Dictionary:
car·ou·sel or car·rou·sel (kăr'ə-sĕl', -zĕl')  |
[French carrousel, tilting match, carousel, from Italian carosello, tilting match.]
| How Products are Made: How is a carousel made? |
|
Sidebar: Carousels, with colorful figures attached to a revolving horizontal mechanism, have amused the masses since the end of the 1700s. By 1800, carousels were advertised as amusements as well as an activity that got the blood circulating. After the Civil War, a number of merry-go-round manufacturers started up businesses and popularized the carousel. The griffin depicted here is the product of Hershell-Spillman Co. of North Tonawanda, NY, a well-known carousel manufacturer nearly a century ago. It is part of a 191 3 merry-go-round now operating six months of the year in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. With its one-man band mechanism playing charming turn-of-the-century tunes, this carousel remains a great favorite. It was a "park-style model," manufactured for permanent placement in a park. (Some, like one still operating in Story City, Iowa, were designed to travel and were not for permanent installation.) Children can ride horses, lions, tigers, zebras, and even leaping frogs—all exquisitely carved and painted. Today, carousel figures are treasured for their colorful beauty, and carousel figure collectors pay thousands of dollars for a single animal. Nancy EV Bryk |
Background
The precursors to the carousel may be as much as 1,500 years old when baskets lashed to a center pole were used to spin riders around in a circle in ancient Byzantium. During the twelfth century in Turkey and Arabia, men and their horses played a game in which delicate balls filled with perfumed water were tossed between riders. Losers would sport a definite aroma, and winners were presumably the better horsemen. The game was called carosello, or little war in Italian. At the French court in about 1500, this game blossomed into an elaborate pageant with spectacularly outfitted horses and riders. Horsemen added the challenge of trying to lance a small ring while galloping at full tilt. If the rider snagged the ring, it pulled away from a tree or posts with a stream of ribbons behind it. Contestants could practice this game by mounting wooden "horses" that were legless and resembled vaults used in gymnastics and that were mounted to a circular platform. As the platform rotated, the riders would try to spear the brass ring.
Craftsmen observed this play among the nobility and began building platforms with wooden horses mounted on them for commoners and their children to ride. These carousels were quite small because the power source for turning the carousel was a mule, man, or horse. In 1866, Frederick Savage, an English engineer, combined steam power with his carousels and drew crowds to the European fairs he toured with his machine. Steam-driven carousels reached the United States in about 1880. Savage was also responsible for developing the system of overhead gears and cranks that allow the suspended horses to move up and down as the carousel turns and simulate an actual ride on horseback. As carousels became more popular, they acquired a number of names including karussell (Germany),carrousel and manages de chevaux (France), gallopers and roundabouts (England), and merry-go-rounds, whirligigs, spinning or flying jennies, dip-twisters, and flying horses (United States). Today, preservationists tend to prefer the name carousel over these others for its historic context.
The jewels of the carousel have always been the horses. Thanks to the stream of immigrants from Europe, the United States had a thriving carousel industry by the 1870s. Expert carvers, such as Gustav Dentzel from Germany, had practiced cabinetry and carousel crafting in their homelands and quickly established businesses in America. Carousel factories like The American Merry-Go-Round & Novelty Company were full-time manufacturers, but other makers including Charles Looff and Charles Dare in New York City, Dentzel in Philadelphia, and Allan Herschell in upper New York state transformed their furniture businesses and machine shops into at least parttime carousel production. Wood workers and carvers prided themselves on fashioning beautiful crested horses with flashing eyes, flying manes, realistic poses (for both standers and jumpers), and ornate ornamentation from flowers to heraldic crests, French fleurs-de-lys, jeweled saddles and tassels, and patriotic symbols like eagles and profiles of presidents. Of the carousel figures made in the United States, 80% were horses and 20% were made up of a menagerie. The Herschell-Spillman Company produced kangaroos, pigs, giraffes, sea monsters, frogs, and dogs and cats.
The carousel's zenith in America was from about 1900 to the Depression. During this period, jobs were plentiful, motor transport was available, and amusements for the family were sought. Craftsmen were also still in demand, but as technology advanced, it also invaded the carousel business. Factories began to build cast aluminum horses (and animals cast in fiberglass and plastic soon followed), and the carvers had to find other trades. Repair work was available as the wooden horses aged, but often amusement park operators resorted to patchwork maintenance instead.
In the early 1970s, the National Carousel Association was formed. Antique horses began to sell on the auction blocks of Sothebys and Christies at phenomenal prices, and collectors sought to acquire originals by carvers like Salvatore Cernigliaro or Marcus Charles Illions. For those with smaller pocketbooks, bisque porcelain figures and small-scale carousel horses also became collectible. Today, only two or three carousel makers practice their craft in the United States although there are many hobbyists who carve their own horses and refurbish antiques.
