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Elusive
Oct 17, 2007 11:10:45 GMT -5
Post by gary on Oct 17, 2007 11:10:45 GMT -5
Hard to find much information on the man. Mostly, just recollections of some operators of years past (including Granville) as posted on laffinthedark.com
I don't think I've ever seen a picture of the fellow. I doubt back in the 60's anyone bothered to do much press on such a hidden subject.
Each time Hunt's Pier (wildwood,nj) added a new Tracy ride, there was much press. But never an interview with Bill.
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Elusive
Oct 17, 2007 12:51:06 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Oct 17, 2007 12:51:06 GMT -5
The only picture I have ever seen of Bill Tracy can be found at www.elvision.com/tunneloflaffs/piratescove/pc4.html/ -- He is in the first picture on the left talking on a phone amongst a gargled array of miscellaneous props, pieces and curiosity. He seems like someone who would have had a lot of good stories to tell. (Or perhaps, some of which you would not want to know anything about.) A brilliant artist, nonetheless.
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Elusive
Oct 18, 2007 10:31:28 GMT -5
Post by gary on Oct 18, 2007 10:31:28 GMT -5
i haven't been able to get that link to work.
yes, i heard the remarks about him emphasizing some features of the female props he built. it's all part of the horror genre, i say. as long as dark rides aren't censored in terms of content, i say you get creative freedom while that motorized car is in motion!
but, as i've noticed on the local news, people are complaining about certain peoples' holloween lawn displays. in last night's story, it was about a hanging man with noose. similar to the one in trimpers, only on a much smaller scale and it was even purchased from a "fright night" mail order catalog.
perhaps america is just getting too sensitive about rather mild and innocent things? i'd say so. it's make believe, not a political statement.
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Elusive
Oct 18, 2007 13:17:54 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Oct 18, 2007 13:17:54 GMT -5
Try the link without the backslash at the very end-- It should work then. You are right--Folks are getting too sensitive about things. In a day and age where there are so many other things more important, people's Halloween displays should not be an issue. If you notice, though, the distortions props that are beings sold are not "risky" in nature, like Tracy's stunts would have been. They are simply "gory" or "cliché" in the fact they resemble blood and guts, or a ghost or corpse-- BORING! Of course, it is true that they have the Puking man, which they had outside the Ghost Hole in Coney Island (which actually used to be on the side street at Trimper's back in the 90's). The day Distortions comes out with a woman with a large bust tied up in a torture chamber will be the day I yell "Hooray"!
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Elusive
Oct 19, 2007 11:11:24 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Oct 19, 2007 11:11:24 GMT -5
I was wondering today -- If someone decided to start a business which designed dark ride stunts like Tracy's, would it be successful in this day and age? In other words, if I decided to start a company that designed stunts by using old-fashioned construction techniques… using paper mache, fiberglass and chicken wire, would there be any parks or organizations that would desire such stunts when Distortions is probably the industry leader? Of course, you wouldn’t be able to recreate Tracy's, for obvious copyright infringement reasons, but if you followed Tracy's general strategy of thinking of the "strange and unusual", like the Sleeping Sherriff, the woman dancing while the man played the piano, etc, how would it take off? Any thoughts?
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Elusive
Oct 21, 2007 19:37:55 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Oct 21, 2007 19:37:55 GMT -5
In Tracy's upside down room, the coat rack behind the upsidedown bed is holding nothing more than a pair of women's undies and a bra. I am guessing this implies she is sleeping naked? Good ol' Bill sure did have some tricks up his sleeve. It is the fine details that noone ever sees that can make or break a stunt... notlmpresed.angelfire.com/bra.jpg
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Elusive
Oct 22, 2007 18:31:21 GMT -5
Post by gary on Oct 22, 2007 18:31:21 GMT -5
That's a good question--- about if a small props company could make it today. I'm not sure if he's still active, but there used to be Lou Nasti up in Brooklyn, NY who was still producing work in the 80's but I'm not sure what happened to him.
Today's big budget makers like DI and Halloween Productions make pretty generic horror stunts and their pricetag is often $5000 - $10,000 with some smaller items fetching $700-$3000. I'm not sure how much they discount these, but I doubt it's very much. For $700, you get a tipped trash can with a big rat tail hanging out of it that will flail a little with compressed air. Not much of a deal if you ask me. I think Trimper's Electric Chair gag is in the $9000 range, for instance.
Tracy created mostly complete displays including good backdrops. They were art. Some stuff moved, sure, but it was a part of the whole picture. Full figures, painting, lighting, sound effects and movement. Most of his productions were reasonably detailed.
