....Luna Park's Animals....

....Although Thompson controlled most of the creative concepts in the park, Dundy made one important request- Luna must have a circus. The elephants and their keepers were found performing in above the lagoon daily. Many said it added to the unique, childlike feel that Luna had. (Right Photo Courtesy the Library of Congress)....















Thompson & Dundy's herd of elephants roamed through Luna Park and some were used for rides. Thompson loved the animals and used several of them to help build the park. I do not know if either of the elephants pictured here are the ill-fated Topsy. (The photo on the left is courtesy of the Library of Congress).








....Luna Park offered rides on the camel, too. In Munsey's Magazine Guy Wetmore Carryl wrote, "Oh, that camel! Once the ship of the desert, decked in gaudy trappings and bearing his Arab master at breakneck speed across a sea of sand: what a derelict for any one to mount upon he is now become! The long, laborious course from Wara to Mourzouk has dwindled to a bare half hundred yards, but these he traverses as many times a day, rising and crouching again with protesting snorts, a sneer on his long lower lip, and a resentful gleam in his formerly patient eyes. He knows, though we do not, the proper way in which to mount and descend, and he has yet to see it exemplified at Coney Island." (Photo Courtesy the Library of Congress)