The crowd gathered here watch as visitors, namely the two women seen at the bottom of this photograp

The crowd gathered here watch as visitors, namely the two women seen at the bottom of this photograph, come down the Helter Skelter Slide, a serpentine chute that caused ladies’ skirts to fly up as they landed, suggestively, on a mattress. The combination of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and public humiliation was both accepted and acceptable within the boundaries of Coney Island, making the destination a disorientating, and oftentimes welcome, break from the strictures of polite society.This freedom from societal constraints flourished mostly due to the carnival atmosphere that permeated all aspects of Coney Island. Fred Thompson and Elmer “Skip” Dundy, the owners of Luna Park, infused the amusement park with a festive theatricality. As a result, the line between spectator and performer became blurred, as visitors participated in the various forms of entertainment and sought to both see and be seen. For Thompson, Luna Park, and Coney Island in general, represented “a different world—a dream world, perhaps a nightmare world—where all is bizarre and fantastic—crazier than the craziest part of Paris—gayer and more different from the every-day world.”Posted by Connie H. ChoiEugene Wemlinger (American, dates unknown), Luna Park, Coney Island, 1909, Brooklyn Museum -- source link

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