Many talented men worked for Tracy over the years. Working for Amusement Display Associates was tough on the Tracy gang financially. Work was seasonal with most of it being done in the winter months only to be laid off come summer. There would be anywhere from eight to 12 men on the payroll through the winter depending on the size of the job. Ronnie Trout was a leading artist for Tracy who started for ADA around 1970-71. After spotting an ad in the paper for artist wanted, he took some of his artwork over to Bill's shop and was hired on the spot. Ronnie did a lot of carving and sculpting of figures while working for Bill and continued to work at ADA even after Bill's untimely death.
Jack Seddon was another talented artist who worked for Bill Tracy. At the age of sixteen Jack apprenticed for Shirley Simmons, a former artist for the Pretzel Amusement Ride Company, for a few summers, working out of a little shop in Woodbine, New Jersey. At the time Simmons was partners with Howard Hewlett, another former Pretzel artisan, operating S and H Design. It was Jack's involvement with Simmons that led him to work for Tracy.
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Two views of the Haunted House with front by Tracy at Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, NJ.
This ride was built, owned and operated by Pretzel and was later relocated to the boardwalk. |
Tom Thaler was a commercial artist who specialized in sign painting. At some point in the early 1970's Tom came to work for Tracy, however the work only lasted about three months. During that time he did the lion’s share of work on the elaborate facade of a Pretzel dark ride installation, the Orient Express, on Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The façade work impressed the late Bill Cassidy, former Pretzel Amusement Ride Company owner. “The Orient Express - that was a beautiful front – Tracy did that one,” Cassidy once told Laff In the Dark. Tracy also produced the façade for the former Pretzel-owned Haunted House that was located on Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, NJ in the 70’s.
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