(This is primarily a podcast! Click play on the player below!)

Philadelphia Toboggan Company

When last I focused heavily on carousels, it was October of last year, and I was telling you about the amazing Dentzel/Looff Carousel down at Seaside Heights in Florida. Well, that was a different time. It’s now March, we’re all inside, and recent updates are that the Dentzel/Looff Carousel has been disassembled for storage and refurbishment. 

This turned my mind to other carousels out there, so I went digging, and I found the subject of today’s episode: PTC #15. To explain, we must start at the beginning, and to start at the beginning, we must begin.

It starts with a guy, as always. Two guys. Henry Auchy, and his buddy, Chester Albright. In 1904, the two joined up and started a company. That’s what you did back in the day, you started a company instead of a podcast. They wanted to “build finer and better carousels and coasters”. These two guys did something smart, which was to purchase inventory from the E. Joy Morris Company.

E. Joy Morris

Now E. Joy Morris was a small carousel manufacturer right around the turn of the century, really lesser known, even in carousel circles. If you recall from the last carousel episode, there are three major styles of carousel carving: Coney Island style, Country Fair style, and Philadelphia style. It’s the latter that we’re going to talk about today, possibly unsurprising given the name.

So EJ Morris Jr. was a Philly man, born in 1860. Interesting tidbit, his father EJ Morris Sr, was US Minister to Turkey under Abraham Lincoln. With the family money, because of course there was family money, Morris was able to get in on the nascent amusement park trade. He patented a roller-coaster related invention in the late 1890s, and established his own company to build figure 8 toboggans (rollercoasters), carousels, and water chutes. Morris loved animals, loved children, and wanted to make them happy.

The famed Gustav Dentzel was Morris’ direct competition, and Morris aimed to outdo him by embellishing and adding incredible small whimsical details, perhaps also in a nod to his own playful nature. Morris also did something unique by keeping an inventory on hand. Prior to this, carousels were built on demand, but Morris’ firm built many carousels at once, perhaps as a way to keep the craftsman retained during slower months, or perhaps as a way of getting a leg up on Dentzel by being able to deliver carousels to customers faster.

Late in 1903, after building and selling well over 20 carousels and/or coasters, Morris’ business plans changed. For the sum of about $30,000, EJ Morris sold over 200 completed carousel figures to Auchy and Albright, allowing them to build four carousels outright and to jumpstart their business, recouping their investment almost immediately. 

Why’d EJ Morris sell his business? It appears to have been health problems – it’s said he was in the hospital shortly before he sold the manufacturing business, and though he lived another 20-some-odd years afterwards, it seems his health was always in decline. Though he divested himself of the manufacturing side, he did remain active in the business end of the amusement rides he already owned through about 1920.  

Philadelphia Toboggan Company

Morris then was a huge inspiration and jumping off point for the newly-formed Philadelphia Toboggan Company. As I said earlier, they quickly established themselves as a company after their inception in 1904, building four carousels in short order with their acquired E.J. Morris stock. Interestingly, this is why Morris isn’t as well known these days – his work is often mistaken for PTC work.  Neither Auchy nor Albright were carvers, unlike most other carousel companies at the time, so their house style varies quite a bit based on who was head carver at the time. 

I loved this quote from a 1904 Topeka State Journal article about Vinewood Park, one of the first PTC locations in the world. “The word carousell is probably a new-one in the west. The machine, which bears the name as its “official title,” is a revolving, circular platform about 80 feet in diameter, upon which is built a regular modern menagerie. All of the animals are fitted with saddles, and one can get a ride on anything from an elephant to a jackrabbit. The scheme is a new one, and has only been out of the factory for a few years. A number of the eastern parks have put in carousells, and they are proving very popular.”

Vinewood Park, interestingly, was one of the first Philadelphia Toboggan Company locations: carousel and rollercoaster #2 were both shipped to the same park. In fact, the first ten carousels and the first ten rollercoasters manufactured by PTC went to the same theme parks (ie, the park ordered both at once).

The carousel we’re interested in wasn’t built until 1907 – PTC #15. The PTC carousels are fairly unique in that each was numbered on their massive central poles. For historians, the numbering system did become confusing, as sometimes a new number was assigned to the same carousel after it went back to the factory for refurbishing. However, overall, it appears that the company kept excellent records based on the articles I’m reading. 

PTC #15 was built in 1907. This was PTC’s first four-row machine, as well as PTC’s first all-horse carousel (no other animals, no “menagerie” in carousel parlance). And, all the horses jumped (traditionally, the outer row of most beautiful carved horses were “standers” – stationary) – another first. Master carver Leo Zoller, head carver at PTC from 1906 to 1910, is said to have been responsible for many of the carved horses, as well as carver Daniel Muller, who often worked at Dentzel’s shop. 

PTC #15 was gorgeous, featuring large and highly animated figures with exquisitely-carved details. From the National Register of Historic Places entry, the horses on this carousel are “among the most realistically carved pieces ever done anywhere”. The carousel also featured two large, rare, well-carved lovers’ chariots, and handpainted rounding boards depicting animals frolicing in a mythical landscape. (Rounding boards, if you’re uncertain, are the painted boards decorating the tops of carousels – they hide machinery, and attract guests with both paintings and lights. Since they go “around”, the name is rounding boards.)

PTC #15 was built in 1907. (You already said that, I hear you saying.) That was one hundred and thirteen years ago. How many different places do you think this carousel has been since then? Let’s find out.

Fort Wendell / Fort George Amusement Park (New York, NY)

PTC #15 was initially delivered to Fort George Amusement Park in New York. This was located in New York City along the Harlem River, around West 190th St. This location is the northernmost tip of Manhattan, what is now Highbridge Park and George Washington Educational Campus, where George Washington fought the British during the Revolutionary War two hundred and fifty years ago. At the time of its construction, the park was of course, a trolley park, at the end of the Third Avenue Trolley Line. 

Fort George was known as Harlem’s Coney Island, and did its best to rival its Brooklyn amusement counterpart. This was a classic turn of the century amusement park resort, full of dance halls, roller rinks, fortune tellers, gambling, beer halls, restaurants, hotels, and of course, the latest in amusements: Ferris wheels, roller coasters, and carousels. It was less of an amusement park as we might think of today, and more of an amusement district, with many different owners and operators and many different smaller “parks” within the area. 

PTC #15 was actually not the first carousel at Fort George. In fact, 1905’s PTC #8 was the first carousel there, at Paradise Park within Fort George. (And though the RCDB lists the Fort George rollercoaster as “unknown”, a 2010 Carousel News and Trader article confirms that the first ten PTC carousels and coasters operated at the same parks. So PTC coaster #8 also would have operated here at Paradise Park at Fort George, a classic Figure 8 coaster similar to Leap-the-Dips, a coaster still operational today.)

Paradise Park was opened by two brothers, Joseph and Nicholas Schenck, who saw the potential in the area and wanted to develop it further with this separate, extra-admission park. They indeed made the park a huge success for the time – estimates in contemporaneous articles state 50,000 people in one evening in June 1906. The park was located on a hillside, and I saw an anecdote that in the earliest years, some guests had to climb unsafe ladders up the hillsides before more permanent stairs were added.

Different places will describe the location for PTC #15 differently: Wendell’s Park, Fort Wendel, and so forth. This was actually a small resort hotel owned by one Captain Louis Wendel, famed for its rooftop panorama views across the river. Here is where PTC #15 was said to have lived, a few years after its sibling began operation, and was operated by Henry and Frank Kolb. A contemporary photo from the Museum of the City of New York shows Fort Wendel located just across the street from the large Paradise Park entrance. A large faux castle turret facade stands atop the hotel roof, hoisting a big sign labeled “Wendel”.