The Basics of Carousel Operation
The carousel revolves around a stationary center pole made of metal or wood. An electric motor drives a small pulley that is controlled by a clutch for smooth starts. This pulley turns a drive belt and a larger pulley that turns a small-diameter, horizontal shaft. The end of the shaft is a pinion gear that turns a platform gear. The platform gear supports a vertical shaft that turns another pinion gear and final drive gear attached to the support beams of the carousel, called sweeps, which extend outward from the center pole like the ribs of an umbrella and support the platform, horses, and riders. The sweeps hold cranking rods that are turned by small gears at the inner ends that are driven by a stationary gear on the center pole. Horse hangers are suspended from the cranks, and as they turn, the horses move up and down about 30 times per minute. A typical carousel platform with horses and riders may weigh 10 tons and be driven by a 10-horsepower electric motor. After the motor's revolutions are reduced by the series of gears, the riders on the outer row of mounts will gallop along at about 5-11 miles per hour.
Raw Materials
The two primary materials for a carousel are metal and wood. The metal mechanism includes the electric/hydraulic motor, gears, bearings, and crankshafts. Horse hangers and platform suspension rods are metal with brass sleeves, and the center pole is steel. The wood parts of the carousel include the horses, which are carved from basswood, the oak platform, sweeps, rounding boards, panels, and mirror frames. The platform and various panels and gingerbread work were made of wood or plaster in the old days, and today they may be made of these same materials or may be cast in plastic or fiberglass. The tent-like top is made of canvas. Music is supplied by a band organ that is also electrically or mechanically powered and plays much like those of a player piano. Specialty manufacturers provide the organs.
Design
Design of a carousel begins in the middle at the center pole. A bearing at the top of the pole bears the entire weight of the carousel. The sweeps (arms or umbrella-like ribs) of the carousel are suspended from the top bearing, and two rods extending down from each sweep support the platform. About half-way down the center pole is a center bearing or hub that keep the works from shifting from side to side. The motor, of course, spins the whole umbrella structure around. From the midpoint, a series of diagonals keep the center pole aligned with a cross-brace that rests on the ground. A center pole that is 15 in (38.1 cm) in diameter will support about 50 horses and riders.
The Manufacturing
Process
The basic process of manufacturing a carousel has not changed despite the fact that few are built today. No new carousels with wooden animals were made in the period from the 1930s to 1994, and only about 10 new wood-horse machines have been made in the United States in the last 60 years. All new wooden carousels are, therefore, custom-made, although refurbishing old machines is also a part of this industry.
The Future
According to carousel maker Chuck Kaparich, carousels and carousel animals are experiencing a resurgence. Thanks to the drawing power of the colorful carousel display and music, historic town centers and shopping malls are commissioning new carousels or refurbishing their old ones to attract customers to these areas. Kaparich expects the romance of the carousel to always remain with the American public, but, realistically, he acknowledges the limited demand and the likelihood that the present resurgence may only have a lifespan of 10 to 20 years before carousels are again temporarily forgotten. It is hoped that new generations of carousel aficionados will recall the current boom and add the magic of their mounts, music, and motion to a bank of undying memories.
Where to Learn More
Books
Fraley, Nina. The American Carousel. Benicia, CA: Redbug Publishing, 1979.
Fraley, Tobin. The Great American Carousel: A Century of Master Craftsmanship. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994.
Fried, Frederick. A Pictorial History of the Carousel. Vestal, NY: Vestal Press, Ltd., 1964.
Marlow, H. LeRoy. Carving Carousel Animals From 1/8 Scale to Full Size. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1989.
Other
Carousel News & Trader. http://www.carousel.net/trader/.
Chuck Kaparich, Carousel Man of Missoula, Montana. http://www.carousel.netlkaparich.
Classic Carousel Collectibles. http://www.finest1.com/carousel/.
[Article by: Gillian S. Holmes]
| Word Tutor: carousel |
| Wikipedia: Carousel |
A carousel (from French carrousel, from Italian carosello), or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down via gearwork to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music. This leads to one of the alternative names, the galloper. Other popular names are roundabout and flying horses. Both "carousel" and "merry-go-round" are used with equal frequency in North America while the latter is usually used elsewhere and "roundabout" is quite common in the United Kingdom.
Modern carousels in America are generally populated with horses. Carousels in Europe, and in America from earlier periods, frequently include diverse varieties of mounts[1], like pigs, zebras, mythological creatures (such as dragons, sea monsters or unicorns), and deer, to name a few. Sometimes, chair or bench-like seats are used as well, and occasionally mounts can be shaped like airplanes or cars, though these do not always go up and down.
