Steel Globe Tower, Coney Island

Property development is an occupation that attracts more than its fair share of swindlers and confidence tricksters.  A favoured strategy is to conceive a super-scaled and outrageously ambitious building to dazzle the unwary investor with its novelty value and the prospect of a share in stupendous profits.  In May 1906 in New York, Samuel Friede announced his scheme for the construction of a vast 11 storey globe resting on a 150 ft. cast-iron pedestal to tower over the Coney Island resort at Steeplechase Park.  Friede’s inspiration may have been the proposal for a monumental globe in honour of Christopher Columbus published in Scientific American in 1890.  The designer was Alberto Palacio of Bilbao and the location was to be the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.  At  1300 ft. it would have been almost twice the height of the Steel Globe. Friede’s plan  would be the world’s largest building with space for four circus rings, a theatre and skating rink plus a hotel, restaurants and an Aerial Palm Garden.  A subterranean transport hub of trains and streetcars would connect with every neighbourhood in the city. Up to 50,000 visitors could be accommodated at any one time and the building would be open around the clock.  World class entertainment and a plethora of gambling facilities would keep the dollars rolling in on a grand scale. Postcards of the attraction were rushed into  print as if it was already in existence.  

The volume of publicity and celebratory functions greatly exceeded any activity on the ground. Investor concern turned into panic as it became apparent that Friede’s site held only 30 of the 800 foundation piles despite all the band concerts and firework displays laid on by the developer.  By 1908 the scheme had fallen apart and the ultimate owner of the site (and much else of Coney Island), George Tilyou had to remove the concrete piles at his own expense. For the Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas, Coney Island was a laboratory for American architectural extremes of which the Steel Globe was the most inspirational. Steeplechase Park was acquired by Fred Trump in 1964. The entire site was then demolished to make way for apartment blocks.  In the early 1950s Fred Trump was Woody Guthrie’s landlord.  Trump’s blatantly racist letting policies became the subject of Guthrie’s 1954 lyric Old Man Trump.

 

Global Ambitions

When businesses expand, dreams of worldwide domination with consumers in every land and advertising in every language begin to form. There will be a network of offices across the globe and the name in lights in the centre of every major city. A reputation for excellence will extend into the most remote regions of the planet. To become part of a supra-national global community orbiting the earth at supersonic velocity, detached from the deadweight of national allegiance was the ambition of the visionary CEO. Advertising agencies stood prepared to translate these glittering visions into reality with the assistance of a well-stocked repertoire of clichés. Foremost among these were images of the globe, infinitely adaptable and instantly recognisable. We present a small selection below but a special mention for Colgate whose loyal customers were rewarded with a globe of their own to dominate in the privacy of their own homes. 

Going Global in Swanage

The Great Globe can be found perched near the cliff edge in Durlston Country Park near the Dorset resort of Swanage. It was carved in sections out of Portland Stone in 1887 in Greenwich and transported to Dorset by sea. Weighing over 40 tons it is described as one of the largest stone spheres in the world. In 1891 a group of stone slabs were placed around the globe and inscribed with some handy facts about the natural world. Geopolitically it is frozen in the late Victorian era and likely to remain so. It makes an unusual visitor attraction – it possesses no associations with the great and good, it commemorates no historic event, there are no religious or spiritual connotations – all it has is curiosity value. Publishers of postcards found a ready demand for images of the globe and this little group was assembled very quickly with no great effort involved. I went to see it about twenty years ago and will post some photographs when I locate them. It may be time for a return trip – the globe was restored last year.