On top is the front and back of a cardboard half-mask promoting the Steeplechase. I don’t know if they were sold or given away as advertising specialties.
Below is the painted image on a large metal sign. This Steeplechase Funny Face welcomed visitors to Steeplechase Park, the longest-running amusement park in Coney Island’s history. The grinning red mouth echoes the exaggerated smiles of barkers shouting out attractions to passersby. In some depictions of the Funny Face, such as the one here, the combed hair, parted in the middle, rises to two points suggesting horns, implying that “Steeplechase, the Funny Place” is presided over by a mischievous devil intent on subverting rules of proper conduct.
Years ago I saw a normal sized plastic mask of the whole face that was used for Halloween. It looked just like the sign. Wish I could find such a mask now!
