#magic carpet
this is the exact point when acting was invented
Magic Carpet Fun House
Coney Island
The Magic Carpet Fun House was one of many attractions at Coney Island in the early- to mid-20th century. Located at 1501 Bowery and West 15th Street, the attraction was run by Edie and Seymour Maxim, who also ran the Donkey Game next-door. On the other side of the Magic Carpet Fun House was the Tunnel of Laughs and opposite these was the Thunderbolt Roller Coaster.
It opened somewhere between 1925-1941, and like many of these types of attractions, it is poorly documented and most information comes from oral records.
The fun house attraction was a common style of facility found at amusement parks and fun fairs of the time. There were indoor structures with wacky and whimsical atmospheres intended to surprise and entertain guests. They are typically self-guided, and feature various interactive elements, such as funhouse mirrors, physical and optical distortions, dark mazes, and obstacle courses.
Most accounts of this one found at Coney Island focus mainly on the “Laughing Lady” and the namesake slide which led the guest out of the building.
The Laughing Lady
Also going by Minnie Ha Ha, this audio-animatronic figure stood outside the attraction, and appears to have left a lasting impression in the minds of generations of visitors.
- “’HA HA HA.’ It could be heard from a distance and children especially loved her and liked to imitate her laugh.” — Taty Alicea
- “The cackling sound of the lady laughing was a big part of my Coney Island. You heard her laugh, and that was the whole key to Coney Island.” — Lenny Goodstein
- Here are some more great oral histories of the figure!
The Laughing Lady was in-fact one of many similar animatronics that could be found throughout the country during this period. They were produced by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC), and this particular model was known as Laffing Sal. It was a 6ft, 10in papier-mâché figure of a woman on a 12in pedestal. It would wave its arms and lean forward at the waist. There was also a record player hidden within the pedestal, which played recording of a woman’s laugh on 78-rpm phonographs. The base model featured a set appearance of an artificial wig and missing tooth. The purchaser could customises them with their their own clothing and hats. In the images above, the first Laffing Sal image is the preserved version that was found at Coney Island, while the following two are of the model found at San Francisco’s Musée Mécanique.
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Image Sources
Magic Carpet Fun House ticket, front | SRNY Collection
Magic Carpet Fun House ticket, back | SRNY Collection
Map, Geographica Maps via Forgotten-NY, 1938 | Source
Magic Carpet Fun House building, front | Source
Magic Carpet Fun House building, side, 1969 | Source
Coney Island’s Laughing Lady / Minnie Ha Ha | Source
Laffing Sal at the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco, close-up | Source
Laffing Sal at the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco, full | Source
Coney Island, Fun House interior, c.1970s | Source
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