Any rotating platform may also be called a carousel. In a playground, a roundabout or merry-go-round is usually a simple, child-powered rotating platform with bars or handles to which children can cling while riding. At an airport, rotating conveyors in the baggage claim area are often called carousels.[2]
Contents |
The earliest known depiction of a carousel is in a Byzantine bas-relief dating to around 500 A.D., which depicts riders in baskets suspended from a central pole. The word carousel originates from the Italian garosello and Spanish carosella ("little war"), used by crusaders to describe a combat preparation exercise and game played by Turkish and Arabian horsemen in the 1100s. In a sense this early device could be considered a cavalry training mechanism; it prepared and strengthened the riders for actual combat as they wielded their swords at the mock enemies. European Crusaders discovered this device and brought the idea back to their own lands.[citation needed] A carousel was also a training device for the ring-tilt, consisting of wooden horses suspended from arms branching from a center pole. Riders aimed to spear rings situated around the circumference as the carousel was moved by a man, horse, or mule.
Carousel was also the term for large "horse ballet" or Musical Ride spectacles mounted as part of the court festivities for special occasions such as royal weddings or state visits from the mid-16th century onwards, which gradually replaced serious jousting, although non-combat competitions such as the ring-tilt lasted until the 18th century. They were developed in Italy, especially by the Medici Grand-Dukes in Florence, and the first French example was in Paris in 1605. These usually took place in squares or large courtyards, and consisted of elaborately costumed riders and horses (usually from the cavalry) performing choreographed routines such as forming shapes together, riding in lines criss-cross against each other. They often took place at night, with riders carrying torches, and were accompanied by music. From the 17th century large decorated floats with allegorical figures were often included. The Place du Carrousel in Paris was so named from 1662, when it was used for such a display by Louis XIV.
In 1620 the English traveler Peter Munday described a carousel ride he saw in modern Bulgaria, then part of the Ottoman Empire. By the early nineteenth century carousels were being built and operated at various fairs and gatherings in central Europe and England. For example, by 1745 AD, wagon-maker Michael Dentzel had converted his wagon-making business in what is now southern Germany to a carousel-making enterprise. Animals and mechanisms would be crafted during the winter months and the family and workers would go touring in their wagon train through the region, operating their large menagerie carousel at various venues. Other makers such as Heyn in Germany and Bayol in France were also beginning to make carousels at this time. In its own unique style, England was also rapidly developing a carousel-making tradition.
Early carousels had no platforms: the animals would hang on poles or chains and fly out from the centrifugal force of the spinning mechanism; these are called "flying horses" carousels. They were often powered by animals walking in a circle or people pulling a rope or cranking. By the mid-1800s the platform carousel was developed where the animals and chariots would travel around in a circle sitting on a suspended circular floor which was hanging from the centre pole; these machines were then steam-powered. Eventually, with the technological advances of the industrial revolution, bevel gears and offset cranks were installed on these platform carousels, thus giving the animals their well-known up and down motion as they traveled around the centre pole. The platform served as a position guide for the bottom of the pole and as a place for people to walk or other stationary animals or chariots to be placed. Fairground organs (band organs) were often present (if not built in) when these machines operated. Eventually electric motors were installed and electric lights added, giving the carousel its classic look.
Although the carousel developed gradually in European countries such as Germany, France, England, and Italy, it did not reach its full scale development until it went into its American phase. This began with several makers, primarily Gustav Dentzel, Michael Dentzel's son, of Germany, and Dare from England. Michael Dentzel sent all four of his sons over to America in the 1850s, one of them, Gustav, with a full and complete large carousel packed away on the steamship. In early 1860 Gustav set up his family's carousel in Philadelphia to test the American market. It met with great success. At the same time he opened up a carousel and cabinet workshop in Germantown. This eventually became the headquarters for one of America's greatest carousel-making families. Shortly after this beginning other carousel makers from Europe began to arrive on American shores. Many fine woodcarvers and painters, classically trained in their European homeland, worked for these early American companies. The Dentzels, being of German origin, also employed other Germans such as the Muller brothers and also many Italians, such as Salvador Chernigliaro.
The first carousel to be seen in the United States was created in Hessville, Ohio during the 1840s by Franz Wiesenhoffer. Several centers and styles for the construction of carousels emerged in the United States, Philadelphia style, with Dentzel and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Coney Island style with Charles Carmel, Charles I. D. Looff, Marcus Charles Illions, Soloman Stein and Harry Goldstein and Mangels, Country Fair style with Allan Herschell and Edward Spillman of Upstate New York, and C.W. Parker of Kansas. Early on the Dentzels became known for their beautiful horses and lavish use of menagerie animals on their carousels. Their mechanisms were also considered among the very best for durability and reliability. Gustav's sons, William and Edward operated the company until William's death in 1927 at which time the company was auctioned off. By this time many carousel companies had gone out of business or diversified into other rides due to the hardships of the depression. Young Edward Dentzel, who was operating carousels in Southern California at the time decided to stay there and become a luxury housing contractor in Beverly Hills; he eventually became the Mayor of that city in the early 1950s.
