The Rumpus, seen at the right of this photograph, joined other classic amusement park rides like the Ferris wheel and tempting refreshment stands that dotted Idlewild’s midway.

Courtesy of the Idlewild and SoakZone Archives.
The Rumpus was more of a silly experience for riders than a scary one, and gave couples the opportunity to slide closer to each other in the two-seater cars as they wound through the building, passing skeletons, monster masks and other spooky stunts that popped up intermittently. The building was long and wide, appropriate to contain the winding track measuring several hundred feet in length. “It was a fun house. It was not supposed to be scary. But it was dark, I didn’t like anything dark,” remembered Ina Mae Smithley, whose father, Adolf Johnson, a Swedish stonemason, laid much of the 1930s-era stonework that decorated Idlewild Park. “Sometimes I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see what was coming next.”

The stunts inside gave one rider quite the scare. According to the Latrobe Bulletin, the “paper snakes” dangling from the ceiling inside the Rumpus House frightened a woman with a heart condition so badly that she fainted. For some unknown reason, this July 1938 incident sparked a rumor that a child had died after being bitten by a rattlesnake at the park,ix a tall tale that has floated around the community for decades, along with other rumors of snakes found in the park’s Caterpillar and carousel.
The park affixed silly billboards on the side of the Rumpus building to entice riders. Courtesy of Mike Mesich.
 
This image shows the future Rumpus building probably circa 1934-1936. The frame of the park’s original Ferris wheel,
added for the 1934 season, can be seen at left. The Rumpus name does not yet appear on the building.
Courtesy of the Idlewild and SoakZone Archives.
“Oh yeah, I remember that you didn’t want to ride the Rumpus because there were snakes in there…
As children, we were told that there were snakes in there, plus that it was dark. I rode it a couple times,
but I really, you know, I was afraid of snakes, I still don’t like snakes.”
– Ina Mae Smithley x