The Fun House, 1925 (05-15)

Historical narrative

In 1911, the grand 1891 Chautauqua Amphitheater was transformed into a legendary Fun House at Glen Echo. By the Roaring Twenties, this massive wooden citadel of laughter had become a popular escape for Washington-area visitors arriving by streetcar. Inside, the atmosphere vibrated with excitement. The air was thick with the smell of popcorn and the soundtrack of roaring laughter. Daring patrons braved the spinning Human Roulette Wheel, trying frantically to hold on as the rotating floor hurled them outward. Others shrieked while navigating the dizzying mirrors or racing along a 600-foot tricycle track around the building. A favorite attraction was the towering wooden slide, where riders shot down polished timber chutes on burlap sacks, their breathless screams echoing off the rafters. It was an intoxicating world of dizzying motion and shared joy, something about which Steve's mother spoke many times. Steve was fortunate enough to see the building in the mid-1950s, before it was condemned and then deliberately demolished by a controlled burn in September 1956 to make way for a parking lot.

Watercolor

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