Merry-Go-Round (2)

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Merry-Go-Round
Other Name(s) Carousal
Caroussel
Type Rotating Ride
Park Section South
Built 1904
Opened 1906
Closed Unknown
Manufacturer Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC)
Designer E. Joy Morris
Vehicle Type Wooden Animal Sculptures
Replaced Dancing Pavilion (1)

This second Merry-Go-Round at Olentangy Park was purchased from the Columbus Zoological Company in 1906[1][2][3] after the company became defunct the year before.[4] The ride was located near the park's southeast entrance and the Ferris Wheel.[1]

It took 20 teams and nearly 100 men to move the Carousel and Forest Coaster (changed to Scenic Coaster) to the park.[2]

Description

The Merry-Go-Round was an amusement device where riders would mount wooden sculptures of animals that would simulate a riding movement along a vertical pole for each sculpture. It was operated by electricity, and a central organ provided music.

Built in 1904, this ride had "gay rocking horses and chariots and [had a] big organ."[1] Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) bought E. Joy Morris's carousel company and Morris continued designing the rides' animals.[5][6][7] It was called a "regular Coney Island carousel" (sic) when it opened.[3] PTC started building rides with only horses in 1909.[5]

Injuries

Mrs. Harry Funk received a scalp wound when she was thrown from one of the merry-go-rounds in June 1912. Dr. R. P. Elder dressed the injury after the ambulance from Pletcher-Brown was able to arrive within four minutes.[8]

See Also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Olentangy Park." The Democrat-Sentinel (Logan, Ohio). June 14, 1906. Page 2. Clip 1 | Clip 2
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Olentangy Park Opens on April 29." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 15, 1906. Page 7.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The Opening of Olentangy Park." The Marion Star (Marion, Ohio). April 28, 1906. Page 10. Accessed through Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-marion-star-the-opening-of-olentangy/161648170/
  4. Rashon, Sam. The Bark of Beechwold. January 1990. Accessed through Columbus Metropolitan Library's My History. https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/151566/
  5. 5.0 5.1 "The Passing of the Menagerie." Kit Carson County Carousel. Accessed on June 2, 2024. https://www.kitcarsoncountycarousel.com/museum
  6. "E. Joy Morris - Philadelphia's Forgotten Carousel Builder." Carousel News and Trader, March 1989. Vol. 5. No. 3. Accessed on June 1, 2024. [1]. Special thanks to the members of the Carousel Figure Identification Facebook group.
  7. Sotheby's. "A Fine Carved and Painted Carousel Horse, Probably Charles I. D. Looff, Circa 1900." Sale N09100, Lot 314. 2014. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/americana-vo-n09100/lot.314.html.
  8. "Thrown from Merry-Go-Round." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 20, 1912. Page 5.