If you’re ever in New York and want to see something real instead of the tourist trap stuff, head on out to Coney Island and check out the Coney Island Museum and Sideshow.
Here’s a link to a segment of “Treasures of New York”, a feature from a local news station, about it. I would include the clip here directly, but I couldn’t figure out how. The station seems to want us to share links to bring people back to the site, not the clip itself.
By the way, the bearded man speaking in that clip is Dick Zigun, founder of Coney Island USA and unofficial mayor of Coney Island.
Coney Island USA is a non-profit organization that “exists to defend the honor of American popular culture”. They run both the Museum, which preserves the history of Coney Island going all the way back to its days as The Playground Of America, and the Sideshow, which is one of the few sideshows left in America.
They also sponsor the yearly Mermaid Parade, along with a variety of other events from magic shows and burlesque to movie nights. If you have any interest in preserving the history of Coney Island or the art of the sideshow, you might consider donating to them, or better yet, if you live within regular reach, become a member!
The Museum contains artifacts from all of Coney Island history:
There’s a guide to explain the history behind all the pictures and the ancient souvenirs, and if you’d care to sit in front of that stage for a while, you can see a variety of short films from Coney Island’s history, including one shot by Thomas Edison himself (they’re also available on a DVD in the gift shop).
The sideshow lasts about 45 minutes, and it runs continuously throughout the afternoon, with short breaks in between. You buy your ticket, you go in, and you stay as long as you like, although once you see again what you saw upon entering, you’ve seen all there is to see.
By the way, you may have an inaccurate idea of what a sideshow involves in this day and age. There are no “freaks” put onstage for people to stare at. Yes, several of the performers are..”different” in one way or another, but they’re still performance artists. They’re there for their talent, not their looks. The last time I went, there was a blockhead, a fire eater, a person who works with a bed of nails, a sword swallower, a contortionist…it rocked.
Tickets are sold separately for the Museum and the Sideshow (tipping is encouraged for the sideshow. Rent is expensive!), but neither is hugely expensive. Or again, you could always get season tickets with a membership (hint hint!).
Just in case you’re ever in New York and want something real.