George c tilyou biography

Tilyou perfected the enclosed park model that is still followed to this day, and his psychological evaluation of customers and their needs lives on in the mission statement of everyone in the business. On a side note, I was listening to a podcast about WDW's Boardwalk Hotel recently, and it discussed the many links between that resort and both Luna Park and Steeplechase.

It is good to know Disney pays homage to those who made all the themed amusements of today possible. I'm also glad to hear that they acknowledge the past, both through the building of the Boardwalk Inn and things like the podcasts. Some like to say or think that Disney wasn't influenced by Coney Island and that he was somehow above it. It's simply not the case.

Yes he was inspired by a visit to Tivoli Gardens and a minature train, but Coney Island is where it all really started, and its DNA is in every george c tilyou biography and theme park ever built since. Walt Disney's genius was in further perfecting the model that was already established, making it as isolated as possible,taking the concept of escapism to the extreme, and putting a much larger pile of money behind it.

He was actually very much like Fred Thompson The only real difference was that Walt always had Roy to come up with the money. Thompson's partner died after only a few years in business together. Take what works, and expand it, or move it in a new direction. Why try to re-invent the wheel? The younger Tilyou began his business career at age fourteen when he sold little boxes of sifted beach sand and bottles of seawater as souvenirs to visitors on Coney Island.

In one day Tilyou made enough money to finance his own trip to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition Coney Island Development. In he built Steeplechase Park, which quickly expanded to fifteen acres. It was wrecked by fire inbut Tilyou restored it on a grander scale. He originated most of the rides used in his amusement enterprises to give patrons nervous thrills as they were whirled, tumbled, and shot down various dark chambers and hilly surfaces.

All were clean, family-oriented amusements because Tilyou was opposed to the rowdy elements that frequently came to Coney Island. He became a reformer in politics and in helped to overthrow John Y. McKane, the infamous political boss who allowed Coney Island to become a corrupt haven for the type of crowd Tilyou disliked. More Successes. Tilyou is said to have been the inventor of the hot dog.

Samuel W. Sideshow Impresario. Marcus Charles Illions. Developed Carousel Wood Carving. Fahreda Mahzar. Thrilled the Public with Exotic Dancing. William F. Ride Inventor and Manufacturer. James Hale Strong. Designer and Builder of the Parachute Jump.

George c tilyou biography

La Marcus Edna Thompson. George Washington Ferris! Possibly the most famous alumni of my grad school, RPI. You are becoming quite an expert on amusement parks, Ken. Maybe you should produce a world wide guide and sell it on Amazon? I loved hearing about the man who made the first Ferris wheel. He definitely was ahead of his time. Now that was probably a lot of money back then but still not as much as it was initial to build.

In his case though, his name does live on! How sad he was penniless at the time of his death. Now I will think differently about the Ferris wheel down the road from us at Busch Gardens! Makes me think about all the inbetweens of their lives. What a shame that George Ferris lost so much even though the ferris wheel was so popular. Must have been frustrating as can be to know you have something that good and still end up with so many problems.

I did enjoy the young entrepeneur — George Tilyou. Imagine selling beach sand and ocean water. I wonder what he would think now if he saw the big ferris wheel landmarks in major cities. Really enjoying this series Ken! Time for an adventure. Wow that is really interesting. So sad to think he died bankrupt and alone and so young and his invention has lived on and on bringing so much joy to people.

Great post, as always I like reading about history of these parks. I can understand the past of Ferris. If you look at a Ferris wheel, it does look like it made out of railroad parts. Thanks for sharing this with us. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Email Address:. Skip to content.