MGR spring 08 - ChasingMerryGoRounds.com
Transcription
MGR spring 08 - ChasingMerryGoRounds.com
VOLUME 35, NUMBER 1 SPRING 2008 OFFICERS/DIRECTORS President - [email protected] Bette Largent 509 466-3186 10009 N. Moore, Spokane, WA 99208 Vice President - [email protected] Jo Downey 719 348-5562 (h), 719 348-5562 (w) PO Box 66, Stratton, CO 80836 Recording Secretary - [email protected] Tom Allen 206 860-6167 511 Lakeside Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98144 Executive Secretary - [email protected] Norma Pankratz 719 346-7246 PO Box 382, Burlington, CO 80807 Treasurer - [email protected] Nancy Morris 509 775-3096 PO Box 607, Republic, WA 99166 Past President/Director - [email protected] Brian Morgan 818 986-5984 (h), 310 553-2606 (w) 17188 Escalon Dr., Encino, CA 91436 Archives Chairman - [email protected] Jerry Reinhardt 913 897-2521 18770 Metcalf, Stilwell, KS 66085 Census Chairman/Director - [email protected] Patrick Wentzel 304 428-3544 2310 Highland Ave., Parkersburg, WV 26101 Merry-Go-Roundup Editor - [email protected] Dennis Towndrow 303 956-2806 6800 Osage St., Denver, CO 80221 Web Site Designer/Director - [email protected] Tommy Forney 704 484-6811 Shelby City Park Carousel, PO Drawer 207, Shelby, NC 28151 Photoshow Chairman/Web Technican [email protected] Gary Nance 509 928-2849 1104 N. Dorn Court, Spokane Valley, WA 99212 Directors (not noted above) Sharon Black 810 736-6416 [email protected] 6336 Lucas Rd., Flint, MI 48506 Mark S. Chester 800 626-1665, x 5168 [email protected] 124 Washington Ave., Phoenixville, PA 19460 James Hardison 781 925-0472 [email protected] c/o Paragon Carousel PO Box 100, Hull, MA 02045 Rich Kenyon 607 638-5656 [email protected] PO Box 31, Schenevus, NY 1215 NCA Archives - [email protected] 320 S. Esplanade, Leavenworth, KS, 66048 VOLUME 35 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2008 “The purpose of the NCA shall be to promote conservation, appreciation, knowledge, and enjoyment of the art of the classic wooden carousel and especially the preservation of complete wooden carousels.” —NCA Constitution, Article II President’s Message (Page 3) Carousel News from Around the World! (Page 4-9) Welcome Aboard Norma (Page 10) Where the Buffalo Roam and Round (Page 11-14) Story City to Host 2008 Tech Conference (Page 15, 17) C.W. Parker Carousel Museum Is Moving Up! (Page 16-17) The NCA Photo Show Project (Page 18) Northwest Carousel Adventure (Page 19-22) Memorial Donations & Those Gone Glimmering (Page 23) CREDITS Front cover: Our “newly appointed” Executive Secretary, Norma Pankratz, aboard PTC #43, Western Washington Fair, Puyallup, WA, during the 2007 NCA Convention. Photo courtesy of Dennis Towndrow. Back cover: Uncle Sam Chariot on the Main Street Carousel, Story City, Iowa. Photo courtesy of Pete Tekippe Photography. Publication design, layout, copy and photo editing by Dennis Towndrow. Printing by EPI Printing & Finishing, Rochester, N.Y. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Merry-Go-Roundup, an official publication of the National Carousel Association, Inc., is published quarterly and distributed free to members. Contents © 2008 by the National Carousel Association, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the NCA. Request permission in writing to Dennis Towndrow, Editor, Merry-Go-Roundup, 6800 Osage St., Denver, CO 80221, or send an e-mail message to [email protected]. MEMBERSHIP Annual dues: $47 in U.S. and possessions, $53 for foreign surface mail. Membership runs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 and includes four issues of Merry-Go-Roundup. Please make checks payable to “NCA” and send with name, address, and phone number to: NCA, Norma Pankratz, Exec. Secretary, PO Box 382, Burlington, CO 80807-0382 [email protected] - 719 346-7246. Visit the NCA Web site at www.nca-usa.org 2 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 President’s Message: We have “people” … By Bette Largent Just in case you noticed, there are a few new things happening with the National Carousel Association. For the Merry Go Roundup it began with the census produced for the Winter 07-08 issue. Credit goes to the great efforts of Pat Wentzel, Census Chairman, and Dennis Towndrow, our new editor. Upcoming issues will feature new additions and stories which are the results of the input of our members. You have received your 08 membership cards with a new Executive Secretary’s name on the envelope. In this issue we will introduce you to Norma Pankratz. I would also like to recognize Amy Mossman who volunteered to revamp the entire NCA data base. With the information now in an Access format, we can produce numbers, reports, and even know when you are enjoying the sunshine in Southern exposures. Norma and Amy continue to fine tune this important tool to the daily operations of the NCA. The www.nca-usa.org website has a new look and even more great information on carousels. It is more user friendly and new member friendly. More and more carousel enthusiasts are joining us via the web and I just want to say, “Welcome to the National Carousel Association”. It seems that every single morning I start my day with an email from a non-member who has discovered us this way. Often they have questions that are routed to one of our special committees, such as “identification” or “mechanical” or we have even asked permission to post their questions on the open forum of the Bulletin Board so our carousel membership can assist in their inquiries. What effect does weather and humidity have on a carousel? Or how about carousel physics for the classroom – or how do you resilver original jewels? You will find these questions posted on the member forum. Password protected, this forum is a private members only discussion group and is a service that can become what you need it to be. Maybe it’s to find a gift shop item for resale or the nearest dealer for machine lubricants or new sweeps. It’s your private online communicator to our carousel family. Is your Merry Go Roundup missing or do you need to change mailing information or have other membership related questions, contact our new [email protected] which is guaranteed to get you the answer in 24 hours. Four Board members receive your message and if they don’t know the solution they will network and find out. With so many gorgeous pictures of carousels in our Photoshow Program, we now have a Carousel of the Month. Visit this home page attraction and view the featured monthly carousel. The photography of our carousels presented by our members is outstanding! You will read in this issue how easy it is to add your own photos to the website from the Photoshow program’s creator, Gary Nance, and a star contributor, Jean Bennett. Adjacent to the Carousel of the Month is a spot for news and updates. With our publication schedule we often can’t get the news out to you as quickly as we want. This new feature helps us do just that. Check it often or contribute anything you would like to share. Also convention and conference information is posted on the web first for those of us who plan months in advance. We hope this helps you to plan ahead to attend a convention or conference. Dates and location are added with updates, prices and downloadable registration forms as soon as available. This also leads us into the subject of junk mail. Everyone who has an email address has seen this problem get bigger and bigger as the Internet expands. We have changed our policy on email notifications due to this. We will and do communicate with our members via their email addresses but we have a policy of not using mass email mailings – just one on one for confirmation and other personal feedback. Although we do post information of upcoming events and renewals on the web, we will continue to use the postal system and the Merry Go Roundup to communicate with all of you! Sadly, we often must announce in our Gone Glimmering section the loss of members passing. Please share this news so we can honor them and also their stories and your memories of them as well. These predecessors have contributed in special ways to the building of our organization. We want you to be able to reminisce about the good times spent with them, which allows the rest of us to know them better as well. Communication is the key in all that we do. We hope we have made it easier to keep in touch with you and we hope you will continue to let us know how we can improve. When you put that membership card in your wallet, we want you to feel like “you have people” that stand behind it. But unlike the popular ads that tout this slogan, remember the first one in our network of NCA people is you! It is Spring! Gather you favorite pal or loved one and find yourself a carousel to ride. There is nothing like it on a warm, sunny day – the wind in your hair, the music in your ears, the sights and sounds of people around you enjoying the best journey in the world. It is a ride that circles without beginning or end, and sometimes if one isn’t near by, you can visit the website of the NCA and imagine you have a ticket to ride them all. Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 3 Carousel News from Around the World! Updates and Current Events As a true carousel nut and editor of this publication, one of the things I like most is being exposed to all the momentous happenings in this dazzling world of merry-gorounds and carousel art. And, I bet if you asked our president, Bette Largent, she would say something similar. Therefore, one of the actions I would like to take, as the new editor, is to share those stories right up front with NCA members. In fact, I would like to lead off with the following email, which came to Bette last October: SUBJECT: M. C. ILLIONS Hello. Perhaps I have spoken with you once before, however, I'm always looking at Carousel sites and came across the pictures you have. My Great-Grandfather was Marcus Illions, although I never had the chance to get to know him, I wanted to thank you for keeping his spirit alive. My name is Sue Illions-Miller and live close by to you (I'm in Southern Oregon). Thank you again. Look forward to always seeing ... folks that appreciate what I was lucky enough to grow up in. - Sue Illions-Miller temporary building can be seen from a nearby road and has been christened “Wilhelm’s Cathedral” by Hanau residents. There are three access levels within this outer building – ground floor level, a platform at the rim level (rounding board level on a more modern carousel) and a top platform above the carousel roof level. The underworks mechanism remains accessible from the entrance into the pit under the carousel. The last of the horses and the two coaches of the carousel were removed for restoration in August 2007. THE RESTORATION OF THE HANAU CAROUSEL UNDERWAY The total estimate for restoration of the animals, coaches, building and turning mechanism is now over 2 million euros (2.7m dollars), but sufficient funds have now been raised to commence restoration. The carousel had a very lucky escape from major damage during the 2006 winter when a major storm felled a number of trees close to the building. The trees nearest the carousel had only been felled a few days before, in order to make space for the temporary wooden building, which was erected by April 2007 to enclose the carousel. The total wood used for this is thought to be equivalent to that used in 15 houses! This 4 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 Photo above, by Brian Steptoe - Please visit the NCA website to view more of Brian’s fantastic Hanau photo show. SHELBY CITY PARK CAROUSEL "Ten Year's A-Leaping" The town of Shelby, NC celebrates their carousel’s tenth birthday with a new slogan and well deserved 2007 NCA Historic Carousel Award. Tommy Forney reminisces about how they got to this point: I think of the first Tech Conference I attended in 1990 in Raleigh, then Indianapolis and Meridian. Pulling hundreds of nails, doing research and all the mechanical details. Through it all, we had friends standing behind us encouraging and providing other contacts and information. That was the NCA. Thanks for believing in Shelby as you've done for so many communities. We couldn't have done it without the energy and collective talents of this group. - Tommy Forney, NCA Webmaster and Director In other correspondence to NCA directors, Tommy reported that the plaque presentation and festivities went quite well. There were former volunteers, donors and board members present. The Park’s director, Tommy, and others made brief remarks. Tom also handed out some NCA web pages and a list of past Historic Awards winners, while explaining the criteria for the award. He also informed onlookers: The NCA has supported Shelby in the restoration and maintenance of the carrousel since the early days. It was the convention in Burlington and Raleigh that first sparked the project. They even sponsored one of the horses just like local folks. They believed in us and encouraged at every step. There are quite a number of folks, organizations, and even businesses that we couldn’t have done without. One of the most important and visible, was the Shelby City Park Carrousel Friends, who raised money and awareness, and let the community and the city know that folks would stand behind this. The team of painters was responsible for the “look and feel” that we see today. Our architect also played a large role. The city assembled a final team of experts from several departments. All of this was engineered and looked after by the Friends group. We’d be remiss not to also mention the largest single donor to the pavilion project, the Dover Foundation, resulting in naming the facility the Anne Dover Bailey Carrousel Pavilion. - TF Next Tommy asked current, and former board members to please stand, while he introduced one of their most recent board members: “... Travel and Tourism Director, Jackie Sibley.” SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK’S CAROUSEL BUILDING GETS A FACELIFT The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s antique carousel is not only beautiful, it’s a National Historic Landmark. This year the interior of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk’s carousel building has been remodeled to accommodate two amazing band organs: a rare Wurlitzer 165 band organ that once played at San Francisco’s Playland amusement park, and the Boardwalk’s original organ, a Ruth und Sohn organ built in 1898. The Ruth organ has recently been restored, giving it a showy new façade to keep up with the glamorous Wurlitzer. Both organs will soon play together, thanks to the efforts of Don Stinson. The building’s facelift includes a new clown’s face to catch rings from one of the last of the working carousel ring machines. - Brigid Fuller, Publicist, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Look for a full article on this amazing carousel in an upcoming Merry-Go-Roundup issue. TOWN DAMAGED BY HURRICANE TO RECEIVE DENTZEL CARVED BY STUDENTS The Port Townsend High School shop and art students, located in Washington state, are putting finishing touches on a 10 person wooden carousel 16 years after construction began. Unable to find a location in their town, the carousel will go to Waveland, Mississippi, hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Hurricane Katrina Sister City Project, spearheaded by Bill Dentzel, 57, 5th generation of Dentzels to be in the carousel industry, began the project with the students in 1991. Dentzel estimates over 1,000 students have had a hand in building the carousel. Scheduled to be delivered in February, The Carousel of the Olympic Sea found Waveland city officals happy to accept the gift. - Bette Largent Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 5 KENNYWOOD PARK IS SOLD (According to Screamscape.com) In a shocking bit of news, Kennywood has sold all its theme park interests to Spanish-based Parques Reunidos (now owned by English equity company, Candover). The deal not only includes Kennywood, but also Idlewild / SoakZone, Castlecastle, Lake Compounce and Story Land. – Lance Hart LIBERTYLAND’S GRAND CAROUSEL MAKING A MOVE TO MUD ISLAND? (According to Screamscape.com) A new website has launched showing off not only a proposed indoor theme park inside the Memphis Pyramid building [Mud Island], but the entire proposed Pyramid Harbor area that will include a resort, amphitheater and more, near the Pyramid and the Harbor Island area (http://pyramidharbor.com/). The Ericson Group, who are behind the Pyramid Harbor proposal have now teamed up with the Save Libertyland Group who have agreed to let them move and restore the Zippin Pippin wooden coaster to a new location within the Pyramid Harbor project on Mud Island. Ericson has also stated that if things move forward, they would also love to make a deal with the city to move the nearby Grand Carousel to Mud Island as well. – Lance Hart Don’t miss your chance to see this great carousel at the 2008 NCA Convention! GEAUGA LAKE CLOSES BUT THEIR CAROUSEL LIVES ON Jennifer Harney shares her memories of this great carousel: Growing up in the Cleveland area, we were always within a close proximity to a lot of great classic machines .... I was lucky enough to work on the restoration of the Geauga Lake Illions Supreme Carousel back in 1994. Needless to say, it was the best job of my life. The Geagua Lake machine has always been 6 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 a personal favorite. I was so pleased to see on the NCA site that the machine had been secured and wouldn't be auctioned off. It's a beauty. NEW ORLEANS IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS! For months after Katrina, they were only able to place lights on the carousel building, like a ghost of a carousel. All major repairs finished, they cleaned and dusted everything in the building, covered it with plastic and then did the final mold cleaning of the ceiling. They found very little or only minor spots of dry rot in the ceiling boards. After they removed the scaffolding, took off the plastic, they opened with a pre-party to celebrate their 100th anniversary on November 18th, two years behind schedule. The