Some people say we've become a bit too politically correct. That could be true.....
I do have to sometimes wonder about people in the past.
I've been looking at the website for Luna Park in Melbourne. They have a page about its history.
Before Luna Park was called Luna Park, it was called Dreamland. This was the project of a vaudeville guy named E S Salambo. He opened his park on 2 November 1906. One of the initial attractions was called The Destruction of San Francisco.
The San Francisco earthquake happened about six months before, on 18 April.
Isn't that a bit insensitive?
I mean I know we create fun based on disasters....such as Titanic. But we usually wait a few decades. Can you imagine creating an amusement attraction based on the earthquake in Haiti? How about a ride based on the 2004 Tsunami? Would anyone do a Katrina ride?
It might be sort of okay in like 50-75 years, but not six months after!
The other thing I'm thinking is...maybe this was a prophesy type thing. It takes awhile to create an attraction. Right? What if there WAS no earthquake when they started planning the ride? In these days, they'd probably cancel or postpone the opening of the ride. But maybe people were less politically correct in those days.
Edited to add 2/17/15. The Luna Park history page I linked to is no longer there. There's a new one, but it doesn't mention Dreamland. I tried to find information about it, and it seems that it might have been a Dreamland in Coney Island that had the San Francisco ride. I'm not sure if I misread Luna Park's website a few years ago, or if they had provided the wrong information. Or maybe BOTH Dreamlands had the San Francisco ride?
Anyway, if you're interested...I found this website and this other one that talks about the Dreamlands. The first talks more about Dreamland in NYC, and the other is about Dreamland in Melbourne.
Edited to add...a few minutes later. Okay. Good. I found an online book that agrees with what I reported four years ago.
I do have to sometimes wonder about people in the past.
I've been looking at the website for Luna Park in Melbourne. They have a page about its history.
Before Luna Park was called Luna Park, it was called Dreamland. This was the project of a vaudeville guy named E S Salambo. He opened his park on 2 November 1906. One of the initial attractions was called The Destruction of San Francisco.
The San Francisco earthquake happened about six months before, on 18 April.
Isn't that a bit insensitive?
I mean I know we create fun based on disasters....such as Titanic. But we usually wait a few decades. Can you imagine creating an amusement attraction based on the earthquake in Haiti? How about a ride based on the 2004 Tsunami? Would anyone do a Katrina ride?
It might be sort of okay in like 50-75 years, but not six months after!
The other thing I'm thinking is...maybe this was a prophesy type thing. It takes awhile to create an attraction. Right? What if there WAS no earthquake when they started planning the ride? In these days, they'd probably cancel or postpone the opening of the ride. But maybe people were less politically correct in those days.
Edited to add 2/17/15. The Luna Park history page I linked to is no longer there. There's a new one, but it doesn't mention Dreamland. I tried to find information about it, and it seems that it might have been a Dreamland in Coney Island that had the San Francisco ride. I'm not sure if I misread Luna Park's website a few years ago, or if they had provided the wrong information. Or maybe BOTH Dreamlands had the San Francisco ride?
Anyway, if you're interested...I found this website and this other one that talks about the Dreamlands. The first talks more about Dreamland in NYC, and the other is about Dreamland in Melbourne.
Edited to add...a few minutes later. Okay. Good. I found an online book that agrees with what I reported four years ago.