Peter Franke's Fun House was good old-fashioned entertainment! |
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Promotion Day was big with the locals at Savin Rock; many in my husband's family often talked about how their parents gave them 50 cents to spend the day enjoying rides; fifty cents going a long way in the 1930 and 40's. That was a time when parents didn't have to walk hand in hand with their children... they were safe alone... and often they had someone who worked down there to look out for them. Everyone in town had family who either owned a ride, worked there or knew many who did. It was safe.
Walking inside was the same experience for everyone… first hearing the sounds of screams and shrieks of excitement… popcorn smells all around… whistles and bells signaling you that it was time to jump on the spinning disc… and if you had been in there more than once, you knew what the sounds meant… feeling anxious to ride everything at once!
Once past that short walkway in, and depending on what you wanted to do… you now had your choice of sliding down the tall slides, the crazy mirrors, the rolling barrel, or the spinning disk… have I forgotten any? One site mentioned an attacking gorilla, but hubby didn’t have a memory of that! If you remember, let me hear from you! Heading up the stairs for the “tall double slides” seemed to be where everyone headed first! |
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| The well remembered “skirt blower” was only fun if you were on a date, and the girl possibly wore a poodle skirt… the “skirt blower” always looked to poof up her skirt when she walked over the air spots. Think of the image that Marilyn Monroe made popular in that white dress! Al Nachand was the “behind the scenes” guy who blew air up unsuspecting girls dresses; Franke’s eye in the sky! |
My husband’s favorite first stop inside was always one of those double “tall slides”, looming straight down from the top of the highest floor. After grabbing a burlap bag, he began the long climb up the stairs, all the way up to the top square cupola of windows. At nighttime, you could view the lighted park, but only for a quick minute before you’d hear someone yelling at you to hurry up and move on. He remembers several humps on the slide down... two rather big humps, with the first one often making you leave the slide, while a smaller one toward the bottom slowing you down... and if you didn’t keep your hands inside on the bag, you ran the risk of a friction burn… you learned quickly if you thought you were a tough guy! Eventually, you slid into the left-behind burlap bags against the wall… left for cushioning... but you best scramble quickly out of the way of the riders behind you... and I'm sure there were some pile ups... intentional or not!
There were no time limits on the slide, you could slide all day if you wanted to climb those stairs over and over… just the one-time small price of maybe 50 cents to get in. Where else could you spend the day for 50 cents?
The “room of mirrors” was probably fun for a while, but how many times can you look at yourself as fat…. skinny…. stretched…. or wavy... it was probably more entertaining to the younger kids. I remember rooms of mirrors like that at carnivals and at times I thought I'd never even find my way out. |
Inside another area of that great room was the huge “spinning disc”… jump on and try to find your inner sense of gravity to stay on…. if not, you were flung off into others that hadn't been lucky enough to stay in the center.
It doesn’t sound logical to me that you could stay on for any length of time as there didn’t seem to be anything to hang onto. I’m picturing arms and legs flying all over. Wonder how many kids got smacked in the mouth?
Harold Hartman, 3rd from right.
Peter Franke, 4th from right. 1946 |
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| The “rolling barrel”, aka the Barrell of Fun, was another walk and fall as you tried to make your way through the barrel. Once you went through enough times, you learned quickly how to maneuver yourself through without falling. It didn’t lead anywhere, just back out into the great room… everything was situated in that one open room. |
Sadly, many people today never had the chance to experience Savin Rock, but instead grew up on the stories told by their parents and grandparents. I fell in love with the ambiance of Savin Rock from all those very stories! I heard so many stories on Savin Rock, that at times I felt as if I also had walked down Beach Street to hear Laffing Sal and slid down that very slide my husband so enjoyed at Peter Franke’s. Being a “southerner”, transplanted to West Haven when I married in 1971, I’ve relied on my husband's memories, and the famous “blue book” written by Gil Johnson and Bennet W. Dorman, where many “Westies” shared their memories.
By 1966 Savin Rock was pretty much winding down. And from stories told, most of Savin Rock's rides were hauled away in dumpsters. Apparently not many folks had the insight, or the want, to save anything. But every once in a while, these days, you'll read how someone's grandfather saved a few bumper cars, or who still have their souvenirs won from the shoot and throw stands.
Even today, there are many locals in the area who still remember the sound of Laffing Sal, the lights on the midway, the Magic Carpet Ride, and the taste of the Honey Pop-Corn at Franke's Fun House. The last generation is dwindling, leaving the new generation to only imagine, and be in awe of what once graced the shoreline of West Haven, CT. |
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