Indianapolis Amusement Parks, 1903-1911: Landscapes on the Edge

134 Pages·2007·1.47 MB·English

INDIANAPOLIS AMUSEMENTPARKS,1903-1911:
LANDSCAPES ONTHEEDGE
ConnieJ.Zeigler
SubmittedtothefacultyoftheUniversityGraduateSchool
inpartial fulfillment oftherequirements
forthedegree
MasterofArts
intheDepartment of History
IndianaUniversity
December2007
AcceptedbytheFacultyof IndianaUniversity,in partial
fulfillment oftherequirements forthedegreeof MasterofArts
____________________________
AnnieGilbert Coleman, Ph.D.,Chair
_____________________________
Robert G.Barrows, Ph.D.
Master’s Thesis
Committee
_____________________________
OwenJ.Dwyer III, Ph.D.
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Acknowledgements
This thesis benefitedfrom thethoughtful readingofmycommittee andfriends.
Myadvisor, AnnieColeman,deserves special thanks forhelpingmetoexplorethis
subject at adeeperlevel. Herinsightful questions andcomments improved this thesis
immeasurably.Other committeemembers, Bob Barrows andOwenDwyer,each
brought theirownexpertisetobear, andmadethis abetterwork. Inaddition,it amazed
methat someofmyfriends actuallywantedtoreadthis thesis. Amongthem,DanHook
and LindaWeintraut helpedcatch earlyerrors andomissions.
This project was manyyears inthecompletion—manymore years thana
master’s thesis usuallytakes. Throughthat longperiod,peoplecameand went through
mylifeandmost heardabout mytrials andtribulations relatedtofinishingthis
document.Twopeoplehavebeenthere from beginningtoend.Theyaremysons
Nicholas and ZacharySimmonds, whowereboys when Ibeganmynon-traditional
quest foreducation,and arenowmen.We all madesacrifices alongthe wayto get me
tothis step,so Iam especiallyhappythat Icansayto them, Ifinallymade it.
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TableofContents
PlantingtheSeed.......................................................................................................1
Machines andGardens..............................................................................................26
Surplus.......................................................................................................................59
PushingtheEdges......................................................................................................91
Bibliography..............................................................................................................122
Curriculum Vitae
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PlantingtheSeed
InMay1906,WonderlandAmusement Parkopenedits gates onEast
WashingtonStreet in Indianapolis toreveal its 125-foot tall “Electric Tower,”atree-top
“ScenicRailway,”anddozens ofotherthrillingandfantastical attractions. Indianapolis
nowhadaConeyIsland ofits own.Evenmoreamazing,bytheendofthe month,two
moreConey-Island-style amusement parks hadopenedinthecity.This thesis examines
three Indianapolis parks: WonderlandAmusement Park,WhiteCityAmusement Park
andRiversideAmusement Parkandtheirimpacts onthecityof Indianapolis inthefirst
years ofthetwentiethcentury.
Turn-of-the-centuryamusement parks celebratedtheindustrial achievements of
mechanizationandelectricity.Yet theywerelocatedat theundeveloped greenedges of
cities. Theywereplaster andconcrete,steel andelectricexamples oftheAmerican
exaltationofindustryandits simultaneous, andseeminglyantithetical,longingfor
greentranquility. Inhis classicbook,TheMachinein theGarden, LeoMarx first
proposedthetheorythat Americans desiredspaces ofverdant peace,but,at thesame
timeworshippedthemachineryofindustrializationthat blightedthat pined-for
tranquility.1 Inthe greenspaces at the endofstreetcarlines, often alongunspoiled
waterways, amusement parks providedmuch-neededrelief from thesmoke andnoiseof
urbanindustrial life.At thesametime,theypaidhomagetothemachineryofindustry
withtheirracket-makingrides, dependent onelectricityandthenewlyelectrified
streetcars fortheirveryexistence.Withintheirpeacefullygreenperimeters the
ratcheting,clanking,smoke-belchingmachines of entertainment clamored.
1LeoMarx,TheMachineintheGarden:TechnologyandthePastoralIdealinAmerica(London,
Oxford,NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1964).
1
Theseparks weremuch morethanthesum oftheirmechanical attractions,
however.Thetensions andinternal conflicts that attachedtoeveryaspect of amusement
parks madethem landscapes that pushedtheedges inpre-WWIAmerican culture.The
first turn-of-the-centuryrollickingamusement parks wereonNewYork’s ConeyIsland.
