Coney Island has been a popular destination for Fourth of July celebrations since the early 1900s and the introduction of the hot-dog eating contest.
Walter Leporati/Getty Images
Coney Island has been a destination for Fourth of July celebrations for over a century.
From fireworks displays, parades, and live performances to the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, Coney Island has been hosting Independence Day celebrations since the early 20th century.
Coney Island is still popular for New Yorkers who want to escape the city for the day, walk along the boardwalk, enjoy some rides, and eat a hot dog or two — or many more.
Here are vintage photos that show what Coney Island Fourth of July celebrations have looked like through the years.
George Rinhart/Corbis/Getty Images
In a black-and-white aerial photo from 1920, you can see thousands of people gathered on the boardwalk and Coney Island Beach during the Fourth of July.
Getty Images
This photo, taken on July 4, 1938, shows crowds of people gathered on the beach. There are so many people that you can hardly see the sand.
Bev Grant/Getty Images
In this photo, a pair of unidentified men in shorts pose for the camera.
Susan Watts/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images
In a 1995 photo, children can be seen running and playing in the water while their parents look on.
Bev Grant/Getty Images
In this photo from July 4, 1968, customers shop inside a Coney Island store that sells tobacco-related products, candy, and portable radios.
Walter Leporati/Getty Images
The first official contest was held in 1972, CNN reported.
Nathan's had at one time claimed the tradition started in 1916, but PR professionals Max Rosey and Mortimer Matz, hired by Nathan's, later told The New York Times they had fabricated the legend about it starting that year.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
According to the Coney Island History Project, she ate 12 hot dogs in five minutes and won a paper crown as her prize.
In this photo from 1961, an unidentified man eats a Nathan's Famous hot dog outside the iconic restaurant.
Walter Leporati/Getty Images
He's pictured holding up his trophy after winning the 1995 annual contest.
According to The New York Times, he won after eating 19 and a half hot dogs and beating the defending champion by just half a dog.
Walter Leporati/Getty Images
Here, three unidentified contestants pose with plates of hot dogs prior to the 1987 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Bev Grant/Getty Images
In this circa 1968 photograph, a couple eats hot dogs in front of Nathan's Famous fast-food restaurant in Coney Island.