It all must have been very glamorous at the time, especially on a hot summer night – feel the breeze off the river to cut some of the summer heat, have a drink, go dancing or roller skating, buy an ice cream or a beer, and ride an amusement ride: a coaster, a ferris wheel, a chair swing, a carousel. 

By 1910, however, public opinion of the locals was souring. Newspaper reports had headlines like “police will have their hands full there”, and other references talk about Fort George’s history describe “public drunkenness, noise, crime, and racial tensions”. Neighbors began pressuring the various local authorities and committees to shut down the amusement district.

The next year, 1911, saw an arson attempt. Perhaps related to the neighborhood sentiment, but who’s to say. The district reopened in 1912 after repairing the damages. Unfortunately, then came 1913. In June of 1913, another arsonist started a fire. Damages were reported at over $100k, with the entirety of the Paradise Park section destroyed completely by fire. 

This time, Fort George Amusement Park couldn’t recover. The local political groups ultimately took over the property and incorporated it (at the time) into Highland Park.

Now luckily, our hero, PTC #15, was located at Fort Wendel, across Amsterdam Avenue. Though the fire was said to have jumped across the street, where it destroyed a “four story frame building”, it did not apparently destroy PTC #15. 

With the destruction of Paradise Park and the generally unfavorable neighborhood sentiment, any remaining amusements likely moved out over the next few years. 

(Oh, and remember Joseph Schenck? He ultimately moved to California, became president of a little company called United Artists, created the company Twentieth Century Pictures (which of course became Twentieth Century Fox), and then was said to have played a key role in launching Marilyn Monroe’s career.)

Summit Beach Amusement Park (Akron, OH)

Park #2 for our carousel is a bit of a question mark, in that it’s uncertain when exactly PTC #15 moved to Summit Beach or when it left. 

Summit Beach Amusement Park was located in Akron, Ohio. It went by the names “Akron’s Fairyland of Pleasure” and “Akron’s Million Dollar Playground”. Local businessmen conceived of the idea in 1914, and had incorporated an amusement company by 1916. They took applications from independent concessionaires to fill the park: the Dixie Flyer, a huge coaster; a Whip and a Ferris wheel and a motordrome, for racing. And of course, a carousel. 

Now here is the point of contention, because the recent 2017 retrospective newspaper article about Summit Beach claims that the carousel at the park was a Dentzel menagerie from 1917 with a Wurlitzer band organ. Indeed, another article (Akron Beacon Journal, 2010) shows many pictures of the carousel, and it’s definitely a menagerie – black and white photos show children gleefully perched atop lions and pigs, neither of which are on a equine-only PTC #15. 

However, despite this, the fairly official and well-referenced history of Philadelphia Toboggan Company from Carousel News and Trader states that PTC #15 did go to Summit Beach Amusement Park. 

One possibility is that PTC #15 went not to Summit Beach, but to the adjacent Lakeside Park, which was later absorbed by Summit Beach as it grew. Lakeside began as a trolley park and picnic grounds back in 1886, and was primarily known for its casino theater. One image, which I’ve only been able to find in a Google Books preview of a vintage Ohio postcards book, does show this carousel – located not far from some canoe rentals, next to an open air building. The carousel is decently visible, with at least one horse in the outer row. The scan or photo aren’t clear enough, but it’s possible that this was in fact a four-row all-horse carousel. 

However, the provenance on PTC #15 at Summit Beach is not very clear at all. So let’s not dwell on it. We’re all tired, it’s March of 2020. Let’s call it a mystery and come back to it another time.

(Summit Beach was ultimately quite successful, absorbing Lakeside Park and operating for about 40 years before shutting down in 1958. It was primarily notable outside of the local amusement scene for the 1918 coaster derailment that killed several.)

State Fair Park (Milwaukee, WI)

From here, PTC #15 moved to Wisconsin for a while, heading in 1924 to the newly-opened permanent amusement park at the state fair in Milwaukee. Land of some of my favorite food groups, beer and cheese! 

To talk about the Wisconsin State Fair, we’ve got to go back – way back. The first fair was held in 1851! That year, the fair had between 13,000 to 18,000 guests, and was the largest gathering in Wisconsin at that point. Abraham Lincoln delivered the annual oration at the 8th annual fair, in 1859, and spoke about free labor. For many of the early years, the fair rotated through Wisconsin’s bigger cities: Madison, Milwaukee, Janesville, and Fond du Lac. In 1892, the fair’s 40th year, a permanent home was chosen: West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb. Apparently this was a controversial choice, as many at the time were campaigning instead for a home in Madison, where Camp Randall Stadium is today – right on the university campus, in the middle of the crowded downtown isthmus. By contrast, West Allis was out in the middle of nowhere (at the time) near Milwaukee. It’s interesting to think how that one simple choice could’ve drastically changed an entire city’s downtown! 

Interesting anecdote for the football fans – apparently for several decades (between 1934 and 1951), the Green Bay Packers played several of their regular season games at the State Fair Park, including the 1939 NFL Championship. 

1924 saw the introduction of the signature Wisconsin State Fair food: the cream puff. But it was predated by a few years by the Midway, in 1922, the “old State Fair Midway” (https://www.westalliswi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/362/Historical-and-Architectural-Resources-Survey—Volume-1-of-2?bidId=) and the PTC #15. The midway was “Disneyland before Disneyland”, according to Jerry Zimmerman, the state fair historian, in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article from 2007. This new midway was a spot for permanent rides, operating under the care of a guy named Charles Rose, and supplemented by the annual travelling shows. Rides were open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. By some accounts, the area was called Fun City.

“”It had a great roller coaster that ran from the front of where the Expo hall is now down to Greenfield Avenue. There was a Ferris wheel, the bug, the hammer, the whip, the octopus, the electric scooter and the old mill that was a tunnel of love, and a great penny arcade,” Zimmerman said. 

The carousel, old PTC #15, was a fair staple for decades at State Fair Park in Wisconsin. I’ll link to a couple of historical photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/uwmadarchives/5938518204/ https://content.mpl.org/digital/collection/HstoricPho/id/6027/ (Great photo gallery of the entire fair history here.) Apparently Zimmermann used to pretend he was the Lone Ranger when he rode it as a kid at the fair each year, which is an image of great delight to me. 

As these things always go, the old State Fair midway didn’t last. The fair saw a downfall in attendance after World War II, and it was nixed. The fair is still there in West Allis today, but the “old” permanent midway closed at State Fair Park after the 1960 season. 

Dandilion Park / Muskego Beach Park (Muskego, WI)

Following the closure of the permanent midway at State Fair Park, rides were sold to new homes. Our friend Carousel #15 didn’t go far – only about 15 miles southwest, in what is today an outer suburb of Milwaukee, a town called Muskego. 

At that time, the carousel’s new home was called Muskego Beach Amusement Park, or Muskego Beach Resort.

Muskego Beach Amusement Park had been in operation almost as long as the Wisconsin State Fair itself – since 1861! Not much information is available about the earliest years, but regular listeners could probably make a safe guess: that it started out as a picnic grounds type of park. It was opened by Civil War veteran John C. Schuet in 1861, a man called the “King of Muskego” in 1880s politics.