carousel was open again for the holiday season "Under the Oaks", a New Orleans traditon. - Beau Bassich ***** Greg Nance, son of Gary, presented an NCA century plaque to the New Orleans carousel at their pre-opening party. Beau was really excited that we had someone there representing the NCA. Greg takes fantastic pictures and with Gary’s influence, has photographed a few carousels for us in the past few years, sometimes not in the best of lighting or conditions. Terry Blake was able to get some of the same plaques that were made in Evansville, IN and presented to other carousels. Charles Blake, Terry’s father, and longtime NCA member, shipped one to New Orleans just in time for the celebration. Gary was able to print 8x10 images from the New Orleans Photoshow, an amazing show done by Jean Bennett (see lion featured on the cover of the last Merry-GoRoundup census issue). We also had one 8x10 left of the original ones Beau sent to Bette just prior to Katrina, which she mailed to Greg as well. All the records and history of the New Orleans carousel were lost in Katrina. We sent copies of our information in the NCA archives on their carousel to them in 2006. The NCA participated in this restoration in the form of a grant from the Frederick Fried Fund to replace the carousel's deck. This is just another example of our efforts to keep these carousels running! - Bette Largent especially loved hearing the “I remember” stories from the passers-by. We wished we could have told them all that we remember. - By Dee Lynch MOUNT ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY PARK AND RIDE TRAIN STATION Famous Local Illions Carousel Remembered Little did I realize two years ago when I started answering phone calls and e-mails from artist Stacey Farley from Garrison, New York about my late parents’ Illions Carousel, formerly housed at Bertrand Island Amusement Park in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, that I would be providing information for such a beautiful project. The project is part of New Jersey Transit’s “Transit Arts Program” – a state mandate passed in the 1970’s that says “whenever a transit center is built or substantially renovated in New Jersey, a percentage of construction costs must go to public art.” Stacey was chosen by a committee of over 100 other artists for the project. She’s been collecting information from research and from community members about Mount Arlington’s history. She said nearly everyone with whom she spoke mentioned the Bertrand Island Carousel, so she knew it had to be included in the project. We shared information back and forth and Stacey decided to use two of the Illions’ horses for the tunnel entrance. One was the American Beauty Rose Horse and other was a stander that she especially liked. She decided to carve them in bas-relief tile and paint them in candycolored pastels. She also decided on several photo tiles for inside the tunnel of other rides and boardwalk scenes. Stacey prefers tiles because they are touchable, reflect light into dark places, and can last thousands of years. My family and I were honored to attend the dedication and to meet Stacey and her family. It was also a thrill to see the several hundred attendees at the dedication. My sister and I Artist, Stacey Farley NEED A HISTORICAL GRANT FOR YOUR CAROUSEL OR COMMUNITY? The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is thrilled to announce the 2008-2009 Save Our History Grants! The Save Our History Grant Program, available to AASLH members and the field at large, provides funding to history organizations that partner with schools on a local community preservation project. Since launching the Save Our History Grant Program in 2004, The History Channel, in partnership with AASLH, has awarded over $1 million in grants. During the 2008-2009 school year, The History Channel will again award grants of up to $10,000 to historical organizations to fund hands-on, experiential educational projects that teach students about their local history and actively engage them in its preservation. For guidelines and criteria, important dates, and to apply, visit www.saveourhistory.com, and click on grants. Applications are due Friday, June 6, 2008. Or get more info by writing, or calling: 1717 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37203-2991, 615-320-3203, Fax: 615-327-9013, E-Mail: [email protected] - Barbara Fahs Charles Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 7 JEWISH CAROUSEL CARVERS ON DISPLAY IN NEW YORK CITY "Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel," on display at the American Folk Art Museum has been a thrill according to messages sent in from NCA members. A “must-see,” it provides a surprising revelation of the link that was forged between the synagogue and the carousel as immigrant Jewish artisans transferred symbolic visual elements into carousel carvings. On display are carousels figures from private collections done by Illions and Carmel. On exhibit October 2, 2007 - March 23, 2008, at the American Folk Art Museum 212 265-1040, 45 W. 53rd St., New York City, NY -- For more information go to: www.folkartmuseum.org PLEASE NOTE: The Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses exhibit will be moving to the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY from May 24Sept 1, 2008. For more information go to: http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/node/586 EUCLID BEACH – PTC #19 CAROUSEL Bette has been corresponding with Rich Wickens on PTC #19’s return. Basically, as we all know, it has been stalled with several attempts to get it in place. The horses, which we viewed at the Cleveland convention, have been sitting in storage, and protected in bubble wrap. The carousel was turned over to the Western Reserve Historical Society in 2005. The new director, Ms Gainor Davis, has been faced with budget difficulties. The Society has already been forced to sell its antique car collection to achieve funding for other projects. A campaign has been launched to proceed with a building and location for the restored carousel. Letters of encouragement may be sent to: Ms Gainor Davis, Executive Director, Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 E. Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106, and City of Cleveland, Chief of Regional Development, Chris Warren, 601 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 - Bette Largent 8 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 “HOMEMADE MERRY-GO-ROUND” UPDATE In [1995, Merry-Go-Roundup (spring edition)] published an article entitled “The Carousel on my Porch.” Fred Fried instigated the piece after stopping at my home in Middlebury, Vermont in 1993 when he saw a 4 animal merry-go-round on my front porch. He sent the NCA photos of it. My 4-year-old son had "commissioned" it. I carved and constructed it. I thought your readers might like an update on the merry-goround. When I lived in Middlebury in a big old house, the merry-go-round fit ideally in a semi round corner of my front porch. The merry-go-round pivots on an axle mounted to the ceiling and floor. The mechanism works by the poles the animals are attached to, pivoting on the ends of a double set of see-saws. Attached to the bottom of the poles are old roller-skate wheels which ride up and down on a track mounted below the circular platform (one side of a very large electric cable spool). I have since built myself a new house and moved to nearby Cornwall, Vermont. With no porch to conveniently attach the merry-goround to, I built this custom gazebo for it. I also have a gallery exhibiting my paintings and sculptures at my home -- and a garden with lovely views across fields, orchards, and the Adirondacks. I welcome visitors Saturdays 10 to 2 May to November and by appointment. My phone is 802 462 2509 - Timothy Fisher ONTARIO COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ANNOUNCES MUCH-ANTICIPATED BOOK Roseland Park: Playground of the Finger Lakes, 1925–1985 by Lynda McCurdy Hotra & Sherman Farnham While the Canandaigua, New York, amusement center closed on September 2, 1985, thousands of people still share memories of happy days spent in this magical lakeshore park. This historical chronicle takes readers back in time to learn about Roseland’s varied rides and attractions, including the dance hall, miniature golf course, free acts, midway games, Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel, and Skyliner roller coaster. To purchase book: call 585 394-4975 go to: www.ochs.org/Roseland/buy.html town while Charles pointed out landmarks he remembered from days gone by. That evening we sat up late and talked about anything and everything. He mentioned that he loved the way our deaf cat Toby swaggered like a lion when he walked. The next morning we had breakfast on our porch. Homemade waffles topped with fresh fruit and the newest love of his life, maple cream. The visit would not have been complete without a ride on the Toll House merry-goround -- a basket case we found in a dump and spent two years and two months restoring. These little horses now have a