Bill Tracy and his companies competed with several major rivals in the dark ride and amusement display industry during the ‘60s and early ‘70s. One of the largest was Messmore & Damon, Inc. out of New York. M&D was established in 1914 and manufactured many dark ride and fun house effects through the decades, and although they tend to be best-known for their spooky stunts, some of their more popular works were animatronic animals and themed figures. M&D would close in 1998. Tracy would eventually partner with M&D and develop a business relationship with them to help expand his resources and get financial backing. Read more about that relationship here. Enjoy some vintage M&D ads and price lists from my personal collection below.
Fun Fact!
Back in 1971, only seven years after Trimper’s Haunted House first opened on the Ocean City boardwalk in Maryland, Granville Trimper, the ride’s owner and visionary, made a deal with M&D at a Convention in Chicago to buy their ‘Springing Frankenstein’ for his ride. Trimper’s Frankenstein offered decades of frights before it was finally retired in 2006.
The Bill Tracy Project 