Lakeside Amusement Park has been a staple of Denver summer fun since it opened in 1908. Up until 1985, the Funhouse was one of the Lakeside's most distinctive, and dangerous, attractions.
The Funhouse was stocked with an array of mechanical devices that were, for the most part, designed with the intention of sending the rider directly to the ground. Anyone who actually had the pleasure of visiting this attraction will also tell you that the ancillary effects of the Funhouse were skinned knees and elbows.
These problems do not, however, seem to be impacting the colorful characters in this Harry Mellon Rhoads photo titled, "Possibly a Band Leader," taken some time between 1930 and 1940. The band leader, a few women from the chorus line and another gentleman (possibly a musician?) are seen standing on what was a series of rotating barrels that moved in different directions with the intention of toppling anyone walking through them.
We're guessing that the barrels were not in motion when this picture was taken as everyone seems to be simply hanging on, rather than hanging on for dear life.
As for the unidentified bandleader and his close friends, it seems likely that they were playing a gig at either the Casino Theater or Riviera Ballroom, both of which hosted a variety of musical events during that era.
Sadly, the Funhouse at Lakeside was shuttered for good in 1985 and there hasn't been live music in its boarded up ballrooms for decades. But for anyone who visited it, the Lakeside Funhouse was a place they'll never forget, even after the skinned knees and elbows healed up!
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Comments
I'm not certain, but I
I'm not certain, but I believe the Lakeside Funhouse was designed by the same person who created the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Funhouse and the San Francisco Playland Funhouse. Here is Wikipedia's description of the Playland Funhouse:
Laffing Sal at the Musée Mécanique
Among the more popular concessions was the Fun House, originally called the Bug House, erected in 1923-24. Laffing Sal was the laughing automated character whose cackle echoed throughout the park.[8] After Playland was closed, one of the original animatrons was relocated to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.[10] The Laughing Sal from the fun house is now located in the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco.[11] The last remaining Walking Charley figure is located at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach.
Patrons entered by first passing through a mirror maze which had originally been a separate attraction on the opposite side of the midway. Next, patrons squeezed through the spin-dryers and entered the main area of the Fun House, which contained a Joy Wheel (flat wooden disc that spun quickly and forced kids to slide off), the Barrel of Laughs (rotating walk-through wooden barrel), the Moving Bridges (connected gang planks that went up and down), and the Rocking Horses (attached by strong springs to a moving platform creating quite a galloping sensation).[12] The Fun House had air jets, rickety catwalks, steep, moving and rocking staircases, the topsy-turvy barrel, and the three-story climb up to the top of "the longest, bumpiest indoor slide in the world,"[8] and a 200-foot (61 m) indoor slide. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk had a funhouse with an identical interior (but not exterior) until it was remodeled in 1983"
I spent many happy summers in the Santa Cruz Fun House and I miss it, almost 50 years later!
I remember being on the Joy
I remember being on the Joy Wheel at the Lakeside Fun House once. There was a boy who sat exactly in the middle with a rather snide grin as the rest of us hung on as long as we could. Good times!
Hi Ellen - Thanks for sharing
Hi Ellen - Thanks for sharing that information with us. We actually did a blog on Laughing Sal a few years back and were surprised to find out that she was mass produced by a Philadelphia-based toboggan company. Sadly, these funhouses are just too fun/dangerous to survive. Today's youth will never know the joys of being tossed across a wooden floor in the name of fun!
oh boy do I remember all the
oh boy do I remember all the "lets knock you off your feet" rides etc .
Loved that place and my Father drove one of the two chriscraft that
that were on the lake.
Lakeside was on our list of where to
go and if not lakeside we went
to Elitches.
The 'possible bandleader' is
The 'possible bandleader' is Denver's own Paul Whiteman, who led a famous world-renowned swing/big band. They are the stars of the now restored film classic, an early Technicolor film,'The King Of Jazz', recently restored by The Criterion Collection AND U.C.L.A. I think DPL has the DVD, I own it.
Those who have aspirations
Those who have aspirations have thousands of things, and those who have no ambitions only feel that it is difficult
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