse became too much once more. While loading her onto a train car in Kingston, New York, a man jabbed her behind the ear with a stick. She turned and grabbed him, tossing him to the ground. He survived, but for Paul quickly sold Topsy to Luna Park on Coney Island. Her new trainer jabbed her so many times in the face with

a pitchfork that he drew blood. Though terrified, Topsy never attacked. The assault on Topsy finally drew the attention of authorities, who arrested her handler for extreme cruelty. Then they arrested him a second time for the same charge, and a third time. Even though her trainer had been charged with

cruelty and abuse, the newspapers still blamed Topsy. Luna Park's owners decided the best course of action was to hang Topsy upon hearing the news, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Today the a s p c A stepped in, forcing the park owners to abandon their plan. The hanging Topsy was necessarily cruel, the society said. After a visit to Thomas Edison's labs, they devised a new plan. Edison and the SPCA had worked together back in the

eighteen eighties. The SPCA wanted to find a humane way to euthanize animals, and Edison, a proponent of d C current, wanted to prove that his rival, Tesla's A C current was deadly inspired. Luna Park decided on electrocution for Topsy's fate, but electrocuting something as large as an elephant posed a problem. They decided to execute Topsy with a combination of electrocution, poisoning, and strangulation, and while Edison probably wasn't involved, it wasn't

there the day of the execution. His company did provide the six thousand, six hundred volts from a nearby A C generator station. The overcast and gloomy sky marked Topsy's last day January four, of nineteen o three. Hendler's led her from her stall. A final time. She stopped at the bridge leading to her execution site, and, even with prodding, would move no further. Officials had to bring the equipment to her. Other than refusing to cross the bridge, Topsy

did everything the handlers asked. She gently raised each leg, allowing copper plates to be secured to her feet. Everyone grew quiet except for one reporter. Not so vicious, he said. She gently took the poisoned carrots from her handlers and stood quietly as they slipped a noose over her neck. Then one of the men flipped the switch. Topsy shook violently for ten seconds, then collapsed to the ground. The men tightened the noose for another ten minutes to ensure

she was dead. Newspapers like The New York Times reported on it that week, and the film crew documented the execution. Though handling practices did change over the years, elephants remained in large circuses like the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and bay LEAs until when public outcry over living conditions and the use of bullhooks and other devices to chorus the animals to perform forced the company to stop using elephants in their acts. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum.

This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit grim and mild dot com. From more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.