ConeyIslandbecamea model forthehundreds ofamusement parks, includingthethree
in Indianapolis, that geareduparoundthe U.S.in thefirst decadeofthetwentieth
century.Historians have shownthat theConeyIsland parks helpedusher a newmodern,
mass cultureintotheworldoutsidetheparks andacross thenation.At atimewhenthe
American economyhad reachedalevel ofabundance,industrial workers sought new
leisurepursuits outsideoftheirunfulfillingwork. ConeyIslandparkowners werequick
towelcometheworkingclass andthemiddleclass. Largeaudiences meant greater
profits. This “mass consumption”ofleisureofferednot onlypleasure,but also some
equalizationofsocial station.2 Behindthepark gates, immigrants frolickedbeside
nativesons,workingwomennext tomiddle-class mothers, menwithwomen.At the
sametimeparkowners typicallyexcludedAfricanAmericans from theparks, clearly
eliminatingthepossibilityoftruecultural exchange eveninthese edge-pushing
landscapes. Because Indianapolis amusement parks followedthecultural racism ofthe
day, AfricanAmericans are,unfortunately,not asignificant part ofthis discussion.
Amusement parks werelandscapes whereurban residents pushedtheedges of
acceptablebehavior,but someresidents, notablyAfrican Americans, were not part of
theselandscapes.
2LisabethCohen,AConsumers’Republic:ThePoliticsofMassConsumptioninPostwarAmerica(New
York:VintageBooksofRandomHouse,2003),10.
2
“Ifamansufferedinatrolleycarwhat tenthousandNewYorkers payten cents
tohavedonetothem at ConeyIsland,hewould gotoahospital for amonth,call
himselfanervous wreck fortherest of his days andsuethetrolleycompanyfor
$20,000damages,” accordingtoawriterintheAtlanticMonthlyin1907.3 Coney
Island-styleparks exaggeratedtheeverydayaspects oflifein urbanareas withamyriad
ofmechanizedrides, includingclanking“rollycoasters”—bumpityimitations ofthe
streetcars that brought thecustomers totheseparks. HistorianKathyPeiss foundthat
the“freeand easyculture ofworking-class streets, clubs, taverns andpublic halls was
expressedat ConeyIsland.”4 Andmembers ofthe middleclass were as attractedas the
workingclass tothis uninhibitedculture.Amusement parks encouraged a free andeasy
playtime. Intheprocess,theycreatedopportunities forinteractions that didnot often
occuroutsidetheparkbetweenmembers ofdifferent social classes anddifferent sexes.
Amusement parks becamelandscapes that pushed theedges ofinteraction. Intheir
spectacularlandscapes that blendednatureandthe industrializedcity,theybrought
togetherdisparate groups ofpeopleinnew, compellingways.
By1907,ahundredmilliondollars hadbeeninvestedinamusement parks
across theUnited States.5 Therewereparks inOhio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California
andelsewheresproutingat about thesametimeas in Indianapolis. Therides and
attractions, spectacles andamusements wereverysimilar,inmanycases duplicates, of
thoseat ConeyIsland,but fewhistorians have examinedparks inothercities toseeif
3RollinLyndeHartt,“TheAmusementPark,”AtlanticMonthly(May1907):674.
4KathyPeiss,CheapAmusements:WorkingWomenandLeisureinTurn-of-the-CenturyNewYork
(Philadelphia:TempleUniversityPress,1986),124.
5MichaelImmerso,ConeyIsland:ThePeople’sPlayground(NewBrunswick,N.J.andLondon:Rutgers
UniversityPress,2002),79.
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theexperience forvisitors was thesame andifthe parks intheseotherplaces created
thesamechanges inlocal cultureas didConeyIsland.
Amusement parks becameanew featureon thelandscapestartinginthe1890s.
Theydidnot erupt spontaneously, however.WhileBessamer andEdison createdthe
processes that madethesteel andelectricityforthemechanizedattractions at these
parks, urban andnational parks, world’s fairs andtravelingcircuses forgedthecultural
paththat madeamusement parks possibleintwentieth-centuryAmerica.Withagenesis
springingfrom Central Park,national parks, the World’s ColumbianExposition,andthe
travelingattractions world’s fairs spawned,amusement parks wereanimportant stepin
thecultural evolutionoftheUnitedStates inthe years priortoWorldWar I.Thehistory
ofConeyIslandamusement parks, andtheir copycat parks in Indianapolis andacross
thenation,beganwithandevolvedfrom events innineteenth-centuryAmericanculture.
