|
Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek (Northern California), Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several Eastern pleasure parks. What began as a pleasure ground in a rural setting for Sunday picnics evolved into a complete amusement park visited by many residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its popularity declined after the advent of the automobile, and it was closed and demolished in 1929. History Opening The Realty Syndicate constructed the park in 1903Bagwell, Beth (1982) ''Oakland, The Story of a City,'' Presidio Press, California, page 148, . on the north banks of Temescal Creek (Northern California), Temescal Creek in North Oakland, Oakland, California, North Oakland (on a site of present-day Ayala Park). The main gate of the park was located on Telegraph Avenue abov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trolley Park
In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. Trolley parks were often created by the streetcar companies to give people a reason to use their services on weekends. The parks originally consisted of picnic groves and pavilions, and often held events such as dances, concerts and fireworks. Many eventually added features such as swimming pools, carousels, Ferris wheels, roller coasters, sports fields, boats rides, restaurants and other resort facilities to become amusement parks. Various sources report the existence of between 1,500 and 2,000 amusement parks in the United States by 1919. Coney Island One such location was Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City, where a horse-drawn streetcar line brought pleasure seekers to the beach beginning in 1829. In 1875, a million passengers rode the railroad to Coney ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis "Borax" Smith
Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Oakland, California. He was known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King", as his company produced the popular '' 20-Mule-Team Borax'' brand of household cleaner. Frank Smith created the Key System, an interurban private transit system, which operated in Oakland and the East Bay with a terminus in the San Francisco Transbay Terminal. Early life Francis Marion Smith was born in Richmond, Wisconsin in 1846. He went to public schools and graduated from Milton Academy in Milton, Wisconsin. Early mining career At the age of 21, he left Wisconsin to prospect for mineral wealth in the American West, starting in Nevada. In 1872, while contracting to provide firewood to a small borax operation at nearby Columbus Marsh, Smith discovered a rich supply of ulexite at Teels Marsh i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fageol
Fageol Motors was a United States manufacturer of buses, trucks and farm tractors. History The company was founded in 1916, in Oakland, California, by Rollie, William, Frank and Claude Fageol, to manufacture motor trucks, farm tractors and automobiles. It was located next to Oakland Assembly, then a Chevrolet factory originally built in 1916 by William Durant, which later became part of General Motors. Fageol produced two luxury automobiles, but production was halted when the supply of Hall-Scott SOHC six-cylinder engines was diverted to build airplanes for the war in World War I. The first Fageol farm tractor was a re-labeled Hamilton Walking Tractor, designed and built by Rush E. Hamilton of Geyserville, California. As a result of the many tractor performance trials of the day, the tractor was redesigned to be more compatible with the needs of the West Coast. The Fageol version was designed by a team led by Horatio Smith with the cooperation of Hamilton. In about 1923, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoot-the-Chutes
Shoot the chute is a water-based amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume, which generally seats up to eight passengers, a modern-day shoot the chute ride generally has larger boats seating at least four across. History The first of this type of amusement ride was built by J.P. Newburg in 1884 down the side of a hill at Watchtower Park in Rock Island, Illinois. The ride traveled along a greased wooden track, skipping across the Rock River at the bottom. It was then pulled back to the ramp by an onboard ride attendant. Newburg took this unique ride concept next to Chicago, where more flumes were built and the rides grew in popularity. Paul Boyton opened Paul Boyton's Water Chute, America's first modern amusement park, at 63rd and Drexel in Chicago, on July 4, 1894. Boyton's was the first amusement park to rely solely on mechanical attractions. Paul Boyton and Thomas Polk built anothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helter Skelter (amusement Park Ride)
A helter skelter, or helter-skelter lighthouse, is an amusement ride resembling a lighthouse with a spiral shaped slide built around the tower. Typically, fairgoers climb up a flight of stairs inside the tower and slide down the spiral on the outside using a coir mat. The ride is most prevalent in amusement parks and fairgrounds in the United Kingdom. History The first known appearance of the helter skelter was at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1906, which survived for thirty years until 1935. However, the ride's development began around the turn of the 20th century, when a helter skelter was built on Great Yarmouth's new Britannia Pier. The helter skelter was also present at Dreamland in Margate, Kent. This amusement park was similar in appearance to Blackpool Pleasure Beach during its opening in 1920, which was marked by the opening of the Scenic Railway as a key attraction. In the 1920s, visitors at Dreamland would have experienced both more modern and permanent rides such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haunted Swing
