Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Kid of Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements

The Kid of Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements

Register, Woody

Paperback

Entertainment & Performing Arts20th Century United States HistoryGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 0195167325
ISBN13: 9780195167320
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Aug 21 2003
Pages: 400
Weight: 1.26
Height: 1.12 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.22
Language: English
A generation before Walt Disney, Fred Thompson was the boy-wonder of American popular amusements. At the turn of the 20th century, Thompson's entrepreneurial drive made him into an entertainment mogul who helped to define the popular culture of his day.
In this lively biography, Woody Register tells Thompson's remarkable story and examines the transformation of commerce and entertainment as American society moved into an era of mass marketing and large-scale corporate enterprise. Getting his start as a promoter of carnival shows at world's fairs, Thompson was one of the principal developers of Coney Island, where he created the majestic Luna Park. Register traces Thompson's career as he built the mammoth Hippodrome Theater in Manhattan, where he mounted many productions noted for their spectacular--and spectacularly costly--staging effects. Register shows how Thompson's fantasies appealed to the growing legions of Americans who found themselves in a world that seemed increasingly businesslike and profit oriented. He illustrates how Thompson aggressively marketed to adult consumers a world of make-believe and childlike play, carefully crafting his own public image as the boy who never grew up.

Also in

20th Century United States History

View All