The History of Theme Parks, Volume 1: Parks That Shaped the Industry (1583–1952)

Description:

Before Disneyland, there was Bakken.

Long before the first theme park, people were already queuing for fun: in a royal deer park north of Copenhagen, in the pleasure gardens of Georgian London, on the Prater in Vienna and among the lanterns of Tivoli. This first volume of The History of Theme Parks follows the parks that invented the business of fun, from Bakken in 1583 to Efteling and Madurodam in 1952.

Across twenty-two chapters, it visits pleasure gardens and trolley parks, seaside piers and fairy-tale forests, in Europe, America, Japan and Australia. It meets the showmen, engineers, gardeners and dreamers who built them, and asks why some of these parks are still loved after centuries while so many others have gone.

THE PARKS IN THIS VOLUME

1. Bakken (Dyrehavsbakken), Denmark, 1583
2. Vauxhall Gardens, United Kingdom, 1661
3. Wurstelprater (Prater), Austria, 1766
4. Tivoli Gardens, Denmark, 1843
5. Lake Compounce, United States, 1846
6. Hanayashiki, Japan, 1853
7. Jardin d’Acclimatation, France, 1860
8. Cedar Point, United States, 1870
9. Gröna Lund, Sweden, 1883
10. Blackpool Pleasure Beach, United Kingdom, 1896
11. Kennywood, United States, 1898
12. Tibidabo, Spain, 1901
13. Coney Island (Luna Park), United States, 1903
14. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, United States, 1907
15. Luna Park Melbourne, Australia, 1912
16. Knott’s Berry Farm, United States, 1920s/1940
17. Liseberg, Sweden, 1923
18. Playland, Rye, United States, 1928
19. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, United States, 1946
20. Linnanmäki, Finland, 1950
21. Efteling, Netherlands, 1952
22. Madurodam, Netherlands, 1952

WHAT YOU GET

• EPUB edition (ISBN 978-87-85639-32-5) for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books and most e-readers
• PDF edition (ISBN 978-87-85639-33-2) for reading on screen or printing
• About 61,000 words, 188 pages in A5 format, with a fact box for every park and sources for every chapter

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Claus Frimand has worked in the theme park industry for more than thirty-five years, on projects in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The History of Theme Parks is his series on the parks, people, exhibitions and Games that shaped the business of fun.

Published by Forlaget Brøndehøje, Copenhagen.