Freaky Friday Files: Salvation by Roller Coasters

Hi friends! Happy Fri-YAY!

For this edition of Freaky Friday Files, I thought we could take a look at the history of roller coasters, as there's some interesting/creepy stuff going on - especially when roller coasters came to Coney Island, New York. Please enjoy!

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Salvation by Roller Coasters

Firstly, I want to define what a roller coaster is. According to Wikipedia, "A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements." They are for the thrill-seekers, but there are often gentler rides for those not as adrenaline-pumping (I don't know if I could do roller coasters).

So I was reading a book the other day with random facts in it, and I came across something odd that inspired this blog post. Apparently, roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin, and the history of the roller coasters at Coney Island in particular was created by a man called LaMarcus Adna Thompson, who wanted to distract people from going into things like brothels, saloons, and gambling. However, according to Wikipedia, roller coaster amusement rides date back to the 18th Century in Russia with things like ice slides in St Petersburg. One of these icy slides, Catherine the Great went down with one of her sleighs (e.g., the original conception of the roller coaster). I won't bore you to d*ath with ALL of the history of the roller coaster development, but there were a few more prototypes before we got to the Coney Island version. Wikipedia has a whole timeline if you're interested in that.

It wasn't until the 19th century (1884) that the railroad technology of what we know and love about roller coasters today was first developed (by LaMarcus Adna Thompson). LaMarcus accumulated nearly 30 patents for his rides and created over 50 rides around the world. Interestingly, LaMarcus also had a role in the manufacturing of women's stockings and tights, which is ironic considering he wanted to distract people from sinning. LaMarcus is credited as being the person who popularised the American roller coaster, but he didn't technically invent it.

LaMarcus has been dubbed the "Father of Gravity" and the "Father of the American Roller Coaster" and was tasked with building the very first roller coaster at Coney Island that was based on the switchback railway design (up high). American Experience (n.d) discusses LaMarcus as "A Sunday school teacher and dimestore moralist, he looked upon amusement parks as sinful places in need of redemption. Nevertheless, it was his Switchback Railway, erected at Coney Island in 1884, that inaugurated the "gravity pleasure ride" industry in earnest. Based directly on Knudsen's system, the Switchback Railway quickly demonstrated its wide appeal by earning $600 a day (at a nickel a ride) and paying for itself in a mere three weeks."

I think what is weird about this is that LaMarcus wanted to create something to distract people from "sin," but also found that the amusement parks themselves were sinful places? It's very odd, but what's even scarier is that there's a hypothetical design that was created in 2010 called the "Euthanasia Coaster" - and yes, it's literally what you think it is - a euthanasia device. Thankfully, it's only hypothetical. I have just read some more of the article, and people at the end of the ride are given a choice whether they want to live or die (so morbid). I am kinda seeing why this has never been built, because what if something went wrong? And how would a person be in the right mindset to make that decision after just being on a roller coaster ride? So many ethical issues.

Anyway, all this feels like something appropriate to discuss in this edition of Freaky Friday Files. Did roller coasters distract people from sin? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not religious, so I don't necessarily believe in people committing sinful acts. I'm also a feminist, so I probably would have been burned in the witch trials. What I'm saying is that the history/creation of roller coasters is kinda creepy when you think about it.

Thanks for reading!

Stay safe!

Ash x

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_roller_coaster

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_coaster

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMarcus_Adna_Thompson

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great

• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/coney-century-screams/

• https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1f4b35a/til_in_1884_lamarcus_adna_thompson_invented/

• https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67547/how-one-inventor-tried-save-america-roller-coasters

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