Back then, it was called Muskego Lake House and Beach Resort, where visitors could partake in “picnicking, fishing, boating, swimming and dancing”. (Here’s an interesting tidbit for you – the Muskego Center Cemetery was established on that property in 1881, bordered on three sides by the park. The little pioneer cemetery weathered poorly, stones weather-worn and indecipherable, described in an article as “a nuisance to the community.” Validity of that opinion is up to the individual, but it does seem the small cemetery had lost most interest. It wasn’t until 1955 that all the bodies in the cemetery were exhumed and moved to a different cemetery, Prairie Hill Cemetery in Waukesha.)

Schuet owned the park for over 60 years, selling it in 1928 to its second owner, a guy named William Boszhardt. The details are vague, but Boszhardt definitely added to the amusement park side of things, and is credited with changing the name to Muskego Beach Amusement Park. And while Boszhardt was the owner, a familiar name did the managing: Charles Rose, the same guy from the state fair. 

By 1929, a classic wooden John A. Miller coaster called Cyclone had been installed by Charlie Rose. There were all kinds of our favorite early and mid century theme park rides, like The Whip. But why Muskego?

Here’s the connection for you, and likely the reason that the carousel went where it did. In 1944, in the middle of the war, Charlie Rose bought Muskego Beach Amusement Park from its then-owner, the recently widowed Mrs. William Boszhardt – birth name Nellie Lou Krebs. The park was shut down for the war, but Rose reopened and renovated it afterwards.

For the better part of two decades, then, he owned both the midway at State Fair Park as well as Muskego Beach Amusement Park. When the midway shut down, it was a simple decision that most of the rides would be acquired by Muskego Beach Amusement Park (which Rose also owned), replacing the older and smaller rides at this regional park with bigger rides worthy of a state fair. And Muskego was a short electric rail ride away from downtown Milwaukee, too.

Under Rose’s ownership, the park expanded and developed further. There was a ballroom for dancing operated under private ownership called the Starlight Ballroom, operated by Elsie and Robert Schmidt. Open only on the weekends, it held an air of mystery for younger daytime park visitors. During the weekend days, the ballroom was used as a rollerskating rink. Weekly dances and regular bands were hosted there, and it was said to be a popular evening event. Big names like the Everly Brothers performed, all the way down to smaller local bands.

Other items around the park were upgraded as well. There was an even larger beach for bathing. New rides like the Rolloplane were added, and massive increases made to concession stands and other outbuildings. A man named George gave boat rides on the lake in a fancy Chris-Craft boat from Dandilion Park that were fondly remembered.

TailSpin Coaster at Dandilion Park / Muskego Beach Amusement Park (WI)

The Cyclone coaster closed in the 1950s. I did see one news report of a death on the ride due to a rider standing up while the coaster was in motion and falling off. However, a line from another newspaper article indicates the Cyclone was damaged irreparably in a storm, so this may be the reason for the closure. Indeed, another short blurb from a 2015 issue of Amusement Today notes that the Cyclone was damaged twice in 1950 by wind, with some saying that it “fell over like a set of playing cards”.

Most of the broken ride was removed by the beginning of the 1951 season, according to Amusement Today. Rose was savvy, though, and 700 feet of the Cyclone’s easternmost turnaround was retained and incorporated into the newly-built TailSpin coaster, which opened in 1955. Rose himself designed the TailSpin, built to the tune of about $75,000.

TailSpin had a rough start though. A huge windstorm knocked over 250 feet of the TailSpin tracks, crushing the new Whip and Caterpilar rides in the process, two weeks before the park was set to open for the season and debut the coaster. Damages were estimated at around $125,000, but all save for the coaster were able to open on time two weeks later.  When TailSpin finally did open, it was worth the wait. This coaster is the park’s most famous and memorable. Remembrances online indicate this was a very good coaster – said to be one of the fastest and the steepest for its kind. The drop was a very high 75 feet!

Decline and Closure of Dandilion Park / Muskego Beach Amusement Park (WI)

In or around 1968, the park was sold to a man named Willard Masterson, who changed the name to Dandilion Park. It continued to be a popular place with local school groups, employer celebrations from small businesses and giant Milwaukee area manufacturers alike, reunions, and so forth. 

Around the same time, we had another addition to the park – choo choo, it’s time for The Abandoned Train! Yes, Dandilion Park rode the wave of all of the other theme parks in the mid-1960s and got itself a miniature steam train. Not only a generic train. Nope, Dandilion Park purchased a Chance C. P. Huntington direct from the factory in Wichita, serial number #61. It ran for the remaining years of the park’s operation. 

Trouble started brewing in the early 1970s, though. A young boy fell from the Ferris wheel and died, which may have led to rumors about the park’s safety. Additionally, rumors of a new, massive park being built only an hour away in Gurnee, IL. See, Marriott, the hotel chain, wanted to branch out in the tourism industry. They had three different regions planned: Chicago-Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Baltimore. The Baltimore park was to be the flagship park, but faced a series of bueracratic and local opposition. Ultimately, it was canceled. 

And in 1976, Great America opened, a park you now know as Six Flags Great America. With only two months separation, Marriott opened a Great America park in California and a Great America park in Gurnee, IL. The park was an immediate success, both due to the timing (the 1976 bicentennial) and the use of the licensed Looney Toons character theming. 

And Dandilion Park, only an hour away, felt the pinch. Milwaukee and Chicago residents started going to Great America over Dandilion Park. Why did Dandilion Park / Muskego Beach Amusement Park close? The inevitable economic cycle began – lowered crowds, less money, maintenance falters, crowds stay away, and eventually it became unprofitable to continue operating Dandilion Park. 

Dandilion Park closed in 1978.

The park stayed SBNO, standing but not operating, for several years, until 1983. Ultimately, the land was purchased in order to be turned into condominiums. The park was burned down as practice for the local fire department. Gone up in flames, all but memories.

(That’s not entirely true – the sign from the TailSpin was recovered, restored, and today is owned and displayed by the Muskego Historical Society. The CPH also did not get burned. It was sold to the Tulsa Zoo in Tulsa, OK, where it still operates today, with CPH #90 and #358.) At one point around 2010, a proposal went around to potentially rebuild a beach park at the lake. I’m not sure if that actually went forward or not. And as I said earlier, the land where the park used to be became condos. So it goes. 

Lost Years for Carousel #15

You might be saying, where did the carousel go?

Don’t worry, it didn’t get burned up. That sucker is 70+ years old by this point in our story and has already survived multiple theme parks and at least one fire. This little planned fire wouldn’t stop it.

Carousel in Oshkosh

No, our friend PTC carousel #15 survived. It was purchased prior to the fire by a private group in Oshkosh. At the time, the trend was for carousels to be broken up, selling the desirable horses at higher individual cost to private collectors. The Carousel of Oshkosh, Incorporated group was formed to prevent Carousel #15 from being served the same fate.

The goal was for the carousel to become part of a park in Oshkosh, WI, home of a very good chocolate shop, Oaks Candy. This was to be a new park located near the Oshkosh Airport, to open in 1980. “Scheduled to open in May, 1980, the park will be themed to the turn of the century and will include other amusement rides and attractions typical of that era.”

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that this never happened. Oshkosh is an incredibly small town, and the startup costs for a theme park are very large. 

Carol and Duane Perron of the International Carousel Museum of Art bought the carousel in 1984 from the defunct Carousel Oshkosh park company to the tune of $150,000, and began restoring it – almost 80 years old at this point, and the big carousel could certainly have used a day at the spa by then.

The Perrons lived on the West Coast, so the carousel got to take its biggest trip yet by this point, all the way to Oregon. Between 1984 and 1986, they restored the carousel fully to perfect working condition.

