Things You'll Need:
- Transportation that will get you to Coney Island (either take your car or the subway)
- An interest in Coney Island memorabilia.
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Step 1
The Coney Island Museum is located on 1208 Surf Avenue (near 12th Street). From the outside, this museum doesn't look like much, but inside the museum you will find a treasure trove of Coney Island memorabilia that has been faithfully collected by visitors to Coney Island and proprietors of former establishments that once stood there.
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Step 2
A Victorian Mutoscope on display in The Coney Island Museum.After you pay the 99 cent admission, take the stairs that lead up to the museum's second-floor collection. There you will see several artifacts, including a selection of old cameras from the early 20th century, old admission tickets to the legendary Coney Island amusement park, a display board showing the odd attractions of the day, a vintage bumping car, and a Victorian Mutoscope, an animation machine that served as a type of mechanical peep show, which was very popular in the early 1900s. Use the extra pennies given by the admissions attendant to turn the crank in this unusual machine.
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Step 3
While you're in the museum, take the time to watch a short documentary about the area and its evolution as a major entertainment attraction in the first half of the 20th century, or have fun looking at yourself in the Funhouse distortion mirrors.
