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The History of Funhouse Mirrors

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Funhouse mirrors distort light and images in a way that has appealed to spectators for centuries.

Funhouse mirrors have curved surfaces, which bend lights and distorts the reflection. This makes onlookers appear disproportionate. Funhouse mirrors have been standard in amusement parks for almost a century -- from the turn of the century to the 1950s.

  1. First Mirrors

    • In Ancient times mirrors were crafted out of metals such as tin, bronze, gold or silver. Metal was hard to flatten so reflections were often distorted, much like funhouse mirrors reflections are.

    Funhouse Mirrors

    • When Louis the XIV commissioned the Palace of Versailles in France to be updated, renovations included a hall of mirrors. Inspired by Versailles, Peter Stuyvesant built a house of mirrors in New Amsterdam in 1651. Playland Park in New York was one of the first amusement parks in America to have several funhouses including a mirror maze.

    Funhouses Today

    • In the 70s and 80s liability issues and the high cost of insurance made it so that most traditional funhouses could not afford to stay open. Mirror mazes and mirror image distortion are still part of funhouse entertainment. Safer versions of funhouses can now be enjoyed at fairs and theme parks and technology even allows the regular consumer to purchase durably bendable and portable funhouse mirrors online.

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  • Photo Credit mirror ball image by leafy from Fotolia.com

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