Excerpted from:

Traveling in Circles
on a Wooden Steed
Appearing in Kansas! Magazine, Spring 2003 as “Catch a Ride on a Carousel”

By Sally M. Snell

“A carousel is usually the first ride a child ever experiences,” said Larry Breitenstein, National Sales Manager of Wichita’s Chance Morgan. “And grandparents love to have pictures of them.”

The term carousel comes from the Old Italian word for “little war.” Knights used the earliest carousels to practice their skills with a lance and spear. Eventually carousels became rides for children powered by hand or mule, later by steam and electricity.

Interest in antique carousels in Kansas is growing. Two are currently undergoing restoration.

Kinsley

In 1901 a Kinsley farmer saw a carousel in a Hutchinson park. “He was really intrigued with it, because he said he’d watch people riding a horse and buggy, then pay a nickel to ride a wood horse around in a circle,” said John Ploger of the National Foundation for Carnival Heritage in Kinsley. “So it was on his way home, the story goes, that he told his family ‘I think I know a better way to make a living than farming.’” He purchased a carousel, which his eldest son towed from town to town. “By the end of the summer he came home and his pockets were just full of money,” said Ploger. “The family decided they wanted to quit farming and just go on the road with this carousel.”

Recently, the Foundation acquired a rare double-decker carousel, built in 1900 in Germany by Heyn. “When we get it restored it will be the only antique double decker in North America.” The original horses are missing, so they are replacing them piece by piece using designs from a range of manufacturers. “It will be the only carousel in the world that we know of that will represent all the great carousel art of the world,” said Ploger.

The Foundation is in the grant writing process to build a structure large enough to house the carousel. A museum in a downtown building currently displays carnival games and backdrops.

Leavenworth

C.W. Parker became the nation’s largest manufacturer of carnival equipment in the United States. He operated his carousel factory in Leavenworth after a property dispute in Abilene inspired him to relocate. Although Parker was a successful businessman, his “carnie” association did not sit well with townsfolk.

The Leavenworth Historical Museum Association acquired a 1913 all-wood Parker Carousel, undergoing restoration by a team of dedicated volunteers. “The people that work here do much nicer work, and have pride in it, than if you sent it someplace to have it professionally done,” said Del Sanders, Association president. Artists have painted the rounding boards with their favorite Leavenworth scenes.

The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum is currently under construction in Leavenworth. It will house the 1913 carousel and an 1850 primitive carousel, which is thought to be the oldest intact carousel in the United States. Its carved horses are less detailed than those of a Parker, and it was originally hand powered. Rather than being pole mounted, the horses hang from rods that swing out as the gears are turned faster, making this a “free-swinging carousel” or a “flying carousel.” They also own a 1950 aluminum Parker Liberty that they rent to neighboring businesses and community fairs.

An Ongoing Tradition

Kansas didn’t leave its carousel legacy in the last century. Today, Chance Morgan Manufacturing in Wichita is the nation’s largest manufacturer of amusement rides. Their menageries are made out of fiberglass, airbrushed with such detail that you can see muscle tone and facial expressions. “We try to make them expressive,” said Breitenstein. “You see kids actually go up to the animals and hug them. [The artists] have always got the kids in mind who are going to ride them.”

Carousels today are often customized for specific venues, using endangered species for a zoo installation, or making star baseball players from the past seem to come to life at a professional ballpark.

And if all this makes you want to climb aboard your favorite steed on a carousel full of children, don’t despair. “The second childhood is the best,” said Leavenworth volunteer Larry Tate.

Antique carousels in Kansas

Abilene

This 1900 Parker carousel is track-operated with 24-handcarved horses mounted on rocking mechanisms, and four chariots on a 50' platform. An antique Wurlitzer Military Band Organ is similar to its original. The carousel was built in Abilene, and underwent extensive restoration after the Dickinson County Historical Society acquired it in the 1970s.

Independence

Riverside Park in Independence is home to a 20-horse aluminum Allan Herschell Company carousel, purchased new by the city in 1950. “It’s pretty much the way it came,” said Park Superintendent Ned Stichman, “but we no longer use the old 78 records.” Friends of Riverside Park and Zoo built a new all-weather shelter for the carousel in 2001.

Topeka

Look for a carved wood menagerie carousel in Topeka’s Gage Park. This 1908 carousel, built by the Herschell Spillman Co. Builders, North Tonawanda, NY, was purchased by Boyles Joyland in 1957, and acquired by the city in 1986 after Boyles closed. The carousel underwent restoration in 1989, and today operates under an all-weather shelter, accompanied by a Wurlitzer Military Band Organ.

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