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yard into the amusement area
and got hooked.” he recalls. “I started work at age 12 and worked right
through the amusements’ closing in 1967.” Alas, this author was only 12 in 1967 - too young to drive out there from Rhode Island. The closest I ever got was 15 miles away - my cousins’ house in North Haven. But I knew nothing of the Savin Rock back then. So close yet so far. Fortunately Harold’s vivid memory and his old photos make me feel like I was there. So here, with the help of Harold, are profiles of Savin Rock’s dark attractions. |
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L.H.
McDaniel installed the Old Mill in Savin Rock’s Railroad Grove amusement
area, operating through 1967. Like
other Mills, it made use of a large wooden paddle wheel to keep the
water flowing through the 1012-foot concrete tunnel. Riders
aboard wood boats drifted by dioramas depicting American history such
as the Mayflower’s voyage to America and
a Native American village.
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Recalls
Harold, “None of the scenes were animated and they never changed over
the years, just maintained. I never heard anybody complain about seeing
the same stuff year after year. I suppose everybody saw it as American
history - how can you change that?”
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Just
one look at this flashy façade and you had to take a ride. It was installed
on Beach Street by R.E. Chambers who had purchased the rights to this
ride and others years earlier from legendary designer and marketer Harry
Traver. The building itself, a former dance hall/boxing area, was moved
from Washington Street in three sections. The
façade, featuring a giant clown head over the exit, was designed and
built locally. The interior featured the standard Traver plywood stunts
as the Kicking Mule and the Fighting Cats. But like most other LITDs
across the nation, three-dimensional stunts were added over the years.
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Photo:
Philadelphia Toboggan Co.
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Mr. James Smith lived the dream of dark ride fans. He lived in a mansion next to a Noah’s Ark funhouse on Beach Street. This Ark was a standard installation of its time with Noah and family on the deck, interior gags such as Lily Pads, Shaker Boards, and a Barrel of Fun, and animal stunts that startled patrons in the dark corridors. Unfortunately, the Ark burned to the ground in 1934. Some say that remnants were salvaged and trucked up to Old Orchard Beach for its Ark that was erected in 1929. But Harold debunks that myth. “I saw it after they put out the fire and there was nothing left but ashes,” he recalls. “Even the machine that rocked the boat was completely destroyed.” | |||||||||||
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Harold purchased a Laffing Sal, a former New York City theater prop, and installed it in the façade’s far left hand corner. Interior gags included a swinging bridge, a stretch of floor covered by a pillow, and a tilt room. PTC’s famous Magic Carpet conveyor carried patrons to the exit. Death Valley also had a very elaborate stunt for its time: A skeleton that slid forward on a pole towards patrons as a blaring horn sounded. |
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PTC provided the blueprints for Death Valley and Savin Rock carpenters constructed it. “Harry Coxter and Dick Gray built it,” recalled Harold. “I helped add a second floor to it later.” The only known survivor of Death Valley, is Sal, who Harold believes resides in a New Hampshire pub. However, the laugh track can still be heard in the museum - in the restroom foyer of all places! |
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This funhouse was found in other parks throughout the country, including Revere Beach, Massachusetts. Savin’s has special meaning to Harold - his father operated it for two years on the Liberty Pier section. Patrons entered and exited through the mouth of the infamous Bluebeard pirate |
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A two-story installation by National Amusement Devices (NAD), this funhouse featured a animated clown band on the façade. Inside tricks included an attacking gorilla, two chutes and moving stairs. It was owned by Mr. Franke whom Harold says was known as the “King of Popcorn” for his marketing of the snack. |
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One
of Pretzel’s original installations, it was owned by Frank Wilcox. “It
had a combination of plywood cutouts and papier mache heads,” recalls
Harold. “It was kind of worn out by 1949.” |
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This
was a makeshift funhouse created by Ed McDonald, who purchased stunts
and floor tricks from other parks that had closed their dark attractions.
“It wasn’t as good as the other funhouses here, so it didn’t catch on
with the public,” says Harold.
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So
there you have it. If only we could travel back in time and experience
this smorgasbord of dark attractions. But could we ever see another
amusement area like Savin Rock? |
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So why not check out the Savin Rock History Museum. Not only does it have dark ride memories; it has other Savin artifacts, like a Harry Traver Auto Race car, a vintage PTC carousel house, plus dozens of old photos. And be sure to say hello to Harold, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War - and an all-round great guy. While the site of the Savin Rock amusement area has long since been redeveloped, it lives on through the museum and Harold’s recollections. |
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©2003
Laff In The Dark/www.laffinthedark.com
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