The House of Too Much Trouble

Why The House of Too Much Trouble? 

While trying to come up with a name for this blog, Aaron, the Museum Director and I scoured lists of names of the old Coney Island Attractions from around the turn of the century.  Many attractions had good names, but the House of Too Much Trouble stood out.  It is such an intriguing name!  What was it?  Why was it so much trouble?  Finally I found the above article. 

It turns out that it was a fun house, that I could only imagine to be maddening.  Upon opening one door, visitors would be confronted with several more doors.  This continues until they would eventually find their ways out.  Too much trouble, indeed! 

It seems that the Vitagraph Company of America also released a short silent film with the same title in 1907, though due to its rarity, I have been unable to find out whether or not it is footage of the attraction. 

In this blog, I intend to highlight some of the lesser-known treasures in the collection at the Coney Island Museum, and to share some of the surprising tidbits of information I come across while working with it. 

-Katie Karkheck