PLEASE COME IN - DON'T SHOVE -- THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EVERYONE!

As you might have guessed, carousels are a particular passion of mine. The very first one I can remember riding is the one at Disneyland. Since then, I've learned a little about carousels, thier history and thier lore. If you'd like to come with me, I'll take you on a little tour of Carousel History and Lore.

Let's begin our tour right here in the museum. Follow me over here and we'll start by learning how carousels came to exist.

The Origins of the Carousel

The word "carousel" comes from the old Italian word carosello, which means "little war". During the Crusades, Spaniards observed a skill game played by Arabian horsemen, in which they tossed and caught clay balls filled with scented oils. However, historical depictions of ride-type games involving spinning the patrons around a central pole with a rope appear in a Byzantine bas-relief dating back to around 500 AD.

The modern carousel began to make an appearance in the 17th century. Royal emissaries brought a form of the carosello game to the court of the French king Charles VIII, where it was transformed into a spectacular medieval pageant called carrousel. By 1662 Louis XIV was holding Le Grand Carrousel at Place du Carrousel, a square which still exists today. One of the games played in Le Grand Carrousel was the popular medieval sport of ring piercing. First invented by the Moors, it called for great concentration and excellent riding ability, for the rider had to pierce a small ring dangled from a pole with his sword or lance. To practice for this event, models of horses were placed on beams surrounding a central pole and the models were spun around the pole by servants or horses while the riders practiced spearing the ring. In time, the practice machine became popular not only with the knights, but the ladies and children of the court as well. Local craftsmen soon discovered the demand for these practice machines wasn't limited to the mounted knights.

As the popularity of the ride spread throughout Europe, practice machines began to spring up in small local parks and such places as Tivoli Gardens. It was not until 1870, however, when and Englishman named Frederick Savage hit on the idea of using steam power to turn the machines, and the first truly modern carousel was born. The popularity of the ride exploded and so did the industry of creating the machines and thier animals. By 1900, the elaborate trappings and detailed carvings still popular today were beginning to appear, mostly on English carousels. The English carousel is unique from it's European and American counterparts in that English carousels turn clockwise, whereas European and American carousels turn counterclockwise so that the brass ring, descendant of the original dangling ring, could be grasped by the right hand as the carousel turned.

The Carousel In America

Although carousels existed in America as far back as 1825, the art of American carousel making didn't take firm root until 1867 when Gustav Dentzel built his first carousel.

Dentzel was the son of a German carousel carver, and he brought to America his fathers knowledge and teachings of the art of carousel carving. The venture proved so successful, he eventually began to devote his shop entirely to the carving and building of carousels. Charles I.D. Looff followed in 1875 with his own first carousel. In the late 1800's the "trolley parks" began to spring up around the country, and it was then that the carousel industry began to come into it's own.

Throughout the early part of the Twentieth Century the art of carousel making flourished. As more and more master carvers begun to form thier own companies, thier carousels and the animals upon them began to take on distinctive styles. Dentzel and Looff were soon followed by Stein and Goldstein, Illions, Daniel C. Muller, and Philadelphia Toboggan Company in the carousel industry and by 1915 there were approximately 3,000 to 4,000 wooden carousels operating in the United States. Of those, fewer than 300 are still in existence.

By 1920, the carousel industry had reached it's peak and was beginning to enter it's decline. One by one, the giants of the carousel industry moved on to other things. The last carved wooden carousel was manufactured in 1934 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, PTC#89. PTC is still a leading amusement park ride manufacturer today, focusing primarily on roller coasters.

On to the next part of the tour!