George C. Tilyou

Abstract

George Tilyou developed or perfected many of the managerial practices for amusement parks that are still in use today. In developing and operating Coney Island's Steeplechase Park, Tilyou had to solve the problems of attracting and holding people's attention, maintaining decorum and security, and keeping the crowd moving from attraction to attraction. While he did not invent the concept of an enclosed park, he used that concept to full advantage, for example, by offering a ticket that allowed customers to take each ride once (and thus keep them moving along) and by giving free tickets to off-duty policemen (thus effectively retaining a security force). A natural-born promoter, Tilyou knew the importance of constantly updating his park with ever-more-spectacular rides. Moreover, he implicitly understood such service-management concepts as giving tangible status to the intangible. For example, to set the tone of his park, he required his employees to wear uniforms, and he identified his park as an amusement park, rather than just a place for rides. Thus, people thought of it as a place to go for the day for fun, even if they weren't going on many rides.