1. (3) Before it was Riverview Amusement park, the area bordered by Western, Belmont, and the Chicago River, used to be known as a German sharpshooter park. The grounds were bought by Wilhelm Schmidt and his partner George Goldman who took up the idea of renting the park out for large picnics until 1903. The money to expand the park was supplied by two men, a banker and a lawyer, and was able to open in 1904. It was originally called Riverview Sharpshooters Park.
2. (2) George Schmidt, Wilhem's son, gave his dad many ideas for the park- 16 acres for all of the picnics and use the rest to add a few rides and games. After returning from Germany, George had many ideas that he had seen at the St. Pauli festival, for expanding the 6 acres of games and rides which had been very successful.
3. (1) When the park opened, music was the main attraction, as there were only three rides. The roller rink, open since 1908, kept its customers coming by playing the popular music of each decade(106.)The first and most popular roller coaster at the beginning was the Figure Eight. Close behind it in time and popularity was the Merry-Go-Round.
4. (2) To keep people coming, the park had to keep expanding with more rides, games, performances, and food. In 1902, photography was introduced to the sharpshooters park, and later, it became another attraction at the amusement park, where people could take pictures with props and costumes.
5. (4) After the park's success was noted, Riverview Sharpshooters Park corporation was founded in 1905. A new one was formed in 1907 and it ended up bringing in more money for the park. Riverview reached its peak of fame in 1908 when it was considered the most popular park in Chicago.
6. (4) "Aerostat" was one of the first rides to give a similar feeling to flying (before airplanes). "The top was one of the most unusual roller coasters ever built." Many of the rides were relevant to what was happening during the time or in our history. There were rides made about the Panama Canal, the Titanic, and the Civil War.
7. (4) In 1909, the park had 7 million visitors and was renamed Riverview Exposition Park to. In 1912, the Schmidt family took over management in result of the minority stockholders suing the majority stockholders and winning. Of course, the park was affected by the depression in the 30s and when a fire destroyed some things in 1932, they had no money to rebuild what was damaged. The 50s were spent re-modeling and re-painting the park.
8. (4) The park close because the land was worth more than the profit the park was making. The only thing remaining is the carousel which is at the Six Flags in Atlanta.
9. (1) During the 30s, the entrance fee went down to 2 cents a day and 5 cents per night. Also, employees started working for less and few attractions were added. When the costs were lowered, however, many people returned to the park, willing to spend a little to enjoy this summer fun. Advertising was a huge priority for the park, because it was important to attract enough people to keep the park thriving.
10. (1) The culture of the city also provided for a lot of what happened at Riverview. Mardi Gras was a very large celebration at the park, including people dressing up for free admission and a parade through the streets; it became a break from the stress of the Depression. In 1930 the Bug House burned down which cancelled the Mardi Gras parade that year as that is where the floats were stored. African Americans also held a parade each year, honoring Bud Billeken, who was the "mythical godfather of Chicago black children" (118).
11. (1) Riverview bought entertainment and rides from the Chicago World's Fair of 1933 after its closing and in 1935 the park was called "Chicago's Permanent World's Fair" (111). In 1937, Riverview created their first original ride, the Pair-O-Chutes. The park really provided for all ages and when more kids started coming, they opened a second Kiddy-land. Fireworks were set off each year for the 4th of July.
12. (6) Most people rode the streetcar to Riverview and the park was in a very good location in terms of accessibility. However it was very far from the growing predominantly black neighborhoods of Chicago, therefore informally excluding African Americans from the park.
13. (6) One attraction known as the
African Dip was a way racism was reflected in the park. White people dunked Black people into water and it was a popular game to play until it was ended in the late 1950's by the NAACP.
14. (7) The Titanic, a ship going from England to New York in April of 1912, was considered at the time to be the sturdiest ship ever built, holding many wealthy travelers . On its fourth day at sea, the ship hit an ice burg and began to sink. There were only enough life jackets for half of the passengers and many ended up freezing to death in the icy water ( in-text).
15. (19) The sinking of the Titanic was considered to be "one of the worst tragedies that ever struck mankind" (in-text). The disaster affected everyone around the country and spread around the world.
16. (8) The U.S. built the Panama Canal from 1904 to 1914. When it was completed, ships could travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean across Panama.
17. (8) The completion of the Panama Canal was a great accomplishment for the U.S. Ships could now travel from east to west without having to go all the way around the southern tip of South America.
18. (9) The League of Nations was established after World War One. It was based in Geneva, Switzerland, but several countries were not allowed to join, such as Germany and Russia.
19. (9) Even though the League of Nations was the idea of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. did not join.
20. (20) The League of Nation helped resolve some international disputes but ended in 1946. It was the predecessor to the United Nations.
21. (10) During the 1930's Americans experienced the hardest economic time in their history. The stock market crashed in 1929 leading to what is known as The Great Depression. Banks and businesses were failing greatly which caused people to stop putting money into the economy.
22. (10) As more and more people were unemployed during the Depression, they had less money to spend and less trust to spend it with this economy. (see note 9 about lowering entrance fees)
23. (5) In 1943 the Dive Bomber was added to Riverview in response to the World War II Dive Bombers. It closed in 1947 or 1948 because of a fatal accident that made it all to similar to the real thing.
24. (11) Dive bombers were used to hit specific targets during World War II. Sirens on these planes signaled an attack by the Germans.
25. (5) Hot rods were a popular car in the 1950s. These cars were mimicked at the park, copying the pop culture of the time. Anyone could drive the cars made in 1954 which was a technique to attract many more people to the ride.
26. (13) The segregation in Chicago could be clearly seen in the divide of the city's demographics. The South Side was predominantly Black and known as the "capital of black American" and the North Side white. There was also segregation in schools and fewer rights for Blacks. (See note 13 about the African Dip)
27. (13) During the Great Depression, stores stopped hiring Black employees. The cultural discrimination towards Blacks took a long time to fade.
28. (17) There was a large German population on the Northwest side of Chicago. The German bands who performed everyday at Riverview helped attract them to the park.
29. (17) The first foot long hot dogs were introduced in the 30s (paraphrase)
30. (17) The park is also recognized for some faults, such as the fact that "
during the Prohibition years, the park was known to sell beer and liquor illicitly." The park had to get its own police force in the 60s because of the heightened violence.
31. (17) Politicians used the parks during their campaigns to gain publicity and popularity. In 1939, the park was filled with Nazis attending the American National Socialist Party picnic and rally.
32. (18) $100 in 1930 is equal to $1204.42 in 2005. (This helps to understand the price of admission during the Depression)
33. (15) Rides were paid for individually which actually made the park a lot less expensive. Also, there were options for very cheap meals.
34. (14) The closing of the park was very sudden and traumatic for those who had grown up there. People were very sad to hear that they could never return and neither could generations to come.
35. (14) A former employee built 20 models of rides and displayed them at the Harold Washington Library.
36. (21) During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were both exploring the technology of the atomic bomb as a weapon of defense. When people realized the power of this bomb and that "both countries had enough bombs to destroy much of the world," (A cold war and a hot bomb) it became a national focus.
37. (22) The Atomic Energy Exhibit opened for Riverview's 50th season.
38. (4) The Atomic Energy Exhibit had a machine that could make a visitor's coin radioactive. This was a very exciting souvenir. The Exhibit also had information about how to keep safe during a nuclear attack.
39. (23) The Atomic Energy Commission
was created to explore peaceful uses for atomic energy.
40. (22) The Atomic Energy Exhibit mainly attracted school-age people and was widely advertised in newspapers and ads.