permanent home in our play room. - Catherine and Charles Crawford A MEMORY OF CHARLES WALKER We first met Charles Walker on a bus at an NCA Convention. We were seated across from him and Mary. It was an instant friendship. What an interesting individual we thought. Little did we know just how interesting Charles was. We stopped by his place in Griffin, GA. one year while traveling back from visiting family in Florida. We had lunch at one of his favorite places: The Biscuit Shack, where their specialty is grilled peanut butter sandwiches. He and Mary toured us around their town. We loved our visit and made plans to return the end of 2008. During the “hot” summer of 2006, Charles was heading off for a gathering of one of the many organizations he was a member of, The Reed Organ Society. Mary had decided to sit this one out. Attending hours of organ music in hot non air-conditioned churches in August was not her “cup of tea.” The group met in Saratoga, New York, just a few hours north of us in Highland. We extended an invitation for Charles to stay the night with the two of us and our cat Toby. He accepted. So, we had the privilege of having Charles as our guest. Charles had lived and worked in Kingston in his youth, just 20 miles north of us. We had lunch at our favorite eatery, Sea’s Deli for Fish and Chips, not quite as fancy as The Biscuit Shack. We drove around Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 9 SAY! HAVE YOU SENT IN YOUR 2008 TECHNICAL CONFERENCE REGISTRATION YET? IF NOT, THIS PICTURE MAY INSPIRE YOU TO DO SO ASAP. Bette spotted this poster on the Missoula carousel carving shop wall. Can you see some safety issue with this practice? If you come to the Story City conference in May, you could learn about all sorts of safety issues just like this one. And, if that isn’t enough to whet you appetite, we will also be discussing historic topics, like what type of machine is in the photo, how old the photo is, and where it was taken. In case you can’t read the caption under the picture, it says “Janitor’s Lazy Susan.” See page 15 for a great story on the Story City Carousel, and upcoming conference details. The 2008 NCA Technical Conference is being held at the Main Street Carousel in Story City, Iowa on May 2, 3 and 4! For more info go to: www.nca-usa.org/2008tech.html 10 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 THE NCA HAS A NEW EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, NORMA PANKRATZ Norma was one of the founding members of the Kit Carson County Carousel Association and has been involved with its restoration and preservation since 1975. She is the summer operations manager for the carousel and assisted in the development of the Carousel Museum in Burlington, Colorado. Norma retired five years ago as Director of Social Services for the county. She serves parttime as the liaison between the City of Burlington and the private correctional facility that is sponsored by the City. She is also active in the community: a volunteer at the Colorado Welcome Center; member of the Burlington Rotary Club, past President and past Assistant District Governor; and past member of the Toastmasters International Club, which was located in Burlington. Norma has two married daughters and three grandchildren. And, according to Jo Downey: “She is a great reader and loves great books (especially novels). Her cooking skills are extraordinary and she occasionally teaches a nutrition class for the local Community College. Chocolate bribes are always welcome!! She is over 45... but under 100.” The A.B. Dow Museum at the Midland Center for the Arts (Midland, MI) will be hosting the Perron Carousel Exhibit April 12-July 13, 2008. For more info go to: www.mcfta.org/A_ABDow/#carousels The Perrons will also be promoting their traveling Int’l. Museum of Carousel Art at the American Association of Museums Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo™, in Denver, April 27 - May 1 . For more info go to: www.aam-us.org/am08/ Don’t miss the latest information about the 2008 NCA Convention on the wrapper of this Merry-Go-Roundup! Or go to: www.nca-usa.org/2008convention.html WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM AND ROUND Edward Buff And The Carousel Bison By John V. Goff One of the most uniquely American animals was, and is, the bison, commonly called the buffalo. Millions ranged the Great Plains of the West and they became dear to Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries, even at one point hunted almost to the point of extinction. Here we will focus on rare antique wooden carvings and carousel portrayals of American bison or buffalo. Prior to 1980, an extraordinarily rare and exceptional antique Charles I. D. Looff merrygo-round operated at 191 Fort Avenue at the Salem Willows in Salem, Massachusetts, north of Boston. Surprisingly, it had two large hand carved wooden buffalo, or American bison, as features in its outer ring. My father Roy Goff was the sales agent for this antique machine in 1975-76. At that time, he went over all the animals to study their condition. He noted the machine was 48-50 feet in diameter, and the four-abreast’s outer ring displayed 18 animals: 9 large wooden horses standing A-B-A-B in alternating order with nine more exotic animals. The two buffaloes were on nearly opposite sides of the machine, so as one watched the parade of critters spin, counter-clockwise in plan around the center pole, the sequence included two strings of lions, dragons, dogs (and some camels) each headed by a buffalo. The rarity of the double buffaloes was not lost upon my father. In 1970s sales literature, he boasted of the “2 Buffalo[es]” and that “only one other [carousel buffalo was then] known to exist.” In later press pieces, he came to describe the dragons more as “Sea Monsters” explaining they “look like hippocampi [Greek mythological half horse, half fish creatures] except for their dragon-like heads.” When he began to assess the most valuable carvings, my father listed the buffaloes first. Writing to a fellow classic carousel enthusiast (Larry Dodge in Michigan) he noted “Sea monsters, buffalo, etc. are extremely rare and collectable.” It appears he also discussed the machine with the late Frederick Fried, carousel authority of New York, who was equally impressed by the buffaloes. In a revealing piece of writing, Dad cheerfully noted this Salem machine had: “two buffaloes (and one of the foremost collectors and national authorities has stated only one other is known to exist—his own buffalo!)” In an illustrated sales brochure, Roy Goff showed one of the two Salem Willows buffaloes was an ornery sort of character: fuzzy headed and bullish in appearance, although bedecked with a carved wood saddle and blanket. In his final brochure describing all the horses and exotics, he advertised: “All in excellent condition. All rare museum pieces. Some like buffaloes and sea monsters [are] exceedingly rare.” Yet one thing that bothered Dad most about the Willows Looff carousel was his inability to precisely date it. A series of U.S. Presidential portraits rimmed the circumference, at cornice level, and he thought this might provide good clues. My father observed: “Especially in this bicentennial [1976] period, the scenery is very exciting. Eighteen early U.S. Presidents from Washington through McKinley are each portrayed in oil on the cornice shields in oval panels surrounded by elaborate wooden floral and dolphin scrollwork, in beautiful condition…” Roy Goff tried to date the Salem carousel from the dates of office of the Presidents portrayed in the portraits. Writing to Al Klyberg, then Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society, on October 2, 1975, he explained: “On the outer cornice, the last president portrayed is W. McKinley, who left office in 1901. The paintings on the cornice do not have T. Roosevelt. This factor plus the purity of the scrollwork…would indicate that the merry-goround was manufactured when Looff was at Riverside, R.I. and the first decade of the Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 11 century, before he moved his factory to California in 1910.” In subsequent professional literature, and evidently based on these observations, the Salem Willows carousel was proposed to have been built (and figures carved) “ca. 1900.” It would appear that my father seized on the evident pre-1910 date to argue for the machine’s retention in New England. In his RIHS letter, he continued: “Where Looff was the only New England [carousel] manufacturer, this carousel should stay in that area…” Here my father revealed his early training in psychology, and was perhaps slightly spinning some of the known “facts” in an attempt to hook a qualified New England museum as new preservation-minded owner. After all, Looff did build many machines in New York before he moved operations to Rhode Island. Lesser known carousel carvers such as Joseph Brown had also worked in Salem, MA—always considered part of New England. With regard to using the Presidential portraits to date the machine, it should be noted that McKinley