George C. Tilyou

George Cornelius Tilyou (1862–1914) was an American entrepreneur and showman who founded New York City's Steeplechase Park.

[5][6] Peter Tilyou offered free clam chowder bowls to guests who purchased a 25-cent ticket to bathe at the Coney Island Beach.

[2]: 204 [3]: 67 Tilyou's first business venture was in 1876, at the age of fourteen, when he sold boxes of Coney Island sand and salt water to unwitting tourists for 25 cents each, earning $13.45 in the process.

[3]: 67 [8] A history of Coney Island from the 1940s noted that "Tilyou's Telephone managed to give a rather well-rounded picture of life at the resort in the late 1880s".

[12][13]: 33  The park covered 15 acres (6.1 ha), two-thirds of which Tilyou owned outright, at the western end of Bowery Street.

[6][3]: 68 [14] The park's attractions included the Human Niagara, a Venetian gondola-style ride, the Aerial Racing Slide, the Double-Dip Chutes, the Bicycle Railway, a "French Voyage" panorama, and a Wild West sideshow.

[17][20] Seeking to make the best of the fire's effects, Tilyou offered admission to the burning ruins for ten cents.

[22] Steeplechase Park's icon was a "Funny Face" mascot, depicting a smiling man with several dozen teeth; it was nicknamed "the Tilly" after Tilyou's surname.

The mascot, which became a symbol of Coney Island, represented the area's wholesomeness and neoclassical architecture combined with its veneer of hidden sexuality.

[4][14] The Park Slope mansion was replaced by an Emery Roth luxury apartment building 15 years after Tilyou's death, with some family members occupying a grand penthouse at the new property.