Amazing Discovery ... Read On Now!!!

[Barry]

A few years ago I started doing research for an article I wanted to write on this topic. I never found the time to continue with it though.

From what I can tell the Jaycee's were some of the first. The idea for a commercial attraction was presented at their "Metro Conference" in 1971 and that is when it started to go nationwide.

I did find a reference to Cox's Point Haunted Mansion in Baltimore that had definitely started by 1970 and possibly as early as 1968.

Prior to these I only found references to home haunts in the mid 60's.

As for the origins of today's haunted houses you can go back hundreds of years with mirror mazes followed by the 20th century's tilt houses, dark rides, and carnival fun houses. Throw in the influence of TV and monster movies, the baby boom generation of the 60's and that brings us to our haunt industry of today.

[JamBam]

Metro conference

Hey,
The Jaycees Metro conference was for chapters in cities of 75,000+ population and other chapters that had 150+ members. The proposal most liklely was a sharing of info based on a chapter's success. It would be interesting to know which chapter it was.

[Barry]

Brett,
It was from Peoria. Here is the link:

http://www.jaycees.com/history/1970s.htm

[Banshee]

I started out with the Birmingham Jaycees in the mid-late 70's . They had an amazing old building in the downtown area then & would go to different schools & civic groups & give everyone a room to decorate & staff.. Very fond memories of that!

[xxxdirk]

I had heard of the MURDER CASTLE in Chicago before and it amazes me no one has made a major motion picture on this thing. He makes Sweeny Todd look like an amature...

[KroneDaddy]

Rubbish,

I personally started the Haunted House industry in 1964 when I was 5 years old. The Beatles were new and the world needed something else to do. I am honored to have been on the cutting edge. I wrote that JayCee book in 67, I was 8.

I also was in the back-up bigfoot costume Roger Patterson was supposed to film, but Phil Morris cut the eyes out of the mask wrong and I missed my cue. We were supposed to be a bigfoot couple, sort-of.

So now THE DEBATE IS OVER, that goes for AL Gore too!

KroneDaddy

[Jim Warfield]

Sweeny Vrs. Mudgett

Fiction versus actuality. Truth is stranger (and bloodier) than fiction.
Herman Mudgett's schemes usually involved collecting insurance money on people he insured then made die.
He traveled all around this country doing this and had satellite offices in other cities, I think one was Philadelphia?
And he started out as a brilliant medical student too!

[damon carson]

I cant wait to read more on this. Thats how I got into haunted houses is by going to the local Jaycees haunted house. Can you imagine how many haunted houses were put on by Jaycees nationwide?! It would be phenomenal the amount of haunts being done in the U.S in those days. Practically every town with 8 to 10 Thousand population probably has a local Jaycee orginazation. Im not positive but it would probably be a good logical guess. Maybe even smaller towns may as well. It would really be awesome if someone could find an old news report like with Walter Cronkrite reporting on this. Thats if there ever was such press on Haunted houses or Halloween events back then.
Damon

[Jim Warfield]

Just In This Country..

A look at the JC's Haunted houses was sort of like this:
Mount Carroll had a JC haunt for...? 8 years ?
Lanark JCs had haunts ..? 4-5 years?
Shannon-no JCs
Chadwick=No JCs
Savanna = ? 3 years of JC Haunts
Millegeville = 1-2? years of JC haunting.
Thomson = no JCs
Carroll County , Ill. only still has a population of 15,000
The largest town back then was Savanna pop.3,500
Mt. Carroll pop.2,500
Shannon = 1,000?
Chadwick = pop.350
Mill"ville = 1.200
Lanark = 1,700
Thomson = 600
The Carroll Co. JC haunts were held in old houses, a warehouse, trailers Semi and house.
If this little area of the country could be considered typical (which it might not be) there would have been at least a JC haunt in almost every town the JCs were established in.
Clinton, Iowa 25 miles from Mount Carroll had a JC haunt several years usually in a train station and a second floor of an old building.
The Rockford , Ill. JCs , being a bigger city,had a haunt in a mall space, got hefty donantions from a lumber yard of much plaster board and 2 by 4s and unlike the rest of us , they hired high school kids to actually man the haunt for them. (This would have ruined all of my fun, personally.)
Part of the JCs was learning how to "Delegate"(convince others to do your bidding), I guess paying kids to run the place was considered delegating?

[JamBam]

update

I have put out an inquiry to the Indiana Jaycees old timers and through the national old timers newsletter. I have had several responses, but no new info.

Later,