Many carousel connoisseurs consider the golden age of the carousel to be early 20th century America. Very large machines were being built, elaborate animals, chariots, and decorations were superbly made by skilled old-world craftsmen taking advantage of their new freedoms in America. Large amounts of excellent and cheap carving wood were available such as Appalachian white pine, basswood, and yellow poplar. Whereas most European carousel figures are relatively static in posture, American figures are more representative of active beasts - tossed manes, expressive eyes and postures of movement are their hallmarks. The first carousel at Coney Island was built in 1876 by Charles I. D. Looff, a Danish woodcarver. The oldest functional carousel in Europe is in Prague (Letná Park). Another style is a double-decker, where there is a huge carousel stacked on top of another. An example is the Columbia Carousel.
William H. Dentzel of Port Townsend, Washington is the only descendant from a founding American carousel family of the United States still making wooden carousels. His carousels are similar to the oldest operating carousel in the United States in Watch Hill, R.I. (1893) built by the Dare company, a "flying horses" machine. The power sources for Dentzel’s contemporary carousels range from rope-pull to hand-crank to foot-pedal to AC 110 volt electric to DC solar power.
In the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s the carousel was not just a ride of amusement parks, but also an integral part of the urban culture. Many playgrounds, which existed in every yard, were equipped with a standard flower-shaped carousel, made of metallic bars with six wooden seats attached to them.
In the UK and Europe, merry-go-rounds (as they are most often referred to in those countries) usually turn clockwise (see photograph at top), while in North America, carousels typically go anti-clockwise (or "counter-clockwise"). One mounts a real horse by lifting one's right leg over the animal's back as it stands with its head towards one's left (the horse's left side is called its "near" side). Likewise for a carousel that turns anti-clockwise: one stands on the near side of the horse to mount (towards the center of the carousel, not on its outer edge). One possible reason for carousels in the USA turning anti-clockwise may be so that the rider can use their right hand to catch a brass ring.
 French old-fashioned style carousel with stairs |
 Modern carousel in Brussels |
.JPG) Columbia is a Double Decker and the World's Tallest Traditional Carousel |
|
 Standard Armenian carousel, 1930s-2000s |
 James Noyce & Sons' traditional "gallopers" at Nottingham Goose Fair in 1983 |
 A 1920s C.W. Parker merry-go-round in Tucson, Arizona |
 The Town Square Carrousel at Adventureland in Altoona, Iowa |
 The Mangels-Illions Carousel, after its 2000 restoration, on the grounds of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio. |
 The Richland Carrousel Park in downtown Mansfield, Ohio is the first hand-carved indoor wooden carousel to be built and operated in the United States since the early 1930s. |
 A traditional Merry-go-round in Covent Garden, London, August 2007 |
 William F. Mangels Kiddie Galloping Horse Carrousel circa 1935 |
 Kennywood's Merry-Go-Round built by William H. Dentzel in 1926 for the World's Fair |
 Carousel at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota |
 |
This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2007) |
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: carousel |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Carousel |
Nederlands (Dutch)
draaimolen, carrousel, bagageband
Français (French)
n. - manège, carrousel (bagage), (Phot) carrousel, (Hist) carrousel
Deutsch (German)
n. - Karussell, Ausgabeband
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ΗΠΑ) "αλογάκια" του λούνα-παρκ, ταινία/ιμάντας παράδοσης αποσκευών (σε αεροδρόμιο κ.λπ.), περιστρεφόμενη κυκλική θήκη για προβαλλόμενες διαφάνειες
Italiano (Italian)
giostra, carosello, nastro trasportatore
Português (Portuguese)
n. - carrossel (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - tiovivo, calesita, carrusel, torneo
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - karusell, bagageband
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
旋转木马
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 旋轉木馬
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 회전 목마, 집단 기마 곡예
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 回転木馬, 円形コンベヤー
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) لعبه من ألعاب مدن الملاهي تدور بالركاب على ظهر خيول خشبيه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - סחרחרה, קרוסלה
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
To select your translation preferences click here.
| Shopping: carousel |
 | Carousel Menagerie (Film) |
| Carousel [1958 Studio Cast] (1963 Album by 1958 Studio Cast) |
| Simultaneous (1988 Music Film) |
 | How large will the expansion of Carousel Center be? Read answer... |
| How are carousels important to theme parks? Read answer... |
| Where is the flying horse carousel located? Read answer... |
 | How do carousels work? |
| Songs from carousel? |
| What is a horse carousel? |
Copyrights:
 |
 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| How Products are Made. How Products are Made. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Carousel". Read more |
 |
| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
Mentioned in