A haunted swing, also known as diabolic swing or witches' swing, is an amusement ride giving visitors the illusion they are turning upside down by rotating the outer room independently from the platform they are seated on. While the first installations date back to the late 19th century, modern, larger-scale implementations are still being manufactured by several manufacturers, as Madhouse (ride), Madhouse (by Vekoma) or Mystery Swing (by Mack Rides). Illusion The illusion is created by separating the movement of the swing occupants sit on, and the room that surrounds them. While the swing barely moves, the room can fully rotate around the occupants. As this room is the only frame of reference visitors have, it appears as if they are turning upside down. This principle is known as Illusions of self-motion, vection. History A patent for the ride was granted in 1893 to Amariah Lake (1836-1922), an inventor from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who was also credited with the inventio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swings (ride)
The swing ride or chair swing ride (sometimes called a swing carousel, wave swinger, yo-yo, waver swinger, Chair-O-Planes, Dodo or swinger) is an amusement ride that is a variation on the carousel in which the seats are suspended from the rotation, rotating top of the carousel. On some versions, particularly on the Wave Swingers, the rotating top of the carousel also tilts for additional variations of motion. History Hollycombe Steam Collection has a chair-o-planes adapted from a bomb damaged roundabout in 1944. A Chair-O-Planes premiered in Germany in 1972, designed by Zierer and built by Anton Schwarzkopf, Franz Schwarzkopf, brother of Anton Schwarzkopf. In 1974 the first portable unit debuted under the same partnership. Since then Zierer has built about 200 units. Other manufacturers have followed creating their own versions of the Chair-O-Planes, including Zamperla, Chance Rides, Grover Watkins, Bertazzon, Preston & Barbieri, Vekoma, and Sanoyas Hishino Meisho. In the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midway Rides At Idora Park 1912
Midway often refers to: *Midway (fair), a place at a fair or circus where rides, entertainment, and booths are concentrated *Midway Atoll, also called Midway Island, a low-lying coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean *Midway International Airport, in Chicago, United States Midway may also refer to: Military *Battle of Midway, a pivotal World War II battle fought around, on, and in the air above Midway Atoll (June 1942) *Naval Air Facility Midway Island, a U.S. Naval Air Station in the Midway Atoll (1941–1993) * , the name of three different U.S. Navy ships: ** USS ''Midway'' (AG-41), a cargo ship and troop transporter later renamed ''Panay'' (1942–1946) ** USS ''Midway'' (CVE-63), an escort carrier later renamed ''St. Lo'' (1943–1944) ** USS ''Midway'' (CV-41), an aircraft carrier (1945–1992) *** ''USS Midway'' Museum, the museum including that carrier, located in San Diego, California *** ''Midway''-class aircraft carrier, a class of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier (three c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wizard Of The Nile
''The Wizard of the Nile'' is a comic opera in three acts with music by composer Victor Herbert and a libretto by Harry B. Smith. This was Herbert's second comic opera after ''Prince Ananias'', and was his first real success. Synopsis Egypt suffers from a great dought. Kibosh, a Persian magician is touring throughout the land. He offers to make the skies rain, and he does. But the rain causes disastrous flooding. King Ptolemy decrees that Kibosh will be sealed inside a tomb, but enthusiastic courtiers have inadvertently also sealed the king in the tomb with him. When they escape, the king is so happy that he pardons Kibosh. At the same time Cleopatra and her music teacher, Ptarmigan, have a romance. However, though they separate as Cleopatra awaits the arrival of Mark Antony. Performance history ''The Wizard of the Nile'' premiered at the Grand Opera House in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on September 26, 1895, produced by the Frank Daniels Comic Opera Company.Franceschina, p. 84 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pirates Of Penzance
''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of the incompetent Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mikado
''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time.The longest-running piece of musical theatre was the operetta ''Les Cloches de Corneville'', which held the title until ''Dorothy (opera), Dorothy'' opened in 1886, which pushed ''The Mikado'' down to third place. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.H. L. Mencken, Mencken, H. L.]Article on ''The Mikado'', ''Baltimore Evening Sun'', 29 November 1910 ''The Mikado'' is the most internationally successful Savoy opera and has been especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
