THE KID OF CONEY ISLAND: Fred Thompson and the Rise of the Amusement Park

In the late 19th century, when men were supposed to be men at home, at work and in war, visionary entrepreneur Fred Thompson struck gold with the proposition, let 'em be kids. Amid shifting conceptions of gender, race, class and work, Thompson—labeled a Peter Pan for his business efforts and his demeanor—created elaborate playgrounds for adults, most spectacularly (and lucratively) Luna Park, an electrified extravaganza built in 1903 at Coney Island. This wonderfully written, entertaining and unusually perceptive look at a forefather of 20th-century American leisure culture makes delightful reading out of serious scholarship. Born into a middle-class family in Ohio in 1873, Thompson aspired to become an architect but soon, enticed by the possibilities of large-scale fairs and theatricals, became an "exposition fiend." He designed a striking "Moorish" building to highlight the achievements of African-Americans, a giant mechanical seesaw in answer to Mr. Ferris's wheel and a "trip to the moon" cyclorama for various turn-of-the-century expositions. From his famed Hippodrome Theater in Times Square, such extravagant productions as Brewster's Millions and Polly of the Circus went on the road. Register, professor of American studies at Sewanee, draws upon the groundbreaking pop culture studies of Kathy Peiss, William Leach and Jackson Lears as well as on his own research. Ranging from the theoretical (the construction of white masculinity in popular literature and entertainments) to wonderful specifics (e.g., the alleged threat of teddy bears "to all instincts of motherhood" in young girls), Register makes an important contribution to the literature of popular culture, consumerism and gender. (Sept.)