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In 1905, the Brighton Beach Development Corporation sponsored a staged reenactment of major battles of the Boer War. This was recent history, made real on the seashore by many of the actual generals and soldiers who had fought in the war. It would be like the CIDC sponsoring a reenactment of the Battle of Faluja on the beach.
Of course, put into another perspective, a lot of towns sponsor civil war reenactments every year. So it’s not that big a deal. That’s why we’re planning something big next summer. It won’t be the Battle of Faluja, but it should be fun.
Of note, if you can read the text in this image, is the connection between the event and the recently finished St. Louis Worlds Fair. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was directly related to Coney Island, in much the same ways that the previous fairs had been: many of the acts and attractions came from one and went directly to the other. The businesses were transferable, the vendors moved from one place to another, the acts followed the circuit.
We tend to think of Coney Island as a permanent place, but really, it was in a state of constant change. Every year was a completely different scene. As a historian, its a lot to keep track of!
