This is a video of the Merry Go Round Museum in downtown Sandusky. The carousel itself was built in 1939 by Allan Herschell in the County Fair style. The County Fair style means it's a portable carousel so it needs to be simplistic in design so it's easily broken down and transported from site to site. Unfortunately, this carousel was foundin 1992 with all the animals missing. So the museum repopulated it with animals it bought or carved in their own shop onsite. The menagerie (horses plus other animals) include 25 jumping horses, 2 dragons, 1 mule, 1 pig, 1 ostrich, and 2 chariots. The animals are arranged in three rows and are all jumpers. The scenery panels were all painted with scenes from the surrounding area such as the Put In Bay tower, Merry Go Round Museum, Edison's Birthplace, and the fountain in downtown Sandusky with a statue of a boy holding up a old boot. There also are working WurliTzer 153 and 105 band organs.
The museum features animals they own with other animals that are on loan from private collectors. This years display is "Gone Wild" so they have among others, a PTC Camel, a Dentzel Lion (stripped of it's paint), a elephant and gator from a French childrens carousel, a PTC Giraffe and Dentzel Giraffe, as well as one of the four Buffalo that were ever carved.
I've already explained what the County Fair style is, now here are the other two. The Coney Island style is very fancifull and almost cartoonish and usually decorated with fake jewels. The Philadelphia style is more life like. The carousels and animals that are from PTC (Philadelphia Tobboggan Co) best fit this style.
Thanks go to the National Carousel Association for the information on the Allan Herschell Carousel.
30 авг 2011
