Haunted Mansion of Long Branch: Emails (2011)

NAME/DATE	CONTENT
12/22/11 Frank Hagan Los Angeles, CA	My great aunt and uncle were Frances and Leon Minogue of Leon's Amusements -- the arcade that was in the Long Branch Haunted Mansion long before it became haunted! Leon also owned a smaller arcade in the Asbury Park Convention Center -- and for you local trivia buffs -- both he and Frances were also involved in The Atlantic Highlands Amusement Park, a place that folded up in the mid 1930's. I am very appreciative of all the kind thoughts I saw posted about Leon -- who indeed was a very special and kind man -- and married to an equally grand lady. Frances and Leon moved to Palm Beach County full time in the mid 1970's, having sold the big place in Long Branch to the Macke Coin Operated Machine Company. He died in the early 1980's and Fran followed him in 1990. I can assure you, they would both enjoy knowing how fondly remembered they and their business are being remembered by the various posters on your site. I have attached a few photos of them and the arcade interior that I hope you will use on your site. It's good to know they will now be a part of cyber history in regard to the Jersey Shore and that long forgotten pier! Leon and Frances Minogue Leon Minogue, 1950 Merry Go Round, Leon's Amusements Finally -- the near riot in 1970 that almost caused a disaster inside the Long Branch Arcade was avoided by a typically fast thinking Leon. They used to have white uniformed change makers on the floor. Inside the upstairs office there were hundreds of bread pans filled with quarters, dimes and nickels to dispense to the change makers. When the crowds started to gather out in front that night and it looked like they were moving inside, Leon grabbed a few of the floor guys and some of those pans of coin. On queue - the guys went outside and tossed a few of these pans of quarters and dimes into the air -- in a direction AWAY from the front of the arcade then began shouting "free money." When the crowd went after the scattered change....he quickly closed those large garage doors! No one got in! That's how clever he was. "It cost a hundred bucks in coin to prevent any of my boys being injured -- and it prevented my facing thousands of dollars in riot damages..." That was Leon's type of thinking -- he worried about his employees first!
10/1/11 M. Weiss	Wow. - memories just flooded over me. Needed to write this catharsis of my childhood! I am 49 now and remember the Mansion as the "new" thing on the pier! I just remember skee ball and bumper cars, and the tilt a whirl, and Wizards World pinball! I read Joe Donato's recollections about walking into Mikes Pizza from Cranmers Beach Club and buying a slice for a quarter, and Mr. Cittadino giving us a coat hanger to try to fish out the quarters that we dropped through the cracks!
7/13/11 David Summer	Hey guys, ran across your website and must write. I worked the mansion in 81-82 as an actor. Most of the time I was Dracula in the foyer just inside the front door. And other times Jack the Ripper where I'd cut an actress and lay her head on a pillow. They were fun times, but low paying and long hours. I remember most of the cast there, a fun but nutty bunch. Thanks for the visit for a former employee.
4/5/11	I, for one, always love to reminisce on my past as a child. All the great places that my family would plan up to visit for that summer are my best memories. Kid's World was one of them. But three decades had past, and I never really knew whatever had become of this place. I decided to do some searching on the internet, just to find out that it had completely been wiped off the map. It's just so sad. Especially because I really was looking forward to taking my children to Kid's World just so they could have experienced exactly what I had, as a child. Although its no longer, the memory of this place will always stay embedded in my mind...always