Touring with Carousel #15

1986 saw the carousel being sent out of country for the first and only time, up to Vancouver, British Columbia for the Expo ‘86. Interestingly, this move resulted in the carousel being removed from the National Historic Register, as the move was done without consulting the Register first. 

I had to Google this one, but Expo ‘86 was another classic World’s Fair, held in fall of 1986 in Vancouver. World’s fairs are designed to be places for nations to showcase their achievements for one another, and may or may not be themed. (These World’s Fairs are still a thing, by the way, if you didn’t know. I didn’t. The 2020 Expo will be held in Dubai, UAE in October of this year, 2020, should gatherings of more than 10 people be allowed by then.) The very first Ferris wheel was invented for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, for instance, as a rival for the previous stunner, 1889’s Eiffel Tower.

Anyhow, back to the Expo ‘86. The theme was “Transportation and Communication: World in Motion, World in Touch”, so you can see how a carousel fit nicely. In a quote from the NY Times writeup: “Its scientific theme should not dissuade vacationers because there is something for everyone, from rival United States and Soviet space stations to a painstakingly restored 1907 carousel with hand-carved and painted wooden horses.” (Again, sidebar: another interesting attraction from this Expo was something called “McBarge”, a floating McDonalds. It’s the subject of a great Bright Sun Films YouTube documentary – check it out.) The carousel lived at the Expo for several months, and was quite a popular attraction, especially for young guests. Here’s a video of the carousel in action at the fair – fast forward to timestamp 19:26.

After the Expo, Carousel #15 spent the next three years traveling on various exhibits up and down the West Coast. While the carousel was not built as a portable model per se, it was clearly able to be assembled and disassembled without much fuss.

Carousel #15 at the Mall

As Robin Sparkles might say, let’s go to the mall, today! Well, at least virtually Following the carousel’s travels with Perron’s International Carousel Museum of Art, Carousel #15 was installed at a California mall.

Puente Hills Mall (City of Industry, CA)

The Puente Hills Mall is located in City of Industry, CA, a made-up-seeming town name that is in fact real, and located in a Los Angeles suburb. The mall opened in 1974 and is still operational today. My perusal of Wikipedia tells me it was most notable for being the filming location for the parking lot scenes from Back to the Future, aka “Twin Pines Mall”. Puente Hills also was home to the first ever Foot Locker store, apparently. 

One of my newest favorite YouTube channels is called Retail Archaeology – videos of malls from active to “dead malls” – malls that are on the verge of closure. Erik from Retail Archaeology did a 2018 video on Puente Hills, and it was nice to watch that last night while doing podcast research on the topic. 

Anyhow, in 1991, our friend Carousel #15 moved to the Puente Hills Mall. It was located on the first floor, in the center of the plus-shaped mall, underneath some massive skylights that really illuminated the newly refreshed carousel. Patrons shopping on the upper levels could easily look down to watch the carousel spin in the atrium below. The carousel seems to have done well for a period of time, and I’m sure all the wooden horses appreciated being inside a nice air-conditioned space instead of weathering decades of Wisconsin winters and summers.

Unfortunately, the late 90s were a period of struggle for Puente Hills Mall, and they had less than 50% occupancy around this time, a terrible sign for a big mall. Things did slowly rebound, but our friend Carousel #15 was removed in 1998 – too expensive, and losing money for the mall operators. 

Today, Puente Hills Mall is operational but struggling again, despite a 2007 remodel. Where the carousel once stood is now just boring carpet, and where visitors once walked through bustling halls, today few gather. Several of the larger stores have been closing in the last few years, including Sears and Forever 21, and anecdotal reports online are that more store closures are inevitable. 

Dead malls are a topic I don’t think I’ve touched on at all here on the podcast yet, but they’re fascinating and I’d say quite relevant given our present day state. Check out Retail Archaeology, Sal’s Expedition Logs, or Dan Bell’s Dead Mall Series on YouTube for days of interesting content on the subject.

Palisades Center Mall (West Nyack, NY) 

So 1998, the Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel #15 was removed from Puente Hills Mall in California. It didn’t stay idle, however. 

No, the carousel went on another cross-country trip, back to New York, back to another mall. 

This mall was brand new at the time, though it had been under plan and development for around 16 years. Palisades Center Mall was built on the site of two former landfills, surrounding an old cemetery, and faced down opposition from locals who feared noise and crime well before any construction was even begun. When it opened in 1998, it became the second-largest shopping mall in the New York metro area, and the eighth-largest shopping mall in the US. 

PTC #15 was installed in the third-floor food court, a glorious anachronism against modern tubular white architecture and pipes (“industrial style”). There it spun, tinkling organ bouncing amongst the fast food restaurants and tables and trashcans, shimmering and brightly colored against the white of its surroundings.

Palisades Center Mall is apparently popular on YouTube with elevator enthusiasts, for having high speed “Montgomery Kone traction elevators”. (Did you know there’s an elevator Wiki? Of course there is. https://elevation.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Montgomery_elevator_fixtures)

Here is where the carousel was re-added to the National Register of Historic Places, in 2001. The carousel lasted for eleven years there in the mall food court, until mall management decided to replace the vintage machine with a modern double-decker masterpiece. In 2009, then, the PTC #15 was last seen operational in public, there in West Nyack, New York.

Carousel #15 in Oregon

Evicted from Palisades Center Mall, Carousel #15 was returned to the Perrons in Oregon. 

For some time, there were plans for a physical carousel museum. Well, there was a physical carousel museum, in Hood River, Oregon. It opened in 1999, and featured over 100 carousel animals on display for visitors to photograph. From an article about the museum, I learned that basswood is what both carousel horses and rulers are made out of, as it is a wood that doesn’t buckle, sweat, crack, or change shape. (The more you know!) 

Whether one or more horses from Carousel #15 was ever on display is not clear, but it’s unlikely, given that the carousel returned to Oregon in mid-2009.

The museum closed in 2010, with the intent of relocating, but this never occurred, and the museum stayed permanently shuttered. 

Conclusions

This then is the last time we hear from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel #15. By all accounts, the carousel is in storage there in Oregon, awaiting a new home. Out with a whimper and not a bang.

As recently as 2018, Jerry Zimmerman at the Wisconsin State Fair was still hoping to get PTC #15 back to Wisconsin – a news article from 2018 described it as his white whale.  “I have tried for years to find someone to bring that back, and I would like to tie that merry go round into a standalone unit on State Fair Park, anchoring a Wisconsin State Fair historical collection,” he said. “I would need a sponsor for about $1.5 million to bring it back to Milwaukee.”

At the height of the American carousel boom, there were said to be thousands of carousels, big and small, mostly handcarved. As the Depression wore on, production slowed, machines were dismantled or lost to fire, and today, there are said to be less than 150 vintage carousels remaining, with less than 50 of the caliber of PTC #15.

At this point, the magnificent carousel is still is storage somewhere in Oregon, under the care of the Perron family after Duane Perron passed away in 2018. Waiting.

56 horses. 52 feet in diameter. Many “firsts”. 600 lights. Four theme parks. Two malls. 

