Casco Bay breeze. [volume] (South Harpswell, Me.) 1901-1917, 1906-08-16
REFORMED COMFY ISLAND WIDELY COPIED
Change That Has Forced the Popcorn Man Refresh His Stock EYs
Day-"GHe Man Five Times His Moneys Worth and
He Will Come Ten Times"


les, SIT, you re all right tnere,
said a Coney Island popcorn mag.
nate emphatically, things Is
changed in, my profession like all
others. The people is getting so ar
istercratic and particular that they
has to have things just so. No more
than five years back we used tel
make up all our popcorn balls -
they was balls then, none of your
fancy crispettes-in May. enough ter
last us clean through to September
And now the peoples tastes is SC
highly edicated that they won't stand
fer any corn that's been popped over
twenty-four hours"
Here, in a nutshell, is the whole
story Of the tremendous revolution
that has taken place in the SIMMER
amusement resort business IL Amer
lea in the last half decade. Here in
New York We notice the change most
strikingiy at Coney Island, for there.
1t may be said, the revolution really
| began, and there it certainly has
| been carried to an extreme seen no
where else in the country. And as
the Coney Island Of to-day is the
type OF the new amusement resort,
serving as model for similar
places all over the country, SO the
Coney Island that we all knew a few
years ago was the type of the old re-
sort. Fundamentally, the change
comes down to this, that in the old
days you almost never got what you
paid for. while now You almost in
variably get more than you pay for.
The show promoters of every sort.
from those who furnished the side
shows for the country circus. the
county fair, and the dime museum,
up to the great p. T. Barnum him
self exerted their wits to invent some
sort of a show that would fool the
public. THE public likes to be
fooled" they declared. Time has
! proved that they were wrong, but as
long as that sort OF show was the
only sort in existence. the public,
with its accustomed good nature, con-
tinued to pay its money for it. An
old circus man down at Coney Island
| cited the tatooed man as an example
Most of the tatooed men on the
| market used to be straight-out
fakes" he said. Now, although
although they are mostly made to Or
der, still they're the real thing"
The Old Fake Shows.
The old style show, now rarely
seen save in the very cheapest of
amusement resorts, hardly needs de-
scription. The ingenious faker, VINO.
for ten cents, admitted you to see a
select set of cheap pictures, and then
having informed You confidentiaily
that for another ten cents ne would
show you the Bowery as it really
Is" turned you out into a passage
that led you to that thorOughfare,
was typical of his kind. The show
with another show inside, into which
the spectator was led, quite as much
by the feeling that he had been
duDed once and might as we'll see the
whole business, as by the hints of
forbidden things behind the dirty
curtains, was invariable. Now. ap-
paTently, the whole theory OF the
show has changed. And enquiry
proves beyond a doubt that the
change Is due in no way to a moral
awakening on the part of the show
man, but rather to a realization on
his part that it pays better in the
long run to give the public it's mon
| ey's worth. that Lincoln's we'll known
axiom that you can't fool all the
| people all the time has solid comme--
cial basis.
1t is more than likely that T.any
a Snowman trying to arrive at the
true cause of his failure hit upon the
correct answer. but so fixed were the
| traditions of the business that zone
dared put the new idea into effect
until five years ago. Then two young
| men came out OF the West. who bold
ly declared that the old method was
based on fallacy. Give the people
five times their moneys worth, and
they'll come to see your show ten
times said one OF them the other
day. Their success was immediate;
| others caught on to the idea and the
| revolution was under way. An op-
4 perfume FIRE, by sweeping many of
! the old time resorts cut OF existence.
helped things along. Capital was
easy to interest. where there was
permanence promised for the invest
ment. To-day. the Coney Island
amusement places of all sorts repre-
/ sent an investment variously esti-
mated ct from 100000 to s1o.-
100000. The two largest alone.
DTeamland and Luna PARK. repre-
sent an Investment OF 100000
and s1.So0.o00 respectively. There
could be no better criterion OF the
success OF the new idea. or no better
assurance for its permanency than
that. As simple business PROPOSE
tion, the showmen are not going to
run the cnance OF a depreciation in
value and earning capacity by pro-
viding inferior amusemegts. The
active competition has raised the
whole standard OF entertainment
The fake shows never had a ghost OF
a chance after We began giving the
people the real thing" SAID one Of
the big shovmen.
But the old coarse shows were