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Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several Eastern pleasure parks. What began as a pleasure ground in a rural setting for Sunday picnics evolved into a complete amusement park visited by many residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its popularity declined after the advent of the automobile, and it was closed and demolished in 1929. History Opening The Realty Syndicate constructed the park in 1903Bagwell, Beth (1982) ''Oakland, The Story of a City,'' Presidio Press, California, page 148, . on the north banks of Temescal Creek in North Oakland (on a site of present-day Ayala Park). The main gate of the park was located on Telegraph Avenue above 56th Street; and the park was located on the block bounded by Telegraph Avenue, Shattuck Avenue, 56th and 5 ...
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Trolley Park
Trolley may refer to: Vehicles and components * Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks * Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles ** Trolleytruck, a trolleybus-like vehicle used for carrying cargo * Tourist trolley, a rubber-tired bus designed to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram * Trolley (horse-drawn), a goods vehicle with four wheels of equal size mounted underneath it * Rail push trolley, a small vehicle for inspecting rail lines Tools * Airline service trolley, a small serving cart used by flight attendants inside an aircraft * Boat dolly, or trolley, a device for launching small boats into the water * Creeper (tool), a low-profile, wheeled platform used by auto mechanics * Flatbed trolley, or dray, for freight transport in distribution environments ** Piano trolley, a device for moving pianos * Golf trolley, a trolley designed for carrying a golf equipment * Laptop charging trolle ...
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Francis "Borax" Smith
Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Oakland, California. Frank Smith created the extensive interurban public transit Key System, which operated in Oakland, the East Bay, and San Francisco. Early mining career Francis Marion Smith was born in Richmond, Wisconsin in 1846. He went to the public schools and graduated from Milton College. At the age of 21, he left Wisconsin to prospect for mineral wealth in the American West, starting in Nevada. In 1872, while working as a woodcutter, he discovered a rich supply of ulexite at Teel's Marsh, near the town he would found ten years later, Marietta, Nevada. He staked a claim, started a company with his brother Julius Smith, and established a borax works at the edge of the marsh to concentrate the borax crystals a ...
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Fageol
Fageol Motors was a United States manufacturer of buses, trucks and farm tractors. History The company was founded in 1916, in Oakland, California, by Rollie, William, Frank and Claude Fageol, to manufacture motor trucks, farm tractors and automobiles. It was located next to Oakland Assembly, then a Chevrolet factory originally built in 1917 by William Durant, which later became part of General Motors. Fageol produced two luxury automobiles, but production was halted when the supply of Hall-Scott overhead camshaft engine, SOHC six-cylinder engines was diverted to build airplanes for the war in World War I. The first Fageol farm tractor was a re-labeled Hamilton Walking Tractor, designed and built by Rush E. Hamilton of Geyserville, California. As a result of the many tractor performance trials of the day, the tractor was redesigned to be more compatible with the needs of the West Coast. The Fageol version was designed by a team led by Horatio Smith with the cooperation of Ham ...
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Shoot-the-Chutes
Shoot the Chute is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume or super flume, which generally seats up to eight passengers, a modern-day Shoot the Chute ride generally has larger boats seating at least four across. History The first of this type of amusement ride was built by J.P. Newburg in 1884 down the side of a hill at Watchtower Park in Rock Island, Illinois. The ride traveled along a greased wooden track, skipping across the Rock River at the bottom. It was then pulled back to the ramp by an onboard ride attendant. Newburg took this unique ride concept next to Chicago, where more flumes were built and the rides grew in popularity. Paul Boyton opened Paul Boyton's Water Chute, America's first modern amusement park, at 63rd and Drexel in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1894. Boyton's was the first amusement park to rely solely on mechanical attractions. Paul Boyton and Thomas Polk built an ...
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Helter Skelter (amusement Park Ride)
A helter skelter, or helter-skelter lighthouse, is an amusement ride resembling a lighthouse with a spiral shaped slide built around the tower. Typically, fairgoers climb up a flight of stairs inside the tower and slide down the spiral on the outside using a coir mat. The ride is most prevalent in amusement parks and fairgrounds in the United Kingdom. History The first known appearance of the helter skelter was at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1906, which survived for thirty years until 1935. However, the ride's development began around the turn of the 20th century, when a helter skelter was built on Great Yarmouth's new Britannia Pier. The helter skelter was also present at Dreamland in Margate, Kent. This amusement park was similar in appearance to Blackpool Pleasure Beach during its opening in 1920, which was marked by the opening of the Scenic Railway as a key attraction. In the 1920s, visitors at Dreamland would have experienced both more modern and permanent rides such as t ...