One truly historical carousel: Philadelphia Toboggan Company’s carousel #15.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

1. Muskego Historical Society – Photos. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Muskego-Historical-Society-125936920767648/photos/?tab=album&album_id=919519408076058. Accessed March 22, 2020.
2. Remembering Muskego. https://www.facebook.com/groups/74076678068/permalink/10152318693168069/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
3. Remembering Muskego. https://www.facebook.com/groups/74076678068/permalink/10153595412623069/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
4. Remembering Muskego. https://www.facebook.com/groups/74076678068/permalink/10155268807723069/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
5. Remembering Muskego. https://www.facebook.com/groups/74076678068/permalink/10155280218838069/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
6. 9 Jun 1913, Page 1 – The Evening World at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/78666530/?terms=%22fort%2Bgeorge%22%2Bcarousel&pqsid=mJkpnDv4BLTXj9a0-CyIXA%3A66000%3A260207193. Accessed March 16, 2020.
7. 23 May 1909, Page 1 – The Sun at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/78185331/?terms=%22fort%2Bgeorge%22%2Bcarousel&pqsid=mJkpnDv4BLTXj9a0-CyIXA%3A66000%3A260207193. Accessed March 16, 2020.
8. 30 Jun 1907, Page 33 – The Brooklyn Daily Eagle at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/57655397/?terms=%22fort%2Bgeorge%22%2Bcarousel&pqsid=mJkpnDv4BLTXj9a0-CyIXA%3A66000%3A260207193. Accessed March 16, 2020.
9. 1900s MANHATTAN NEW YORK NY. https://www.celebritycarsblog.com/store/1900s-Manhattan-New-York-Ny-wendel-s-Fort-George-Hotel-Nr-Amusement-Park-Token_372978905691.html. Accessed March 15, 2020.
10. Malina C. A Look Back At The History Of The Wisconsin State Fair. Wisconsin Public Radio. https://www.wpr.org/look-back-history-wisconsin-state-fair. Published August 5, 2015. Accessed March 21, 2020.
11. A Piece of Muskego’s Past for $2.2 Million | Muskego, WI Patch. https://patch.com/wisconsin/muskego/a-piece-of-muskego-s-past-for-2-2-million. Accessed March 24, 2020.
12. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1950.
13. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1956.
14. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1957.
15. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1958.
16. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1958.
17. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1959.
18. Billboard. Billboard Publications; 1950.
19. Brass Ring Entertainment: 1907 PTC Carousel #15. http://web.archive.org/web/20130304172119/http://carousel.com/antique/ptc.html. Published March 4, 2013. Accessed March 22, 2020.
20. Brief History of the Wisconsin State Fair. Wisconsin State Fair Park; 1992.
21. Carousel Rounding Boards Part 1. The Woodcarver’s Cabin. http://www.thewoodcarverscabin.com/workshop/carousel-rounding-boards-part-1/. Accessed March 19, 2020.
22. Dandelion Park in WI – CoasterBuzz. https://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/dandelion-park-in-wi. Accessed March 22, 2020.
23. dandilion.html. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~howardlake/history/amusement16/dandilion.html. Accessed March 22, 2020.
24. Dead Mall Watchlist: Puente Hills Mall. reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/cjtph6/dead_mall_watchlist_puente_hills_mall/. Accessed March 23, 2020.
25. Expo 86. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Expo_86&oldid=946051749. Accessed March 22, 2020.
26. Expo 86 (Vancouver, B.C.) – City of Vancouver Archives. https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/expo-86-21. Accessed March 22, 2020.
27. Expo 86: When Vancouver wooed the world, in 30 photos. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/expo-86-when-vancouver-wooed-the-world-30-photos-30-years-later. Accessed March 22, 2020.
28. Fort George Amusement Park. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_George_Amusement_Park&oldid=939676110. Accessed March 16, 2020.
29. Fort George Amusement Park | Museum of the City of New York. https://www.mcny.org/story/fort-george-amusement-park. Accessed March 19, 2020.
30. Fort George: Manhattan’s long-lost amusement park. 6sqft. https://www.6sqft.com/the-history-of-fort-george-manhattans-long-lost-amusement-park-in-inwood/. Accessed March 15, 2020.
31. ftgeorgeny.html. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~howardlake/history/amusement7/ftgeorgeny.html. Accessed March 16, 2020.
32. Fun City (West Allis, Wisconsin, United States). https://rcdb.com/9434.htm. Accessed March 22, 2020.
33. Help Identify this coaster! https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66558. Accessed March 24, 2020.
34. Historic Carousel Rides Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. https://www.philadelphiatoboggancoastersinc.com/active-rides/historic-carousel-rides/. Accessed March 15, 2020.
35. Historical-and-Architectural-Resources-Survey—Volume-1-of-2.pdf. https://www.westalliswi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/362/Historical-and-Architectural-Resources-Survey—Volume-1-of-2?bidId=. Accessed March 22, 2020.
36. Cindy. History in Pictures- Summer Fun Edition. Akron Ohio Moms. http://www.akronohiomoms.com/activities/camps/history-pictures-summer-fun-edition/. Published April 29, 2016. Accessed March 16, 2020.
37. admin. History of the Fort George Amusement Park. | My Inwood. November 2013. http://myinwood.net/fort-george-amusement-park/. Accessed March 15, 2020.
38. History Of The Wisconsin State Fair. WISN. https://www.wisn.com/article/history-of-the-wisconsin-state-fair/6294484. Published July 30, 2009. Accessed March 21, 2020.
39. International Museum of Carousel Art – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Museum_of_Carousel_Art. Accessed March 18, 2020.
40. International Museum of Carousel Art on Oregon.com. archive.is. http://archive.is/5mvN0. Published January 31, 2013. Accessed March 23, 2020.
41. Janesville Rd. | National or State Registers Record. Wisconsin Historical Society. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR969. Published January 1, 2012. Accessed March 15, 2020.
42. Hullum R. Jerry Zimmerman and the Hope for a Year-Round State Fair History Exhibit. Shepherd Express. https://shepherdexpress.com/api/content/78ed81f4-89eb-11e8-8a5d-12408cbff2b0/. Published July 17, 2018. Accessed March 21, 2020.
43. Lake George trip – 7/7-9/06 – jimvid. https://jimvid.smugmug.com/Amusement-Park/Lake-George-trip-77-906/i-b9fkfd7. Accessed March 24, 2020.
44. Lake Land Was Once a Cemetery. Muskego, WI Patch. https://patch.com/wisconsin/muskego/bp–lake-land-was-once-a-cemetery. Published June 30, 2012. Accessed March 22, 2020.
45. Gottlock B, Gottlock W. Lost Amusement Parks of New York City: Beyond Coney Island. Arcadia Publishing; 2013.
46. Lost Amusement Parks of New York City: Beyond Coney Island – Barbara Gottlock, Wesley Gottlock – Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=gdl2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT33&lpg=PT33&dq=%22Ptc+%2315%22&source=bl&ots=QHoqH_jb_U&sig=ACfU3U1fmiBwBPc3fkitZQMt8ZCnvMm9uQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTvMfowqDoAhUIHc0KHQutD8gQ6AEwD3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Ptc%20%2315%22&f=false. Accessed March 22, 2020.
47. Mall carousel. The Journal News. June 20, 1999:16.
48. Mall carousel. The Journal News. June 20, 1999:16.
49. Mall’s Future in Doubt Amid Many Questions – The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/12/nyregion/mall-s-future-in-doubt-amid-many-questions.html?src=pm. Accessed March 23, 2020.
50. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. https://www.jsonline.com/services/cobrand/header/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
51. Kaczkowski M. Milwaukee’s Historic Bowling Alleys. Arcadia Publishing; 2010.
52. Museum of the City of New York – Audubon Ave. [Amsterdam to Battery Place.]. https://collections.mcny.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=24UP1GCO8NEI&SMLS=1&RW=1280&RH=597. Accessed March 19, 2020.
53. Nuclear_Art. Muskego Beach.; 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/36625118@N00/6827404335/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
54. Muskego Beach. http://www.muskegohistory.org/MuskegoBeach.aspx. Accessed March 22, 2020.
55. Muskego Beach / DandiLion Park. http://retrocom.com/milwaukeetalk/index.php?topic=172.0. Accessed March 22, 2020.
56. Muskego Beach Amusement Park. http://www.wisconsinhistoricalmarkers.com/2014/12/muskego-beach-amusement-park.html. Accessed March 22, 2020.
57. Muskego Beach new owners 1968. Waukesha Daily Freeman. May 31, 1968:23.
58. Muskego Cemetery, Muskego Township Waukesha County, Wisconsin – Waukesha County WI. https://www.linkstothepast.com/waukesha/104.php. Accessed March 22, 2020.
59. Muskego Historical Society – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/125936920767648/photos/a.125939274100746/1504840396210620/?type=3. Accessed March 22, 2020.
60. Muskego Historical Society – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/125936920767648/photos/a.125939274100746/1516183058409687/?type=3. Accessed March 22, 2020.
61. Muskego injury 1952. The Oshkosh Northwestern. July 14, 1952:13.
62. National Carousel Association – Major Carousel Builders and Carvers, by Brian Morgan (Page 2 of 3). https://carousels.org/Carvers_Builders2.html. Accessed March 18, 2020.
63. New York Carousels | RoadsideArchitecture.com. https://roadarch.com/carousels/ny2.html. Accessed March 22, 2020.
64. Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934 – ). New York SP Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel Number 15.; 2013.
65. Ohio’s Amusement Parks in Vintage Postcards – David W. Francis, Diane DeMali Francis – Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=T1H_lzFYRngC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22lakeside+park%22+ohio+%22summit+beach%22&source=bl&ots=sMflBVu97f&sig=ACfU3U2FZWY1atqVb2hJNRQIsIA9C2L0eA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjU-ruciqPoAhUZHs0KHQ9WBl4Q6AEwCHoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22lakeside%20park%22%20ohio%20%22summit%20beach%22&f=false. Accessed March 17, 2020.
66. Palisades Center. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palisades_Center&oldid=945239926. Accessed March 23, 2020.
67. PALISADES CENTER REPLACES HISTORIC CAROUSEL. https://nypost.com/2009/08/27/palisades-center-replaces-historic-carousel/. Accessed March 16, 2020.
68. Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel Number 15. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philadelphia_Toboggan_Company_Carousel_Number_15&oldid=915065516. Accessed March 15, 2020.
69. Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel Number 15. LandmarkHunter.com. http://landmarkhunter.com/108842-philadelphia-toboggan-company-carousel-number-15. Accessed March 15, 2020.
70. caboose_rodeo. PTC #15 Palisades Mall NY.; 2007. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cemeteryrodeo/2150437385/. Accessed March 16, 2020.
71. Puente Hills Mall. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Puente_Hills_Mall&oldid=941783781. Accessed March 23, 2020.
72. Puente Hills Mall Aka Twin Pines Mall From Back To The Future! | Dead Mall Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-t8mQhlOjA. Accessed March 23, 2020.
73. Quassy Lake Carousel HistoryCarouselHistory.com. https://carouselhistory.com/quassy-lake-carousel-history/. Accessed March 18, 2020.
74. Remembering DandiLion Park in Muskego. WTMJ. March 2019. https://wtmj.com/we-love-wisconsin/2019/03/14/remembering-dandilion-park-in-muskego/. Accessed March 22, 2020.
75. Remembering the carousel museum that nearly came to Tacoma | Tacoma News Tribune. https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/larry-larue/article26251600.html. Accessed March 18, 2020.
76. Sep-Oct_10.pdf. https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:xx941jv5034/Sep-Oct_10.pdf. Accessed March 19, 2020.
77. summit beach Archives – Akron Postcards. https://akron.thomconte.com/tag/summit-beach/. Accessed March 17, 2020.
78. Summit Lake. Paranormal Playground. http://paranormalplayground.weebly.com/summitlake.html. Accessed March 16, 2020.
79. Summit Lake: A Place of History and Transformation. http://www.akronciviccommons.org/summit-lake-a-place-of-history-and-transformation1.html. Accessed March 16, 2020.
80. The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development, and Resources … Waukesha County Historical Society; 1880.
81. Glauber B. The surprising history of State Fair Park. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/07/31/state-fair-park-sees-125-years-wisconsin-cows-carnies-and-cream-puffs/510023001/. Accessed March 21, 2020.
82. Wren CS. Vancouver Unwraps Its World’s Fair. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/20/travel/vancouver-unwraps-its-world-s-fair.html. Published April 20, 1986. Accessed March 22, 2020.
83. Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934 – ). Wisconsin Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousel No. 15: Withdrawn.; 2013.
84. Wisconsin State Fair. Wisconsin Historical Society. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3963. Published December 14, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2020.
85. Wisconsin State Fair Park. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wisconsin_State_Fair_Park&oldid=928281377. Accessed March 22, 2020.
86. Wisconsin State Fair, 1900-’90: Entertaining, daring, unusual looks at life. https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/festivals/2019/07/30/wisconsin-state-fair-1900-90-entertaining-daring-unusual-looks-life/1864998001/. Accessed March 22, 2020.