was the 25th U.S. President (not the 18th) so an edited group of early Presidents had been chosen for the portraits. The number 18 evidently derived from the fact that there were 18 major structural sweeps in the carousel’s architecture and structure (as also there were 18 major animals in the outer rim, and 18 horizontal “spanner” paintings between the Presidential portraits.) So it is not as if a continuous series of early Presidential portraits was begun, that stopped with the final year of office of an 18th President-- reflecting the “present” when the machine was carved. To the contrary, all the Presidential dates really tell us is that, if the McKinley portrait was as old as all the rest, the machine must have been carved in or after 1897, McKinley’s first year of office. Otherwise, no one would have yet known he would be President. However, the non-portrayal of Theodore Roosevelt could also suggest a pre1901 date of manufacture—indicating the machine was built and animals carved between 12 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 1897 and 1901. My father’s research and marketing work of 1975-76 resulted in the Willows machine being kept in Salem, and in 1976 being sold to a Mr. Gray Tuttle, from South Carolina. Over the next 20 years, between 1976 and 1996, a few more curious facts were learned about rare carousel buffaloes, and the buffaloes of the Salem Willows machine. In 1986, for example, William Manns, et al, in Painted Ponies, learned of other carousel buffaloes carved by the German descended Gustav Dentzel—and of two buffaloes (or bison) surviving on an early Dentzel machine in Largo, Maryland. With these two added to the three known by 1976, it would appear that five (5) carousel bison or buffalo had been nationally identified—a small but significant herd. c. 1905 Dentzel Carousel at Watkins Park - Upper Marlboro, Maryland Yet arguably the most exciting carousel buffalo discovery occurred in 1992. Antique carousel enthusiast Karen McCarthy discovered that one of Looff ’s carousel carvers was a German immigrant in New York: Edward Buff. Buff carved buffaloes as well as fanciful and exotic hippocampus or dragon-headed sea monsters. His stylistic “fingerprints” were all over the Salem Willows machine. McCarthy suggested Buff carved not just both bullish bison for Looff, but other features, such as saddle ornaments and floral decorations on many of Looff’s horses from the Salem Willows carousel. Carousel News and Trader magazine was so taken with the McCarthy discoveries, it printed a McCarthy article as a feature of the May 1992 issue, and illustrated one of Buff’s bullish buffaloes from the Salem Willows on the magazine cover. Buff Saddle Ornament (“Perrons’ Barn” - 2007 NCA Convention) McCarthy admitted there were many facts not yet known about Edward Buff and his wooden buffaloes. Yet through family records, interviews, study of old photographs and comparisons with other family held Buff art, she demonstrated quite convincingly that Buff carved the Willows buffaloes. Buff was known for carving emaciated rib-showing buffaloes with “boomerang” curves near their hind legs, in non-carousel work. The similarity with the Willows buffaloes was indeed striking. Currently, one of the biggest remaining buffalo mysteries in the antique carousel world appears to be: Why were the Dentzel buffaloes generally portrayed as healthy, full, quite hairy, and happy in appearance, while Buff’s buffaloes carved in and out of the Looff shop were emaciated, forlorn and bullish? I believe the answer to this question may relate to the simple fact that the Dentzel bison were carved in Pennsylvania, after photographs or examinations were made of healthy wild Western buffalo brought in from the Great Plains. Lacking access to such good buffalo models, the Looff carvers further east, including Buff, were situated in metropolitan New York City. Their chosen model for a good buffalo happened to be the nearest living one: “Black Diamond,” an emaciated and notoriously difficult animal who between 1899 and 1913 became a celebrity at New York City’s Bronx Zoo. New research undertaken on Edward Buff in 2007 suggests that he was born in Germany in February, 1845. Perhaps he was raised in North Germany, near the Danish border where Looff grew up: the Schlesweig-Holstein province. In Geman, “holz” means “wood” and the name “Holstein” is said to derive from Old Saxon “Holsteta Land” meaning “those who dwell in the wood.” Buff, by training, was a professional woodcarver. He shipped out from Bremen, Germany for a new life in America in 1879, when he was 34 years old. He secured a ticket for Fall passage on the 1870s steamship ODER, named for Germany’s Oder or Odra River. On the multi-masted vessel, he sailed with just one brief stop at Southampton, England, and arrived in New York City near the future site of the Statue of Liberty on October 19, 1879. Other Germans (such as Looff) had started carving carousels in New York City in 1875, just before the U.S. Centennial of 1876. Buff likely left his Fatherland to escape harsh crackdowns implemented by Kaiser Wilhelm I in Germany after two 1878 assassination attempts, as well as to prosper as a talented new American woodcarver. Although much early documentation is still lacking, by 1900 Edward Buff, then 55, resided with his first wife Kate at 427 East 17th Street in Manhattan. The Buffs lived there with two Russian candy store owners, Harris and Ida Mirman. The Mirmans were evidently of a Russian Jewish background, and spoke Yiddish. The store likely attracted great crowds of children and families. Perhaps some of Buff’s sea-life carvings evolved out of creative word play and sketches for children involving candies, dolphins, mer-maids, mer-men and Mrs. And Mr. Mirman. In the same house lived Otto Schotte (b. 1860, a “contriver”) with his two daughters Louise (aged 14) and Gussie (aged 10). Likely Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 13 the neighborhood kids loved the fact that Edward Buff worked carving carousel animals. Joint outings to a zoo or to other working carousels might have combined business and recreation. In 1968, Paul Simon of New York penned “It’s all happening at the zoo”—and indeed, New York’s Bronx Zoo which opened in 1899 evidently proved to be a great educational and recreational resource for the Buffs, Mirmans, and other turn-of-the century New Yorkers. New York historians noted: “Bronx Zoo director William T. Hornaday had a deep interest in the American bison. Bison, once numbering 50 million in North America, had been decimated by [late 19th century] hunting and westward expansion of the U.S. population. In October 1899, Hornaday acquired bison for the Bronx Zoo and began to build the zoo herd. In 1905, with fewer than 1,000 American bison left in the wild, NYZS [The New York Zoological Society] sponsored the founding of the American Bison Society at the Bronx Zoo’s Lion House. With Hornaday as the bison group’s president, the organization was instrumental in securing national protection for the bison and rangeland for the establishment of new herds.” Shortly after it opened, one of the Bronx Zoo’s leading bison celebrities was Black Diamond. He had been bred and raised in captivity from American buffalo who were paraded across the U.S. in Barnum & Bailey’s famous circus. Yet between about 1899 and 1911, he wasted away from a weight of more than 1500 pounds to a literal skeleton of his former self. Difficult and hostile, he was considered the “contrariest animal in a New York zoo” before he was seized upon as a symbol of America’s wild spirit and quest for freedom in 1911. Bison specialists, like Time magazine reporter John Cloud (Why the Buffalo Roam, Time, March 15, 2007) explain: “Bison are leaner than cattle because they are still wild animals who range and eat grass; they do not tolerate confinement well, and so they can not be fattened the way we do cattle…” Edward Buff’s fondness for carving emaciated 14 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 buffalo in wood all but proves he was using a confined animal as a model. Black Diamond, the “hardest” of the American buffaloes to tame, became nationally discovered between 1911 and 1913. Seeking an iconic American symbol to balance out the idealized Native American portrait on the head of the new Indian Head nickel, American and Wild West Artist James Earle Fraser (1876-1953) visited the Bronx Zoo and after some difficulty, accurately recorded the sad, drooping, forlorn rib-bared and boomerang stretched skeletal New York beast for the “tail” side of the new Indian Head nickel. Minted between 1913 and 1938, the Indian Head or Buffalo nickel proved to be one of America’s most cherished coins, and a means for every American to contemplate national freedoms and heritage by looking upon images of Native Americans and wild animals. The precise year of the Salem Willows buffalo carvings is still unknown. However, they were likely cut within 10 or 15 years of November 8, 1899, when the Bronx Zoo opened with 843 animals and a new goal to “advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public.” The dispositional differences and boniness of Mr. Buff’s buffalo evidently derived from Buff’s New York City place of residence and work about the year 1900, and the personality and early 20th century appearance of Black Diamond in the Bronx. Salem no longer has its extraordinary wood buffaloes and they appear never to have been carved in Rhode Island, after all. But Black Diamond’s unique appearance was further immortalized and preserved in a commemorative U.S. gold coin minted in 2001, and also on a one ounce fine $50 gold bullion coin, “the gold buffalo” or “American Buffalo” first offered for public sale by the U.S. Mint on June 22, 2006. Edward Buff died after 1920 in the Hudson River town of New Baltimore, NY, where he lived with his second wife, Caroline Falk. But the legacy of the bony Bronx bison still endures. Magic and mystique once spread by parading Barnum & Bailey circuses and active American carousels is now available as gold bullion coin. STORY CITY TO HOST 2008 TECH CONFERENCE By Karen Hermanson, Story City Carousel Story City, Iowa, will serve as host for the 2008 NCA Technical Conference, May 2-4. With a can-do attitude, this Midwestern town of only 3000 people will roll out the red carpet to welcome carousel lovers from across the country. “We are so proud of our carousel, and how the community accomplished its restoration in the midst of the farm crisis of the 80’s. We anticipate hearing stories of carousels from all parts of the country and learning everything we can absorb in one weekend…”says Carolyn Honeycutt, Greater Chamber Connection Executive Director. Story City is home to a 1913 HerschellSpillman Carousel. How it came to be located in the community is a story in itself. Originally owned by Mr. T.P. Gifford of Grundy Center, Iowa, the hand-carved wooden carousel was part of a traveling farm exhibit. Gifford had built an animated farm on a large truck to take to fairs and celebrations. He would let down the sides and back-end of the truck and a fee was charged for people to walk through and view the animated farmers, animals and machinery. The carousel, a two row, county-fair style, also traveled from fair to fair, being assembled and disassembled at each destination. The menagerie had a distinct, rural flavor with its pigs, roosters, and dogs, alongside the galloping horses. It is believed T.P. traveled with this agriculture carnival through several Midwestern states, until 1938, bringing the excitement and fun that only a carousel can bring to towns of all sizes. Story City has always had a tradition of celebrating holidays and its heritage. In the 1920’s and 30’s, The GCC (Greater Community Congress) -- later to be the Chamber/Main Street organization), alternated hosting a 4th of July celebration with Lake Comar, a spring-fed resort lake/entertainment park located south of Story City. In 1938, Story City unexpectedly found their community taking it on after Lake Comar declined. The portable carousel they usually rented was committed to another town for the holiday. T. P. Gifford, owner, informed the GCC that the only way he could break the contract was if Story City would purchase the carousel. Mr. Gifford was in his seventies at the time and was anxious to dispose of it. Traveling the country setting it up and taking it down had become strenuous. So for $1200, the GCC became carousel owners with a $200 down payment and the balance due on July 5th. On July 4th, 1938, the carousel ran from morning till midnight bringing in a total of $900 at 10 cents a ride. For decades, the carousel was brought out each summer and operated in the downtown retail business area and was a favorite of July 4th and Scandinavian Days celebrations. Eventually, time and wear took their toll and the battered steeds were forced into retirement in 1977. Community leaders considered the carousel a significant part of the community’s history. With much pride and many fund-raising efforts, the carousel restoration was underway. Joann Barker, of the Country Shop Antiques, did research from coast to coast and documented the carousel as a Herschell-Spillman, c. 1913. All restoration was done locally in their shop, with talented local artists. The project was completed with the construction of a pavilion in Story City’s picturesque North Park. The carousel reopened to the public on June 4th, 1982 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Continued on page 17 ..... Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 15 C.W. PARKER CAROUSEL MUSEUM IS MOVING UP! By Jerry Reinhardt The C.W. Parker Carousel museum in Leavenworth, KS has been in operation for almost three years now. It has been expanding as fast as possible, within the constraints of money being available. The party rooms on the ground floor have been a great addition, and have been a fantastic source of income for the museum. We have 3 rooms for parties. A small, decorated room for birthday parties for kids, usually has constant bookings, and is always busy. We have a private room, called the “Parker Room” that will hold about 100 people and is popular for wedding receptions, reunions, private parties, and unit parties from Fort Leavenworth. Then we have the Carousel Room, with our 1913 Parker carousel in the middle of it. It will hold about 150 people. It is available for parties after museum normal hours. We have averaged over 20,000 visitors a year since we opened. We have now had visitors from all 50 States, and 51 foreign countries. Tour buses from all over arrive on a regular basis. Our museum area is getting clogged with donations of artifacts and exhibits. We need more space! We had a second floor built in when we constructed the building 4 years ago. But we couldn’t allow the public up there till we had an elevator installed for the handicapped. We had a donor give us the money for the elevator this year, and it is now in and working. It is small, but a wheelchair can be lifted up to the second floor. We usually do most of our work with volunteers, if we can. We have been building walls upstairs to enclose the second floor for about 6 months. When it is finished, it will give us almost double the museum space we have on the ground floor. The NCA Archives will be moved to the Parker Carousel Museum from its present location, at the Harvey House Museum, where it has been for the last seven years. This will allow easier access to the archives by 16 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 everyone, but it will still be by appointment only. The archives will be in a “Carousel Atmosphere” at last. I am sure you will be able to listen to carousel music from the band organ while you are digging for obscure facts in the files of the archives. We normally close the museum in January, to do necessary maintenance and construction. This January, we partially took down our 1913 Parker carousel to work on the crankshafts. The gears on the end of the crankshafts had been working loose because of a worn keyway that held them on. One gear had come off last summer while the machine was running, and caused a lot of damage to gear teeth and sweeps. The crankshafts on our machine are 18 feet long, of solid steel about 2” in diameter, and with the gear on the end, weigh over 200 pounds each. They also happen to be 14 feet in the air and above all the support mechanism on the carousel. It is also very greasy and hard to hold onto. There are fourteen of them on our machine. There wasn’t a man in our allvolunteer crew that didn’t find some very sore muscles the next day. We repaired the keyways on the gears, and the next week we had to put them all back up again. Did I mention that if you take a crankshaft down, you also have to remove all the horses from the machine first? We are getting good at that. It takes five of us old geezers to lift it off the crankshaft, one has to be on top to take out the locking pin, and the other four are just muscle to lift and carry. Old Carry-Us-All number 118 was built in 1913 as a portable carousel that could be moved at least once a week to a new location. According to C.W. Parker, our machine could be set up and operating in about four hours by four good men. - - I would like to see what those “four good men” looked like! A dozen of us took most of the day to just hang the crankshafts and horses. We left the mechanism, platforms, rounding boards, and upper sweeps and spreader bars in place. I think Parker may have been exaggerating again! The NEW NCA archives will have all new furniture and files – donated by Grumman Corporation. We hope to have it carpeted, and it will be on one side of the upstairs museum area, and be about the same square footage as the previous home – for those of you that have visited it. Marilyn and crew are in the process of boxing up the archive files and material – getting ready to be moved down those narrow stairs at the Harvey House and over to the new home. We are hoping that we can get some prisoners from one of the local prisons to help with this moving. For those of you that have not visited the