Reprint of an article that first appeared in The Arch, Euclid Beach Park Now’s quarterly newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 4, August 1993 and again in Volume 13, Issue 3, Summer 2002. Notes from 1934 by Doris Humphrey Mackley (1910-2002).

Rudy Nagode, Euclid Beach Park Now board member made the article available from his archive collection.

Doris Humphrey Mackley's Grandfather, Dudley S. Humphrey II founded the Humphrey Popcorn Company in 1893 and in 1901 the company became owner and operator of Euclid Beach Park. Doris and her brother Dudley Humphrey III assumed important roles in the operation of the park in 1959 with the passing of their father, Harvey.

     The Laff-in-the-Dark is a ride through a fun house. Two people get into a little car and embark on a journey through darkness dotted with short flashes of light that bring out entertaining spectacles along the route.

     The most intriguing thing in the ride, is the revolving barrel. When it was being built, nobody realized that it would provide such a startling illusion. They built the barrel and connected it so that it would revolve around the track. The ribs that marked the joining of the strips of wood ran around the barrel in spiral shape. It was decided that it might be a good idea to decorate the spiral with luminous stars and have the inside of the barrel dark when the car went through. So men went inside the barrel to pain the stars, using a lantern to get a little extra light inside the barrel. The job was competed quickly.

    The men set the barrel in motion and stood inside on the track to admire their handiwork. Quite by accident somebody kinked over the lantern and then suddenly everybody that was inside the barrel began to feel as if he were falling. The stars seemed to stop moving and the track seemed to be turning over. They were all starited and then highly elated; they had hit on a splendid illusion without aiming for it at all.

     There are lots of people who insist when they come out of a ride on the Laff-in-the-Dark that the track turned up on at least a 45-degree angle when it went through the barrel, while, in reality, the track remains absolutely flat and only the spiral of the stars move.

     The thrills and laughs in this ride are the product of some of the most recent scientific discoveries. Polarized light is used to create the living jewel; luminous paint and the ultra-violet ray are used to cast a weird atmosphere around many of the displays.

     It is one of those rides that allow for constant remodeling. Nearly everybody in the Park has at least one bright idea to contribute and many of these ideas have been installed just recently. There are people that ride this amusement every three weeks religiously to check up on any changes that may have been made since the last ride.

     The content of the Laff-in-the-Dark, while it was originally quite adequate, is still changing all the time. The latest developments in luminous paints have been used to create some very pleasant effects. The old tendency of ride builders to stuff their tunnel rides and fun houses with things rather unsuccessfully calculated to frighten people is completely eradicated in the Beach and instead the emphasis is on amusing illusions or sights that please the eyes.

     The barrel illusion in the Laff-in-the-Dark was developed and patented at Euclid Beach and remains one of the intriguing features of the ride. As the car passes through the dark rolling barrel around which spirals of stars are painted, you see, at first, only the motion of the barrel over you. Then, if you focus your attention on the opening of the barrel at the other end, the stars, which you are able to see in the periphery of your vision seem to stop moving.