The post Carousel #15 appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Credits: Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. Image of Santa billboard from Santa Claus, AZ is public domain. Theme music is from “Aerobatics in Slow Motion” by TeknoAXE. Incidental music includes “Jingle Bells (Calm)”, “Deck the Halls (A)”, “Deck the Halls (B)” by Kevin Macleod / incompetech.com; and “We Three Kings” by Alexander Nakarada (filmmusic.io). Effects all via freesound.org: “Jingle Bells” by JarredGibb (CC0); “Jingle Bells” by nfrae (CC0); “Arizona Walking” by kvgarlic (CC0); “Howling Wind in Chimney” by Maurice JK (CC by SA); “Merry Christmas” by metaepitome (CC0); and “Merry Christmas” by maestroalf (CC0).

The First Theme Park?

When you’re researching anything, an easy question to ask is, what was the first? What was the first fast food restaurant? (White Castle, 1921) What was the first interstate highway in the US? (A complicated answer, but either a portion of what is now I-70 in Missouri, which had the first contract signed in 1956; a portion of I-70 in Kansas for being the first to actually start paving in 1956; or part of I-70 in Pennsylvania, as it was opened as a highway in 1940 and later incorporated into the interstate system.) 

To bring it around to The Abandoned Carousel, what was the first theme park? 

Not the first amusement park, to be clear. Let’s draw some lines with terminology. Amusement parks in the US go back a century and a half, at the least, with trolley parks in the middle of the 19th century considered to be some of the first true amusement parks in the US. Lake Compounce in Connecticut is said to be the oldest continuously operating park in the US, opened in 1846. The earliest amusement park in the world still in operation is called Bakken, located near Copenhagen, Denmark, and said to have opened in 1583. But these are “just” amusement parks – places where visitors are amused, with rides and leisure activities and so on.

A theme park is a horse of a slightly different color – an amusement park, but with a theme or themed area to organize it. Society in general popularly likes to point to Disneyland and the enormous influence Walt Disney’s first park had on the theme park concept, but as I mentioned in the last episode – theme parks existed before Disneyland. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today – the first theme park in the US. Coincidentally, several of the first theme parks had Santa Claus as a theme. So seasons greetings to everyone here in the end of 2019 – let’s talk about the history of Santa Claus and a few of his homes in the US.