I think these guys like Bill and Lou were really good for the timeframe. Arguably, they're downright excellent by today's standards. But the present seems different. Hopefully, I'm wrong, and their can be revival to some degree. But people just aren't impressed with simple scenes, jumping figures and buzzers. Now when the sun goes down, the GOOD dark rides have long lines. I think parks discount the haunted house rides as not able to meet capacity demands for today's surviving theme parks. There are few small family-owned parks anymore like Knoebels. These places have just the right budget to add a moderation attraction like Ghost Ships or Whacky Shacks. Today, they need all they got to build a coaster to keep attendance up.
Well, I love coasters too but I think they're hitting a plateu and it might be the dark ages once again! The trick is the social climate of what's acceptable to the masses. You might have to work hard to get those soccer moms to take or let their kids go on a Spook House ride, since they found the kitch of yesterday's dark ride to be sex, screams, sirens and skeletons.
I think it's a scary endevour and might have to be more of a park-time gig trying to make it profitable, but I'm all for it. In fact, I'm trying to get workshop space in my new home!
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Elusive
Oct 23, 2007 9:18:59 GMT -5
Post by gary on Oct 23, 2007 9:18:59 GMT -5
okay, lou is still out there. www.mechanicaldisplays.com/but looks like 95% of his work is NOT dark rides, really. seems like he's done props for just three.
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Elusive
Nov 1, 2007 17:53:07 GMT -5
Post by Robert on Nov 1, 2007 17:53:07 GMT -5
Well, how many classic dark rides are left out there, anyway? There's some vanishing every year almost. We really took a hit lately with some big losses the past few years. www.laffinthedark.com/str has a list of some of the ones that were lost (or could be lost) recently. Trimper's Haunted House and Pirate's Cove are on the list? I don't believe that Granville would ever stoop so low and actually RAZE them, or would he? Even if his business fails?
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Elusive
Nov 1, 2007 18:14:19 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Nov 1, 2007 18:14:19 GMT -5
It gets complicated. The Cove and the HH are actually owned by two different companies. The Cove is owned by Trimper Rides, while the Hh is owned by Trimper Amusements. Trimper amusements is, more or less, Granvilles private collection/company. The rides in Trimper amusements are the Hh, titl, avalanch, inverter, ferris wheel, merry mixer, freak out and combat (may be a few others). The rest of the park, including the Cove, is owned by Trimper Rides/Windsor Resort. Granville owns like 60% or so of shares for Trimper Rides, so technically, I guess you could say he has the most control of the rest too. But he personally owns the Amusements part. It gets confusing. in fact, it is so confusing I may have it all wrong...
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Elusive
Nov 1, 2007 18:15:25 GMT -5
Post by Brandon on Nov 1, 2007 18:15:25 GMT -5
Also, I dont think Granville would ever raze the HH, if anything, him and his son Doug would move it to an alternate location. The PC is a different story though.
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Elusive
Nov 1, 2007 23:07:22 GMT -5
Post by Robert on Nov 1, 2007 23:07:22 GMT -5
So you're saying that the Pirate's Cove could be torn down if things don't work out? How possible would it be to move it to another location? What's the status on the park, anyway? I heard they will be open another summer but what about beyond? Did they get the tax relief they asked for? Is the ridiculously high taxes the only thing threatening their existence, because they were in business over 100 years at the same location and never considered closing before.
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Post by Brandon on Nov 2, 2007 8:07:53 GMT -5
I guess anything is possible. The Cove could easily be moved to another location. There is nothing so permanent in that attraction that would make it have to stay in that particular building. Publicly, the will be there another summer. Realistically, I think they will be fine for years to come. Taxes are threatening them, along with insurance, job wages, utility costs etc. Running a park uses up a lot of electricity, and even if the Electric Company spikes their rates up 5%, that is a lot of beans for them. Also, general costs of maintenance are inflating too. If they need to order a special part for the tilt-a-wirl, they will pay overall more money (because of gas costs) to get it delivered to its final destination. They have never considered closing before because they have never, ever been faced with these economic hardships before. The family is seeing economic problems that the original Trimper’s never would have dreamed. Taxes, however, are their biggest issue right now.
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Elusive
Nov 2, 2007 12:21:49 GMT -5
Post by Robert on Nov 2, 2007 12:21:49 GMT -5
But why are prices going up everywhere? Our electric company, PPL will raise it's rates 30% in 2010 when the cap on electricity rates expires. The electric bills for residential customers will skyrocket unless something is done. Out cable TV bills go up every other year.
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Elusive
Mar 2, 2020 16:55:05 GMT -5
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