Thefirst oftheseprecipitatingevents was theplanningand constructionof a
newtypeofleisurelocation,Central Park,inNew YorkCityinthe1850s. In1851,the
legislatureoftheStateof NewYorkpassedan act settingasidelandtobedevelopedas
apublicpark.Thehallmarkofthis legislationwas that thelandwouldbelongtothe
people.Not onlydidtheyhaveaccess topublicparkland(ararityat thetime); in
essence,theyownedit.6WhentheCityofNew Yorkchose Frederick Law Olmstedand
Calvert Vaux’s planfortheparkin1857,it set inmotionanewwayofthinkingabout
theimportanceof greenspaces toimprovethelives ofurbandwellers.
6NormanT.Newton,DesignontheLand(Cambridge,Mass.:BelknapPressofHarvardUniversity
Press,1971)267.
4
Central Parkwas acarefullyplanned, yet natural-appearinglandscapedesigned
toallowvisitors toforget foratimethat theywere inahugeindustrial city.7 Thepark
exemplifiedwhat LeoMarx called“thecontradictionbetweentherural mythandthe
technological fact.”8 But beautyandescape werenot all that thecityfathers andpark
planners hopedtoimpart throughCentral Park.Central ParkprovidedNew York’s elite
withapublicspacetodisplaytheir wealth.Elegant NewYorkers rode carriages inthe
park,showingofftheirstylish clothes and conveyances. But ordinarycitizens also
visitedthepark.New Yorkwas sociallyand culturallysegregated,and although
distanceandexpenselimitedaccess totheparkfortheworkingclass at first,bythelate
nineteenthcentury,this publicspacebecame aleisurespacefor all citizens, including
thecity’s workingclass andevenits immigrants.
Central Park gatheredcitizens from divergent backgrounds andclasses, but the
middleclass set thepark’s rules ofbehaviorandcontrolledits list ofacceptable
activities. Themiddleclass monitors encouragedsedateand circumspect activities, such
as walking,horse-ridingandcontemplatingnature,but forbademoreactive pastimes,
suchas ball games.9 Throughthese controls, themiddleclass madeCentral Parkwhat
onehistorianhas called a “gentlebut effectiveschool forcitizenship.”10 Central Park
was imbuedwiththemiddle-class valuethat even leisureactivityshouldbe
constructive.Themiddle-class park guardians madetheworkingclass abettercitizenry
byofferingthem relief,inaplacid greenenvironment,from thedrudgeryofindustrial
7JohnF.Kasson,AmusingtheMillion:ConeyIslandattheTurnoftheCentury(NewYork:Hill&
Wang,1978),19.
8Marx,MachineintheGarden,354.
9RoyRosenzweigandElizabethBlackmar,TheParkandthePeople:AHistoryofCentralPark(Ithaca,
NY:CornellUniversity,1992),1,6,233.
10Kasson,AmusingtheMillion,15.
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work.At Central Parkthemiddle-class put intopracticetheirbeliefs that naturehealed
thesocietal ills causedbyurbanindustrial life.
Thepark’s planners, OlmstedandVaux,extendedthenotionofhealinggreen
spacetoresidential livingwhen,adecadeafterplanningCentral Park,theylaidout a
park-likeneighborhood formiddle-class NewYorkers. ThetwomenplannedProspect
ParkinBrooklynbetween1866and1867.Olmstedwrotethat thedesignof urbanpark
spacerequired reconcilingincompatiblequalities: “sceneryofferingthemost agreeable
contrast tothat oftherest ofthetown; andopportunityforpeopletocometogetherfor
thesinglepurposeofenjoyment,unembarrassed bythelimitationwithwhichtheyare
surroundedat home,orinthepursuit oftheirdailyavocations ...”11 Through
landscape,Olmsted and Vaux upheldthemiddle-class beliefthat leisureshouldimprove
andexpandthelives ofcitizens.12 Inthepublicbucolicscenes ofCentral Park,healing
uplift was offeredtoall citizens; intheprivateneighborhoodofProspect Park, green
spacewouldrejuvenatethemiddleclass,whoalsoneededrelieffrom the “pursuit”of
theirwork.Andthough Olmstedwrotethat theparks wereforthe“single purposeof
enjoyment,”healso expressedthemiddle-class beliefthat leisureshouldbe spent
constructivelyinahealthful natural environment. Central Parklaidthefoundationfor
publicgreenspaces ofleisureandamusement inAmerica. It formeda cultural footprint
foramusement parks.
Buildingontheimportanceofset-aside greenspaces inordertomakelifebetter
inindustrial America,a movement fornational parks cameintobeinginthelast quarter
ofthenineteenthcentury. In1872,theUnitedStates government expressed aninterest
11QuotedinRichardGrusin,Culture,Technology,andtheCreationofAmerica’sNationalParks
(CambridgeandNewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2004),44.
12Kasson,AmusingtheMillion,4.
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