Christmas and Santa Claus

What’s the deal with Santa Claus, after all, if we’re going to talk about him a lot today?

Santa as we know him today is an amalgamation of the 4th century saint, Saint Nicholas; the British Father Christmas; the Dutch Sinterklaas; and the Germanic god Woden, associated with Yule. He is associated with the holiday of Christmas.

Christmas as a holiday has meant a lot of different things throughout the years. I’ll only touch on this briefly here. We have the obvious association of December 25, considered the birthday of Jesus Christ in Christian religions. In the Roman calendar, December 25th was also the date of the winter solstice. The medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays, early versions of Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas known today. The Middle Ages saw an association of Christmas with lewdness, debauchery, and parties. The Puritans and the Pilgrims actually banned Christmas in the mid-1600s for being too strongly associated with drunkenness. In response, the churches called for the holiday to be celebrated in a more devout and religious fashion. 

From the 1800s onward, public perception of Christmas began to be re-shaped as a time for family and gift-giving. This was popularized by Charles Dickens’ 1843 A Christmas Carol, which created or combined much of what we now consider a Christmas celebration. It’s been referred to as the “carol philosophy”, promoting goodwill towards all men, values that could be espoused by both religious and secular alike. By 1870, the Puritan attitudes had shifted, and Christmas was declared an official US holiday.

Santa Claus’s Origins

Today, of course, it can be argued that Christmas, and particularly Santa Claus, are largely commercial juggernauts more than anything.

As the North American colonies developed throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s, his familiar accoutrements were established. Rivington’s Gazette was the first American paper to establish the name Santa Claus, back in 1773. Santa was immortalized in print, with poems and story books, and of course, The Night Before Christmas, published in 1823. 

Washington Irving’s 1809 parody of New York culture was the first to take the traditional bishop dress (derived from St. Nicholas) away and give Santa a pipe and a winter coat. 

Thomas Nast and Santa Claus

But it was a political cartoonist during the Civil War that gave us the modern image of Santa Claus, the man we think of today. 

Thomas Nast was a Bavarian-born immigrant who came to America as a child. He did poorly at most school subjects, but showed an early passion for drawing. By the age of 18, with several years of artistic study under his belt, his drawings first appeared in the magazine Harper’s Weekly. 

He had a long history with that magazine, and has come to be known as the “father of the American cartoon”. He advocated for the abolition of slavery and opposed racial segregation. He also created the modern political symbol for the Republican party (the elephant). His cartoons were instrumental in public sentiment for the 1860s elections of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, and are said to be responsible for the election of Grover Cleveland, the first Democrat elected after almost thirty years of Republicans. “In the words of the artist’s grandson, Thomas Nast St Hill, “it was generally conceded that Nast’s support won Cleveland the small margin by which he was elected. In this his last national political campaign, Nast had, in fact, ‘made a president’.””

And amongst his list of credentials, he created the modern image of Santa Claus, originally used for political commentary.

The Christmas issue of Harper’s Weekly for the 1862-1863 season was published in January of 1863. It was the middle of the Civil War, the year of the battles of Shiloh, Manassas, and Antietam; it was a year with the Union experiencing both extreme trial and intense hope. The nation was divided by Civil War, and the celebration of Christmas brought conflicting emotions. 

Nast drew several images, including the cover image. It was titled “Santa Claus at Camp”. His drawing depicted a Santa Claus figure, arriving by sleigh in a Union army camp to distribute gifts and good cheer. His Santa is shown in an American flag inspired outfit – stars on top, stripes on the bottom, everything fur trimmed, with a pointy hat. It was originally political commentary or even pro-Union propaganda. Lincoln reportedly once said that NAst’s images, politicizing Santa, were “”the best recruiting sergeant the North ever had””. Despite the political roots, Nast’s images set the seeds for today’s Santa. 

Nast was reportedly also responsible for fixing Santa’s home address as the “North Pole”. This was done after the Civil War, and was reportedly done “so no nation can claim him as their own”, for propaganda, as Nast himself had done.

He continued drawing Santa, publishing at least 33 Santa images for Harper’s Weekly over his time there. His 1881 image “Merry Old Santa Claus” is probably his most famous, showing a twinkly-eyed bearded man, dressed all in red, clutching bundles of toys. But like the Santa Claus at Camp image, this is more political commentary, actually relating to the government’s indecisiveness over raising the wages of the military. It’s odd and fascinating that political cartoons could shape our cultural images so strongly.

20th Century Santa

In the 20th century, literature and promotional images continued to shape and refine our images of the jolly old man. L. Frank Baum, the very same author who penned The Wizard of Oz series, actually wrote a book about Santa in 1902, called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This book established much of the Santa mythology. And as an interesting sidebar, Santa has a small cameo – he appears in The Road to Oz, one of the sequels to Wizard of Oz.

Even more influential were yet more promotional images. 

As we’ve already discussed, Santa was shaped by political commentary, so it’s not surprising he moved on to the world of commercial promotion through the late 1800s and early 1900s. His image, however, was not consistent from artist to artist. Much relied on the famous poem, the line “a little old driver, so lively and quick”, with many interpretations. Images were tweaked and edited, still not the consistent idea of Santa from our modern times. Sometimes Santa was tall and thin, sometimes he was elven, and so on. 

This time, they were the promotional campaigns of that beverage giant, Coca-Cola.  In the 1930s, they were looking for a new way to increase soda sales during the winter, with the slogan, “Thirst Knows No Season.” Enter stage left: Haddon H. Sundblom. 

Sundblom worked for Coke, and was assigned to draw a new Santa for the Coca-Cola company, then. He came up with a modern image of Santa – friendly, warm, pleasant, plump. He was a cheerful, rotund man with white hair and a red suit, red cheeks, and a jolly affect. Sundblom’s first ads with new Santa debuted in 1931.

They were a hit, to say the least. Coke still sometimes uses Sundblom’s original art in their ads to this day. And not only is it Coke. After the 1931 ads, this was the image of Santa that was codified in cultural imagination. No longer were there interpretations of Santa, tall and thin, elven, etc. No, Sundblom’s characterization of Santa became the ideal image of the legend that still carries on today. 

Charles Howard’s Santa Claus

People, of course, had dressed up as Santa as far back as the legend goes. Early costumed Santas were often used around the holiday season to ring bells and solicit monetary donations for the poor. It’s said that the first department store Santa appeared in 1890, when a man in Brockton, Massachusetts named James Edgar dressed as Thomas Nast’s jolly Santa for the delight of children in the store. 

Said a man who saw Edgar as a child: “You just can’t imagine what it was like. I remember walking down an aisle and, all of a sudden, I saw Santa Claus. I couldn’t believe my eyes, and then Santa came up and started talking to me. It was a dream come true.”

By the turn of the century, the idea had caught on and the department store Santa was a common figure, so much so that some papers of the time issued cries for “only one Santa Claus per town”.

Charles Howard

The big name in the Santa Claus field, as I’ve learned, was a guy named Charles Howard, apparently quite well known in the Albion area, some 60 miles north of Buffalo.

Charles Howard was born in Albion, NY around the turn of the century, in 1896. He was a farmer and a toymaker and a secretary for the county fair association. Some describe him as having a flair for the dramatic. As a child, his mother sewed him a suit, a Santa Claus suit, so that Howard could play the role of Santa as “a short fat boy”. He continued with the role as he got older, making new suits as he grew. 

