Happy Birthday, Charles Feltman!

Today is the birthday of Charles Feltman (1841-1910). He would have been 180 years old! His claim to fame is as the inventor of the hot dog. Awhile back, I happened to draw his mausoleum in Green-Wood Cemetery.

Feltman emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1856, at the age of fifteen. In 1867, he started a business selling food from a pushcart to beachgoers at Coney Island, including frankfurters from his native land. His innovation in 1869 was to insert the frankfurter into a custom-made elongated roll, eliminating the need for plates and utensils. He called the invention the Coney Island Red Hot, but it became better known as the 'hot dog,' perhaps because there was some question as to exactly what sort of meat was in that sausage.

Henry Collins Brown, New York historian and founder of the Museum of the City of New York, explained that "It could be carried on the march, eaten on the sands between baths, consumed on a carousel, used as a baby's nipple to quiet an obstreperous infant, and had other economic appeals to the summer pleasure seeker." I never thought of using hot dogs to pacify my children when they were babies!

In 1871, Feltman leased some land on the boardwalk and began building an entertainment complex that eventually included several restaurants and bars, a beer garden, a carousel, a roller coaster, an outdoor movie theater, a hotel, a bathhouse, a pavilion, and a maple garden. By the 1920s, Feltman's Ocean Pavilion was billed as the world's largest restaurant, serving over five million customers a year. It was actually better known for its seafood than for hot dogs.

In 1916, one of his employees, a roll-slicer named Nathan Handwerker, quit and founded a rival hot dog restaurant. A downscale version of Feltman's, Nathan's sold its hot dogs for five cents as opposed to Feltman's 10-cent weiners. Feltman's empire lasted until the early 1950s, when his sons sold the land to be developed into Astroland Amusement Park. Feltman's is now mostly forgotten, while Nathan's continues to reign as the iconic Coney Island hot dog king.

Feltman's placemat. Image from Green-Wood Cemetery Collection

REFERENCE:

Coney Island History Hall of Fame: Charles Feltman

Wonder Wheel

In the beginning of March, I somehow wound up having a day off on a Monday. It was that rarest of rarities . . . A free weekday that was also a school day, so I really was free for most of the day! It was also sunny and unseasonably warm, so I took a trip down to Coney Island. Coney Island is one of my favorite places, and I actually like it better during the off-season, without the crowds. Some workers were in the amusement parks, starting to get them ready for a summer season which we now know will probably not happen. There were still plenty of people around, but it was pretty quiet and peaceful. Quiet and peaceful, with the exception of an old man sitting on a bench near me, ranting to someone on his phone about how Coronavirus was a hoax, it was just the flu, and it was all thought up by "the government, the military, the corporations, the Arabs . . . They're all in on it!" Four days later, the whole city was shut down.

End of the Road

West 28th Street in Brooklyn deadends at the Coney Island Boardwalk.

Coney Island Baby

"In Coney Island, the things that are NOT there are more THERE than the things that ARE there."
-Carol Lipnik, The Singing Mermaid

Today is the annual Mermaid Parade, one of the funnest NYC events of the year, but I'm missing it again. My last comic was about the first time I went to one. It's a story that involves deadbeat friends, a drunk Russian nympho, and a jealous Mexican.

Coney Island is one of my favorite places in the world. I spent much of my childhood by the beach, so the oceanside atmosphere really feels like home to me. Beach communities always seem so casual and relaxed, and Coney Island is one of the most casual and relaxed places I've ever been. I'm hard-pressed to think of a less self-conscious place. And talk about a mix of people! Hipsters, yuppies, homies, mamis and papis, beach bums, and old Jewish Russian immigrants all elbow-to-elbow along the boardwalk.

Much of its charm comes from its dilapidated grandeur, scattered remnants and ruins that hint at its past glory: faded terra cotta bas-reliefs of Neptune and sea serpents, an abandoned shipwreck of a roller coaster (the Thunderbolt, torn down by Rudy Giuliani in 2000, leaving an empty lot), the worn and weathered Space Age decor of Astroland,  the ramshackle clam shacks and bars that line the boardwalk, open-faced sheds that are barely standing with hand-painted signs above their entrances, including Ruby's Bar and Grill, my favorite bar in the world.

(Site of the old Thunderbolt roller coaster)

For years, there have been plans to redevelop it, and now it's finally underway. Many people bemoan these plans, as they usually do. I'm of two minds. On the one hand, I'll miss the casual, no-frills, not-for-tourists, 'people's playground' vibe when places like Ruby's, Cha-Cha's, and Paul's Daughter inevitably succumb. And, in general, I distrust New York real estate developers. Most of them have shown stunningly poor judgment in the urban planning of their massive projects. (Exhibit A: Bruce Ratner)

At the same time, I think there is way too much romanticization of urban decay. In my neighborhood, there are now a lot of nice restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques, and of course it's increasingly expensive. Long-time residents bitch about the changes, but when I arrived about 12 years ago, there were mostly empty storefronts and a lot of crime. I hate the sanitized, Disney-fied Times Square, but I don't miss the hookers and crackheads that used to clog the sidewalks. I always hear people talk about the lost 'character' of the city, but I don't remember them showing much love for the squeegee men and the homeless camped out in every ATM vestibule back in the day, or for the swarms of drug dealers circling Washington Square Park, whispering "smoke smoke smoke smoke" to every passerby.

Singer Carol Lipnik said, "In Coney Island, the things that are NOT there are more THERE than the things that ARE there." One of the things that fascinated me on my first visit to Coney Island was the walls of Ruby's Bar, every inch or which are covered with photos of Coney Island from the first half of the 20th century. There were three enormous amusement parks, and the beach was literally filled with people. It was the premiere amusement center of the world. I'll walk past the ramshackle food stands of the Boardwalk, the aging kiddie rides of Astroland, the seedy game booths on the midway, and picture the towering spires of Luna Park, the undulating slopes of the Steeplechase ride, the grand archway of Dreamland. Very little of that world remains, the inert Parachute Drop being the most prominent artifact.

 

Something great will be lost when Coney Island is completely redeveloped, but something great was lost over the decades it was allowed to decay. I'm sort of optimistic about the changes being made. The current developer of Coney Island - an Italian company called Zamperla - is better than the last one, Joe Sitt's Thor Equities. Zamperla is actually in the amusement park business. Joe Sitt just wanted to build condos and casinos on the old amusement park. The new park seems fun, a bit reminiscent of the great parks of yesteryear - Luna Park, Steeplechase, Dreamland. It's not too different than the old Astroland, but it's bright and clean and radiates new energy. I love Coney Island as I've known it, but 'new energy' is not the phrase that comes to mind when I think of it. While I love its tawdry seediness, whole swaths of the Boardwalk have been rather sad and moribund for a long time. I hope Ruby's Bar and Grill manages to stay, though this is likely their last summer. I'll miss it terribly. But I won't miss the big open lots, filled with trash and weeds, or the gaping holes in the Boardwalk, and as hopeful as I am that the feel of Coney can be maintained, I'm excited for its future.