Coney Island Museum

A small but fascinating museum of Coney Island memorabilia. Currently on display you can see such Coney Island lacunae as a steeplechase horse, funhouse distortion mirrors, and vintage bumping cars. The museum embodies the spirit of Coney Island U... more

A small but fascinating museum of Coney Island memorabilia. Currently on display you can see such Coney Island lacunae as a steeplechase horse, funhouse distortion mirrors, and vintage bumping cars. The museum embodies the spirit of Coney Island USA, a non-profit that was founded in the belief "that 19th century American popular culture gave birth to a democratic cultural golden age, unique to this country’s history and indispensable to its future. This new age not only invented the Broadway musical, it gave the world jazz, the blues and many new forms of performing and visual arts that emerged from and looked to the populist masses. Now, limited arts funding tends to favor the conservative and classical fine arts, underestimating the seminal qualities of the popular arts, instead abandoning the populist arts to the mutli-billion dollar mass media industries. But the honky-tonk subculture that was once uniquely Coney Island has reemerged as a post-modern trend in entertainment and art. The world is cautiously, slowly, but most certainly reawakening to the importance of Coney Island in American popular culture, and what it stands for. Coney Island USA is there to document, preser... more

A small but fascinating museum of Coney Island memorabilia. Currently on display you can see such Coney Island lacunae as a steeplechase horse, funhouse distortion mirrors, and vintage bumping cars.

The museum embodies the spirit of Coney Island USA, a non-profit that was founded in the belief "that 19th century American popular culture gave birth to a democratic cultural golden age, unique to this country’s history and indispensable to its future. This new age not only invented the Broadway musical, it gave the world jazz, the blues and many new forms of performing and visual arts that emerged from and looked to the populist masses. Now, limited arts funding tends to favor the conservative and classical fine arts, underestimating the seminal qualities of the popular arts, instead abandoning the populist arts to the mutli-billion dollar mass media industries. But the honky-tonk subculture that was once uniquely Coney Island has reemerged as a post-modern trend in entertainment and art. The world is cautiously, slowly, but most certainly reawakening to the importance of Coney Island in American popular culture, and what it stands for. Coney Island USA is there to document, preserve and further the unique arts for the masses, providing national perspective, professional dedication and quality programming for Coney Island as it heads into the 21st century."