Jean’s Funny House was the sort of place you’d lie to your parents about. Sure, the shop on East Ninth Street sold gag gifts such as exploding cigars and offered plenty of pinball machines to keep customers occupied. But the real attraction was the peep shows. They had titillating titles — “Wiggling Wonders” and “Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath” — and were supposed to be adults only. But identification checks were, apparently, rare.
Consequently, the Funny House was a magnet for police attention. During one raid in 1943, inspector Edward Flanagan got a good look at the “evidence” as Funny House owner Angelo Gervaras stared into the camera, his face twisted in ironic wonder. Police confiscated 13 machines.
They returned in 1950, arresting and jailing Gervaras’ wife, Gertrude, on obscenity charges. But the Funny House laughed on. In 1963 The Plain Dealer editorial board clutched their pearls and declared that the shop should be closed, as it “appeals to extremely low instincts, is drab and vulgar and indecent.” Police visited again but deemed its activities legal.
By 1976, downtown development had killed the fun. The Funny House site is now a bank tower.