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Haunted Swing
A haunted swing, also known as diabolic swing or witches' swing, is an amusement ride giving visitors the illusion they are turning upside down by rotating the outer room independently from the platform they are seated on. While the first installations date back to the late 19th century, modern, larger scale implementations are still being manufactured by several manufacturers, as Madhouse (by Vekoma) or Mystery Swing (by Mack Rides). Illusion The illusion is created by separating the movement of the swing occupants sit on, and the room that surrounds them. While the swing barely moves, the room can fully rotate around the occupants. As this room is the only frame of reference visitors have, it appears as if they are turning upside down. This principle is known as vection. History A patent for the ride was granted in 1893 to Amariah Lake (1836-1922), an inventor from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who was also credited with the invention of several other amusement rides. The p ...
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Swings (ride)
The swing ride or chair swing ride (sometimes called a swing carousel, wave swinger, yo-yo, waver swinger, Chair-O-Planes, Dodo or swinger) is an amusement ride that is a variation on the carousel in which the seats are suspended from the rotating top of the carousel. On some versions, particularly on the Wave Swingers, the rotating top of the carousel also tilts for additional variations of motion. History Swing rides were present at the earliest amusement parks. At Idora Park in Oakland, California, in 1908, the ride was called the Flying Swing, but appears to be the same principle. The Chair-O-Planes premiered in Germany in 1972, designed by Zierer and built by Franz Schwarzkopf, brother of Anton Schwarzkopf. In 1974 the first portable unit debuted under the same partnership. Since then Zierer has built about 200 units. Other manufacturers have followed creating their own versions of the Chair-O-Planes including Zamperla, Chance Rides, Grover Watkins, Bertazzon, Preston & ...
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Midway Rides At Idora Park 1912
Midway often refers to: *Midway (fair), a place at a fair or circus where rides, entertainment, and booths are concentrated *Midway Atoll, also called Midway Island, a low-lying coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean *Naval Air Facility Midway Island Midway may also refer to: Military *Battle of Midway, a pivotal World War II battle fought around, on, and in the air above the Midway atoll * USS ''Midway'' (AG-41) a cargo ship and troop transporter * ''Midway''-class aircraft carrier, a class of aircraft carrier named for the Battle of Midway ** USS ''Midway'' (CV-41), a retired U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Places Canada * Midway (Music Hall), a music venue in Edmonton, Alberta *Midway, British Columbia, a village in the West Kootenay region * Midway, New Brunswick, in Harvey Parish, New Brunswick *The Midway, Toronto, a former unincorporated community annexed by Toronto in 1909 United Kingdom *Midway, Derbyshire, a suburb of Swadlincote, South Derbyshire United States *Midway I ...
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The Wizard Of The Nile
''The Wizard of the Nile'' was a burlesque operetta in three acts, composed by Victor Herbert to a libretto by Harry B. Smith. Herbert's second operetta after ''Prince Ananias ''Prince Ananias'' was the first operetta composed by Victor Herbert. The libretto is by Francis Neilson. It was first produced by a troupe called "The Bostonians" at The Broadway Theatre on November 20, 1894, directed by Jerome Sykes. It rema ...'', ''The Wizard of the Nile'' was his first real success. It was given 105 performances on Broadway at the Casino Theatre, opening on November 4, 1895, starring the comedian Frank Daniels (and his Comic Opera Company), and enjoyed productions in Britain and on the European continent – a rare achievement for an American work of the period – as well as a revival in New York. None of Herbert's later shows would achieve as much international success. Daniels played Kibosh, the Persian Magician. His phrase, "Am I a wiz?" became a popular expression. Edw ...
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The Pirates Of Penzance
''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Freder ...
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The Mikado
''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time.The longest-running piece of musical theatre was the operetta ''Les Cloches de Corneville'', which held the title until ''Dorothy (opera), Dorothy'' opened in 1886, which pushed ''The Mikado'' down to third place. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.H. L. Mencken, Mencken, H. L.]Article on ''The Mikado'', ''Baltimore Evening Sun'', 29 November 1910 ''The Mikado'' is the most internationally successful Savoy opera and has been especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has ...
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