[Photo courtesy of Julie Wilson World/flickr]

Some of the coolest photos we’ve seen in a long time are the ones that Julie Wilson World has been putting up on flickr of Coney Island in the late 80s and early 90s. The photo above is from a set of Mermaid Parade photos from 1991. Do take note of the huge crowd on Surf Avenue as Dick Zigun leads the parade (yes, there were a lot more people on the boardwalk). The point being that the parade once was a much smaller kind of event than the big crowd draw that it’s become in recent years. Give these pics a whirl as they’re an interesting walk down memory lane. In the meantime, click here for info about tomorrow’s parade, which kicks off at 2:00, give or take, and the Mermaid Ball in the historic Childs Building.