Title: Bathing Beach & Toboggan Slide - 1905

Creator: Lee Cooper

Region: Sylvan Beach

Date: 2016

Medium: acrylic paint

Technique: painting

Dimensions: 9 feet (height) x 14 feet (width) (approximately)

Description: While you enjoy your meal at the Pancake House in Sylvan Beach, let their mural take you back in time to a beautiful day at the beach in 1905. This scene is taken from a postcard popular at the time. It showcases the Toboggan Slide, one of the earliest and best known amusement rides at Sylvan Beach. Known then as the "Coney Island of Central New York," Sylvan Beach had become a popular summer resort. On this early water slide, opened in 1893, small sleds would rush down the slide and out into Oneida Lake. The novelty of this ride is shown by the crowd gathered on the pier to observe.

This scene is a delightful reminder of how much amusement parks have grown since their early days, and how they've been affected by changes in technology. However, it is also a reminder of other changes in our culture over 100 years. Take a closer look at the modest bathing suits and full length women's dresses and try to imagine wearing those to the beach today.

The Pancake House restaurant is in the building that was Sylvan Beach's first Post Office, opened in 1887. In the late 1950's an Italian restaurant in the building was nicknamed the Pancake House, known for serving breakfast after hours. Years later, in 2015, new owners officially adopted that name.

In exchange for the mural, the Pancake House provided breakfast for 40 kids when Cooper returned with other volunteers from the Determination Center of CNY.

Inscription: "Sylvan Beach New York - Bathing Beach & Toboggan Slide - 1905" at bottom of mural

Subject: New York (State)--Sylvan Beach, Amusement parks, Amusement rides, Public art, Mural painting and decoration

Rights: © Lee Cooper 2016

(In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/)

Find out more:
https://www.facebook.com/Pancakehousesylvanbeach/?rf=750805564950574

Futrell, Jim. Amusement Parks of New York. Stackpole Books, 2006. Google Books. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. p. 92.

ID#: AO-00138

Location: Pancake House, 516 Main Street, Sylvan Beach