archives, there is a LOT of material. Hauling boxes up and down those narrow stairs at the old Harvey House is not something that would be any fun. The new address is: NCA Archives C.W. Parker Carousel Museum 320 S. Esplanade Leavenworth, KS 66048 [email protected] The NCA Technical Conference will be in Story City, Iowa on May 2-3-4, this year. If anyone would like to see the NCA archives and the improvements to the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth, it is about a 4 hour drive from Story City, down Interstate 35, and Missouri 92. At this point in time, space for archives is not finished. But they will be open Wednesday before the conference, and Monday after to visit. Story City - Continued from page 15 .... The splendid, hand-carved, poplar figures (twenty horses, two roosters, two pigs, two dogs, two chariots including Uncle Sam, and a whirling tub) are believed to be all original. It also retains a hand-painted center mural, handcarved gargoyles, outer frieze, and is joined by a 1936 Wurlitzer 105 military band organ. The original stencil patterns were discovered during restoration and were duplicated and applied. The carousel recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its restoration. And to quote a cliché, “She’s still looking good for her age!” Story City is located 45 miles north of Des Moines, Iowa on Interstate 35. The antique carousel is open noon daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day (Mon and Tues 12-6 p.m.; Wed-Sun 12-9 p.m.) and weekends only May and September (12-8 p.m.) Rides are $1. For more information about Story City, the carousel and other historic sites, check out www.storycity.net, or contact the Greater Chamber Connection, 602 Broad St., Story City, Iowa 50248 -- ph. 515-733-4214. Visitors to the 2008 NCA Technical Conference will also be treated to tours of two other sites on the National Historic Register. The Story Theatre/Grand Opera House, built in 1913, is Iowa’s oldest continuously operating theatre. First-run movies are still shown every weekend, while the fully-restored stage is used for live theater performances during celebrations and festivities. The Bartlett Museum, a restored 1903 Queen Anne Victorian home, showcases early Iowa life. It has just been joined with the latest, exciting project of the community: the construction of a 1500 sq. ft. carriage house which will house collections, and provide display and archival storage for historical projects. You are invited to come share your carousel story at the 2008 NCA Technical Conference in Story City, Iowa May 2, 3, and 4th. The conference will include sessions on such topics as carousel mechanical maintenance, gift shops, planning those celebrations and special events, restoration and organizing volunteers. The conference provides a valuable opportunity to share knowledge and network with fellow carousel operators. Story City will be sharing its story of becoming a Main Street Community and how historic preservation is a key component of the program. Also please note: Story City, Iowa will be the featured Carousel of the Month for May. An updated schedule of conference events will be posted on the NCA web page: www.nca-usa.org/2008tech.html Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 17 THE NCA PHOTO SHOW PROJECT By Gary Nance & Jean Bennett Did you know that a collection of more than 2000 carousel photographs is available online today on our Website? For almost three years now, we've been collecting carousel pictures from volunteers around the country (and even around the world) for use in the NCA Photo Show Project. There are now pictures from more than 70 operating carousels in the U.S and Canada available for online viewing, as well as another 10 shows for carousels (and gallopers) in Europe and Australia! To look through these pictures, visit our Website at nca-usa.org. From any page on our Website, you'll see a menu selection named "Pictures." When you click on this link, you'll get a listing of all of our photo shows. The most recently added shows will appear at the top of the list, so check back often for new shows. You'll also find links to our European and Australian shows on the "Pictures" menu, so be sure to visit them too. If you're interested in making a submission for a carousel that's not yet represented in a photo show, you can find answers for most of your questions online at nca-usa.org/NCApsp.html. And if you've never created a Web page before, that's not a problem. Our online application will guide you through the process of sending your pictures and creating the show. - Gary Nance Think it’s hard to do? Jean Bennett doesn’t think so! This is a brief introduction to the NCA Photoshow project. On the NCA website, as of Jan. 2008, you will find photoshows for approximately 100 different carousels. This is a great resource to see what a particular carousel looks like. You may be wondering how these photoshows are put together. Ordinary people (if you can call carousel enthusiasts ordinary) like you and I download pictures that we have taken of carousels. First, you email Gary Nance and he sets up a workspace for you to use. The directions are fairly easy and Gary is very quick to answer your emails if you have questions. After you have uploaded your pictures to make them available, you can rearrange them, delete 18 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 some of them, edit them and type descriptions of them. This process is not as time-consuming as it might seem at first. Then your photoshow goes through a review by an expert committee and hopefully makes it onto the website. Your photos are copyrighted for you and any requests to publish them will go through the NCA first. You might think that only people with a digital camera can help with this project. I thought that also at the beginning. Then, I learned that you can get negatives copied onto CDs. In my area, Target will copy up to 100 negative images onto a CD for only two dollars. I think this is a great deal for carousel photos and other special negatives that you want to keep safe. Once you have the photos on the CD, you can put them on your computer and edit them. Even pictures that were only average can now be wonderful. I have used this service to put many of my old carousel photos onto a CD. You can also now share them with other people by email. One thing to remember when uploading from a CD that was made from negatives, is that the date of the photo will be shown as the date that the CD was made. It will be necessary to go into each photo and retype the date. There are approximately 250 wooden carousels now in existence, including new carvings and antique ones. I think it would be wonderful if, in the next few years, we could have a photoshow for each one of them. I, myself, have about 20 photoshows that are now available. Gary and the committee are working hard to get many more that are in process reviewed and available. They are also trying out a new concept by combining photos for a carousel taken by more than one person. Another possibility is showing the current condition of a carousel and older photos, as in the Shelby, NC machine. If we could each send in photos of the carousels in our area or other places that we have visited, soon photoshows for each carousel in the census would be available on the NCA website. I sincerely hope that each of you will consider spending a little time on this great project. – Jean Bennett NORTHWEST CAROUSEL ADVENTURE By Lyn Brown (Photos By Dennis Towndrow) Two states, seven carousels, a barn full of animals and three private collections! What more could you ask from a NCA convention? A lot more it seems: like a tour to the world's second tallest waterfall and a historic volcano. All these adventures in five short days! Wednesday, September 12th, was arrival day and the early birds toured either Seattle or the Boeing plant. Registration over, we met to socialize, eat and be educated about carousels from Germany and Katrina-plagued New Orleans. Displayed at the Round-About Faire was an unusual little handcarved, hand-cranked carousel featuring woodland animals (top left). It was produced and is operated by Peter Newland, and was carved by Jim Toner. Puyallup Fair and PTC #43 were our first stop Thursday (below). This 1917, 44-horse, “wagon-mounted” carousel is owned by the Western Washington Fair Association and runs at the Puyallup Spring Fair and the Washington State Fair. It is accompanied by a Wurlitzer #145, one of only four of that style remaining in operation. Colorful and well maintained, it was a delight to ride (bottom left). Our second stop of the day was Point Defiance Zoo. Their carousel is a result of over a decade of hard work by the WACS (Washington Antique Carousel Society). Given a worn-out mechanism, they proceeded to restore it and populate it with Parker-style, hand-carved horses and various endangered species, such as a frog, a whale and a wolf -- just to mention a few (top right). Our group really appreciated the great effort WACS dedicated to this project. While at Point Defiance Zoo, we also met up with Shirley Jones (long-time NCA Board member and treasurer) and her husband Howard -- posing here with NCA co-founders, Rol and Jo Summit, and Barrbra Charles. Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 19 Then off to Oregon, with a stop mid-way at Mt. St. Helens, the still-active volcano that erupted in 1980. A dynamic ranger talk explained the worldwide effects of the huge eruption and the new understanding of volcano action that was a benefit of observing it. Rain clouds parted and allowed us good views of the scenery in the Cascade Mountains. Just across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, we found the large (72 horses, four rows, 67 foot base) and colorful 1921 Parker Supreme carousel, which runs at Jantzen Beach mall (photo below), and there we spent the rest of our evening before adjourning to our Portland hotel. What a variety of sights we had on Friday, beginning with an unusual Herschell-Spillman menagerie carousel. The 1912 machine runs at Oaks Park, a small amusement park in southeast Portland. Owned by the Bollinger family from 1925 until 1985, the park is one of the ten oldest amusement parks in this country. This is one charming carousel, with roosters, dressed-up frogs, a couple ostrich, a sea monster, a kangaroo and giraffes. Purchased for Oaks Park around 1923, it has survived several major floods, due to its location on the Willamette River, which often overtops its banks. An interesting sidelight to the convention is the connection that the late Robert Bollinger had to three of the carousels NCA visited in September. 20 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 The Bollinger family, of Portland, Oregon, owned Oaks Park from the 1920's until 1985, when Robert Bollinger gave the Park, including the carousel, to a private citizen board, forming a charitable entity and stipulating that it must remain an amusement park. The value of his gift was five million dollars. Robert Bollinger also owned the 1917 PTC, which we saw at the Puyallup Fair. It was a traveling machine that he purchased and then, in 1983, donated to the Western Washington (Puyallup) Fair Association. I met Bob Bollinger in 1995 at the NCA convention in Portland. The NCA honored Bob and his generous gifts at a luncheon at the Puyallup fairgrounds, where we rode the PTC, of course. He was a gentleman and at that time was 86. Lyn Brown On the Oaks Park Carousel The track carousel at Bickleton, Washington operated at Oaks Amusement Park from 1905 until around 1929, so it also was owned by the Bollinger family. The Alder Creek Pioneer Association of Bickleton purchased the carousel, the band organ and the steam engine that drove it, for $500. Bollinger died in 2004. He was a philanthropist who was of great value to the carousels of the Northwest. If you want to learn more about him please visit: www.rbollinger.com. His short autobiography is under About Robert Bollinger Family info. Next, we headed for Multnomah Falls, on the Columbia River, east of Portland. It is the second-highest falls in the United States. We rested our eyes and exercised our legs before proceeding to Parkdale and the International Museum of Carousel Art. The wild bus ride through pastures and across streambeds made us realize we were in cowboy country. The depth and breadth of this collection, owned and managed by Duane and Carol Perron, is hard to imagine until you see it. The large warehouse-type barn is chock full of carousel animals and objects, on two levels (an upstairs loft runs the length of the barn on each side). Animals in all conditions -- the restored and the injured -- rest against each other and beside each other, waiting their turn to go round and round once again. Duane explained his plans for an international carousel center and for expanded membership in the museum. The Perrons own and operate eight restored carousels, which they lease to public places. And while all the separate pieces probably can't be counted, they number in the several hundreds. Much of the restoration, fund-raising, and general nitty-gritty work is done by volunteers, including Colorado Carousel Society members Earl and Shirl Vitus of Grand Junction, who spend summers working in the Museum. During lunch in the park-like setting, real live horses came begging for a handout. A long ride through mountainous southwestern Washington brought us to the town of Bickleton, population 113, forty miles from nowhere and perhaps our most memorable stop. We were warmly welcomed by the entire town at Cleveland Park, the site of the Bickleton Rodeo and home of a c.1900 Armitage Herschell/ Herschell-Spillman track machine which runs once a year, during the annual rodeo in June and is then stored in an old bank vault in town -- except for this year, when Bickleton set up the machine again just for the NCA visit. The 24-horse track machine originally ran at Oaks Park, in Portland and was powered by steam. There is no overhead mechanism; the carousel is belt-driven and runs on wheels on a track beneath the deck. It is a special experience to have a whole town turn out to greet you and feed you a steak dinner with homemade ice cream. We felt as if we'd experienced "Brigadoon," and were reluctant to board the buses for the long dark drive back to Seattle. Saturday morning's stop was at Wild Waves, Enchanted Village in Federal Way. In this cleanlykept amusement park, the 1906 Parker portable carousel sits on a slight hill overlooking the rest of the rides (see top left of page 22). The mechanism is in need of repair, and only a few lucky riders got to finish their ride. Continued on page 22 .... Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 21 items, but also other collections of all kinds. At Tom and Linda Allen's home, we saw 26 animals including a hippocampus, camel, rabbit and goat as well as beautiful horses. After a ferry ride across Puget Sound, we visited the Murphy residence on Bainbridge Island, where a stablefull of beautifully restored figures waited for us. Thanks to the owners of all three collections for making us welcome. As well as, a special thanks to Linda and Tom Allen and their hard-working group for providing a well-organized and memorable convention. - Lyn Brown In 1999, Linda and Tom Allen, Seattle residents (Tom also serves on the NCA Board), purchased PTC#45 from Great America Corporation. It had run at Santa Clara, California, until the owners chose to put the great old machine into storage. Dedicating huge blocks of time and resources to the project, Tom and Linda labored to bring back to prime condition the Zalar-carved carousel, which was built in 1918. Bette Largent, NCA President and noted restorer put the horses back in shape. Brad Perron, Hood River, worked on the carousel’s mechanics, and International Leisure Company of Seattle, WA was in charge of machine set-up at the zoo. The Allens then donated the antique machine to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, where it is housed in a state-of-the-art octagonal building. The generosity of all involved in restoring and placing this great carousel is much appreciated by Seattle residents and the staff of the zoo, as well as the NCA. We enjoyed the dedication ceremony and the ride. A box lunch on the grounds, and time for touring the zoo, rounded out the day. At Saturday evening's banquet, Round-About Fair and annual auction, it was announced that $7,922 was raised during the convention to add to the NCA's preservation fund. After the annual meeting on Sunday morning, NCA members were invited to open houses at three collectors' homes. The Hoelscher collection in Redmond delighted us by featuring not only ten carousel animals and many carousel-related 22 Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 PTC #45 At Woodland Park Zoo Memorial Donations 2007-2008 In Memory of Charles N. Walker Jean Bennett OCharles A. Blake OMark S. Chester OChattyCollier ORichard Concepcion Art Curtze ODannielle Dimeglio OPeter & Leah Farnsworth OTodd Goings OGail H. Hall Noel Hinde OLouis Klemp ODon & Bette Largent OArt & Nancy Morris Jerry & Marilyn Reinhardt OPaul J. Senger OBill & Rita Sharkey OBarbara A. Tousignant Karen Van Sant OTom & Kay Van Sant ORichard & Kathy Wickens Jr. In Memory of Monica Angster Edward Angster OMelba R. Clapp In Memory of William F. Mangels IV Willia & Dorothea Mangels ODon & BetteLargent In Memory of Marilyn Blake Charles A. Blake In Memory of Wallace W. Elton Judy Elton In Memory of Darwin D. Stombaugh Maureen A. Stombaugh Those Gone Glimmering H e l e n N u n e s , of Ventura California, died in January 2008. Helen was NCA Treasurer from 1983 through 1987. Helen's daughter, Barbara Willimas served variously as editor, Archivist and Director. Both are long time NCA members and founders of the Friends of Santa Monica Pier carousel W i l l i a m F . M a n g e l s I V 6 0 , S on 0f William F. Mangels III (still living) died Feb. 2, 2008, at Genesis Hospice, Morrison House. Bill was a former executive secretary of the National Carousel Association. Merry-Go-Roundup, Spring 2008 23