Ocean County New Jersey
History
Seaside Then and Now
Images from the collection of John R. Coleman.
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Quoted from Amusement Parks, Carnivals and Ferris Wheels

The Ferris wheel at Steeplechase Park in Coney Island was ride #1 for the Tilyous. When the Park had the combination ticket, the Wheel was #1 and not the horses. I had always thought that the horses from which the park derived its name was #1.. . .The cars (houses) held 14 on average. The Wheel had spokes (sprocket teeth) on its inner rim and was driven by a huge chain that was driven by a heavy duty electric motor. The ride (as I remember it from 1941-64) groaned as it turned. The chain made frightening noises. And the sound of the ride making its revolution would have scared a timid person.
The operator. usually someone who had been operating it for a season or more, would use a rheostat arm to give electric current to the motor. I was always reminded of the old trolley car motormen of my youth who turned an arm with a large knob on it in order to propel the car down the tracks.
The Wheel operator had to size up each mentally so that the ride would be balanced as best as possible.. . .On slow days you used every Fourth car, then every third, and then every second, It was a rare, hot, sunny Saturday or Sunday that found every car used.
If you had a girl with you and things were slow, the operator would play cupid and send you up alone. Back in those innocent days, a kiss and snuggle was the most even the most ardent lover could anticipate on the ride.
What impressed most people about the ride was that it gave you an overview of the Island It was wonderful to go up there at dusk and watch the lights go on at the Park and the rest of Coney Island.
The ride contrary to popular belief never lost the affection of the Park's patrons. The Tilyou family kept it because the ride still paid for itself many, many times over each season.
The ride sat at the edge of that portion of the Park property that the Tilyou’s owned. The land on which the See-Saw was placed was owned by the Huber Estate. The Tilyou’s paid $20,000 a year until they bought that large parcel in 1965 in order to sell the Park
Steeplechase Park, which had out survived Luna Park. Dreamland, and the other early parks at Coney Island, closed on September 20, 1964. Although the Pavilion of Fun and many of the attractions fell victim to the wrecking crews, the Ferris wheel survived. The new owner was L)ick McFadden of Diversified Amusements Company of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, who paid $8,000 for the wheel. McFadden in turn sold the wheel to a partnership of amusement ride owners who also were from Seaside Heights.
Tilyou’s Ferris wheel was moved to Seaside Heights and erected on the boardwa’k of one of New Jersey’s most popular amusement beaches. Alter operating only for a couple oi years, however, the wheel was declared unsafe. With the cars removed, it remained on the property for seven years and at Christmas it was decorated as a giant wreath. When the property was sold on which the wheel stood, it was taken down for the last time - another one of America’s oldest wheels gone forever. The only remaining trace of the wheel’s brief stay at Seaside Heights is the massive concrete foundation on which it once stood.
The movement of the Tilyou wheel to Seaside did not leave Coney Island without a Ferris wheel. And Coney Island’s wheel was not one of those production models that you might expect to find at an old-fashioned street carnival or at a “mom-and- pop” amusement park. Coney Island had the Wonder Wheel and it is still one of the most popular attractions on the Island.
Charles Hermann, while still a Romanian citizen living in San Francisco, obtained his first patent for an amusement ride (No. 1,149,513) on August 10, 1915. This ride, a forerunner of the Wonder Wheel, is described in the patent as a combination Ferris wheel and scenic railway. There is no record of this ride being built anywhere in the United States.
Hermann, listed as a resident of New York City, obtained his second patent (No. 1,354,436) on September 28, 1920. He assigned the rights to this patent to the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Amusement Company of New York City, which was the builder of the Wonder Wheel. Originally called the “Dip-the-Dip,” the wheel promised to combine all the thrills of the scenic railway, Ferris wheel and Chute-the-Chutes.
The wheel itself has a diameter of 150 Feet and is supported by eight massive steel columns that rise 73 feet from the ground. There are 16 cars attached to the rim of the wheel in a manner similar to that found on a conventional Ferris wheel. Another sixteen cars are mounted on a track system so they move from the wheel’s rim toward its center and then back to the rim as the wheel makes a revolution.
A few months before the Dip-the-Dip’ opened for business, an article in Science and Invention described what a ride was going to be like on the parks newest thrill-machine:

As you gradually draw closer you perceive that around the outer perifery [sic] of the wheel there are a series of fixt [sic] cabs or coaches carrying passengers, which simply swing on theft pivots as the wheel rotates around, but every few seconds several of the cars on different parts of the wheel suddenly take a big dip and you almost lose your breath watching.
Finally you arrive at the base of the huge revolving star wheel, and, asking one of the attendants as the height you attained, you are startled to find that it rises 150 feet from ground.
So you pay your fare and enter one of the “Dip-the-Dip” cars (these cars are being loaded one at a lime); you are securely strapt [sic] into your seat of one of the "dip cars" with your companion and two other passengers. Somewhere the man in charge of the wheel has pushed an electric button and the great circular steel structure commences to revolve. You ascend slowly - rise ten feet, then another ten feet, and the position of your car has hardly changed. You ascend ten higher and your car is ready to make its first dip - it commences to slide a little bit and - before you know it you have reached a forty-foot level, Whzzzzzw,zz-ss! With a rush of wind and a catch of your breath, down you go to a startling yet pleasant graceful glide toward the center of the wheel, making a dip of about forty feet.
Your “dip car” now hangs on the inner circle and you keep on moving around as the wheel turns and ascend to a height of 120 feet from the ground. (The non-dip cars reach a height of 150 feet from the ground.)
Shortly you find you car in position for making a second “dip.” Here’s the real thrill like you probably have never enjoyed before—at least not at this great height! For as your car dips from the inner to the outer circle, and, if anything, the car travels faster on this “dip” than on the previous one.


The cars being removed at Seaside Heights shortly before the wheel itself was demolished
(Courtesy of The Ocean County Review)

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