Temple of Mirth: Difference between revisions

Public wiki for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
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| caption          = Main entrance of Creation
| caption          = Temple of Mirth
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| profit          = 39,232.15
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| owner            =Ferdinand Akoun
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An introductory statment
The one  attraction that  was most indicative of the `flavor’  of [[The Pike]] was the Temple of Mirth. A huge sculptured  winking clown face and four grinning female faces completed the façade. Nicknamed the Foolish House,  Crystal Maze,  and  Fun Factory,  the Temple of Mirth used barkers to draw in the busy Pike crowd.


==Etymology==
==Description==
Screams of laughter could be heard through  the structure’s  portals, thus  grabbing the curious pike.


==Before the Fair==
Inside the attraction, there was an enormous mirror maze, then a  succession of 150 French plate convex  and concave mirrors  that distorted the visitor’s  reflection in  hundreds of grotesque and ridiculous manners, always creating infectious laughter.  A mysterious collection of cabinets, contained  surprises, tricks and jokes.


==Description==
The funhouse included  outrageous art work and scenery,  volcanic fires, a crowd-watched  collapsing chair trick, a dark winding tunnel, Cave of the Winds  (blasts of compressed air spouted up from the  floor, Hall of Laughter, Mystic Bottomless Well, Spring of Mirth, a 3-story circular slide called Helter Skelter and ended in Dead Man's Alley, a circular slide.
 
You had a choice of exiting through a door or down a two story  slide to the outside.


==After the Fair==
==Shooting==
On Nov. 14, 1904,  Temple of Mirth manager Ferdinand Akoun was shot in the head and seriously wounded by Alfred Laws, a watchman employed by the Mysterious Asia attraction. The shooting occurred on the street, packed with sightseers. A crowd chased Laws to The Pike entrance, where he was arrested by a police officer goer’s attention.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 06:03, 8 November 2022

Temple of Mirth
Temple of Mirth
Construction Cost5,000
Admission.10
Profit39,232.15
OwnerFerdinand Akoun

The one  attraction that  was most indicative of the `flavor’  of The Pike was the Temple of Mirth. A huge sculptured  winking clown face and four grinning female faces completed the façade. Nicknamed the Foolish House,  Crystal Maze,  and  Fun Factory,  the Temple of Mirth used barkers to draw in the busy Pike crowd.

Description

Screams of laughter could be heard through  the structure’s  portals, thus  grabbing the curious pike.

Inside the attraction, there was an enormous mirror maze, then a  succession of 150 French plate convex  and concave mirrors  that distorted the visitor’s  reflection in  hundreds of grotesque and ridiculous manners, always creating infectious laughter. A mysterious collection of cabinets, contained  surprises, tricks and jokes.

The funhouse included  outrageous art work and scenery,  volcanic fires, a crowd-watched  collapsing chair trick, a dark winding tunnel, Cave of the Winds  (blasts of compressed air spouted up from the  floor, Hall of Laughter, Mystic Bottomless Well, Spring of Mirth, a 3-story circular slide called Helter Skelter and ended in Dead Man's Alley, a circular slide.

You had a choice of exiting through a door or down a two story  slide to the outside.

Shooting

On Nov. 14, 1904,  Temple of Mirth manager Ferdinand Akoun was shot in the head and seriously wounded by Alfred Laws, a watchman employed by the Mysterious Asia attraction. The shooting occurred on the street, packed with sightseers. A crowd chased Laws to The Pike entrance, where he was arrested by a police officer goer’s attention.

See also

Notes

References

External links