Somewhere in the early 1930s, he suggested that a local furniture store hire him to play the role of Santa while making toys in the front window during the holiday season. Eventually, he moved to the big city, 35 miles from Albion in Rochester, NY, where the owner reportedly took one look at Howard dressed in his suit and asked him “when can you start?” 

The popular story of Howard realizing the importance of Santa, immortalized by Howard himself, goes as follows. “One morning a little girl came in and watched him work. She stood there for some time before she ventured closer. Then a step at a time she walked up to him and very timidly asked, ‘Santa, will you promise me something?’ Santa looked at the child and said, ‘What is it you want me to promise?’ He had already learned that promises sometimes meant heartaches. He did not want to make any mistakes. However this child seemed so sincere, so earnest, he took her little hand in his. The child drew closer, looked up into his face with all the love and trust that a five year old could and whispered, ‘Will you promise me you will never shave?’”  

This triggered a curiosity for Howard – if Santa meant so much to one, he must mean so much to many. “Who was this old fellow who meant so much to the children? Where did he come from? What did he stand for? Why did he wear that red suit? Why was it trimmed with white fur? Why this? And why that?”

At the same time, in his regular life, Howard was a traveling toy salesman. He saw many Santas throughout his travels, and reportedly “frowned on the unkempt costumes and lack of child psychology displayed by many department store Santas”. So in 1937, Howard established the Santa Claus School.

Santa Claus School

Charles Howard’s first class was a single student, but as he raised tuition, attendance grew at his Santa Claus school. He held classes on his farm, offering lessons on “psychology, costuming, make-up, whisker grooming, voice modulation, the history and legend of St. Nicholas and learning the correct way to “ho-ho-ho.””. It was Howard’s opinion that being Santa was about what was in your heart and head, not about the girth of your belly. 

He also developed a line of Santa Claus suits. They were fancier than the standard costume at the time, but as Howard said, “worthy of the character as we knew him”. Students at his school flocked to the suits, and took in the lessons. The details of being Santa were important, and Howard was reportedly a stickler for them. “How the suit should lay on you. How your beard should be; it had to be the right shape and the right length. And how your glasses should look … everything had to be perfect. He wanted every [Santa] to be as close as possible to each other.”

Santa Claus, Indiana

We’ll get back to Charles Howard and Albion in a little while. 

For now, let’s turn our attention away from New York and look down south some, to a small town in Indiana. We’ve got to turn our clocks back, too.

The year, as it goes, was 1855. 

A small town in Indiana was working on establishing a post office. They were already known as Santa Fe (pronounced ‘fee’, apparently). The trouble was, there was already another town in Indiana by that name. A meeting was held to pick a new name. Legend has many versions of the story after that point. Some say the wind blew the door open and with it a Santa Claus, barging into the meeting. Some say a child heard a passing sound of jingle bells and exclaimed “Santa Claus!”. Some say it was the fact that the meeting was held on Christmas Eve.

Whichever story you believe, all are certain to be fanciful versions of the true story, which we’ll never know. What we can know is that in 1856, the post office granted the town the official name of Santa Claus, Indiana. 

Well, this was the first time that there was a town by this name in the US. So the post office started sending some of the children’s letters there, the ones addressed to Santa Claus. It became this huge barrage of mail in the holiday season. Since at least 1914, various groups of people began answering the children’s letters that were sent to Santa, both nationally and locally. 

The town began to attract national attention in 1929, when the post office in Santa Claus was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon strip. And then we enter the 1930s.

1930s: A Big Decade in Santa Claus Operations

The 1930s were a big decade in Santa Claus operations here in the US, away from the North Pole, with a lot of Santa-related things happening simultaneously. On a socio-political front, the recovery from the Great Depression was beginning, with FDR’s First New Deal alphabet soup agencies being put into place. And big changes were happening all over – Route 66 was being built, among many other events not relevant to the show. Perhaps the attitude was one looking for hope and light. 

Santa Claus, IN in the 1930s

The 30s were a big time for the small town of Santa Claus, IN. 

Santa’s Candy Castle

We start with an entrepreneur by the name of Milt Harris. The tale goes that he looked around the town of Santa Claus and saw no Santa. The big guy wasn’t anywhere to be found. So Harris began creating the first true tourist attraction in Santa Claus, apparently in conjunction with the town postmaster James Martin. First, though, he leased nearly all of the land in and around the town – something like 1000 acres. And he began securing sponsorships from various business entities.

His attraction, Santa’s Candy Castle, was dedicated in December of 1935. It was sponsored by Curtiss Candy Company, the inventor of the Butterfinger and the Baby Ruth candy bars. Today,  they’re unsurprisingly a Nestle subsidiary. Sandy’s Candy Castle was the first tourist attraction in the town of Santa Claus, and by some accounts, the first themed attraction in the US, although that seems an unlikely claim, hard to prove.

Santa’s Candy Castle was a red brick building shaped like an actual castle, with a crenellated tower, turret, and rotunda. The next year, new attractions were added, and collectively, they were called Santa Claus Town. The Toy Village was incredibly popular, with multiple fairytale-themed buildings, each sponsored by a national toy manufacturer. This was reportedly quite popular, with children able to play with all of the hot new toys they’d heard about, for free. As the years rolled on, Harris reportedly managed to negotiate a sweet deal. For a period of time, retailers (including Marshall Fields) would arrange for toys purchased in Chicago to be shipped from the Santa Claus post office in Indiana, with that official Santa Claus postmark. 

Santa’s Workshop was also added, where children could watch a Santa Claus making wooden toys. (Though our friend Charles Howard was a Santa who could actually make wooden toys, it doesn’t appear that he performed the role at the Candy Castle, though that parallel would’ve been delightful.)

The Candy Castle was a success, in no small part because it was a free or cheap attraction to provide entertainment for kids during and after the Great Depression. 

Martin and Yellig: Making Dreams Come True

Now, as I mentioned earlier, the town postmaster, James Martin, was pretty heavily involved in all of this, because as town postmaster, he had his finger in the pie, so to speak. He noted the increased volume of letters being sent by children to “Santa Claus” around the holidays, and he took it upon himself to begin answering the letters. (This was a not insignificant amount of mail. In the 1940s, the post office reportedly handled 1.5 million pieces of mail, and in the 1950s, a newspaper article noted that the park handled over 4 million pieces of mail during the Christmas season each year. A 2014 article, though, has revised this number down to half a million pieces per year, and a 2017 article indicates the number is down around 200,000.)

Martin had a friend, a guy named Jim Yellig. Born Raymond Joseph, but known to his friends as Jim, Yellig was another guy with a Santa association from early on. While he was serving in the Navy during the first World War, his ship was docked in Brooklyn, NY, and the crew was throwing a Christmas party for underprivileged children. Yellig was chosen to play Santa Claus. The story goes that he was apparently so touched by the children’s happiness at seeing “Santa” that he prayed “If you get me through this war, Lord, I will forever be Santa Claus.”

Yellig opened a restaurant called The Chateau in Mariah Hill, Indiana, a few miles north of Santa Claus, Indiana. He began driving to Santa Claus to visit his friend Martin, the postmaster, and soon after, Martin enlisted Yellig’s help in responding to the children’s Christmas letters. By 1935, Yellig formed the Santa Claus American Legion Post in order to assist with the letters as Santa’s helpers, and he began dressing up as Santa and making appearances around the town of Santa Claus, including at Santa’s Candy Castle. He actually took a class from Charles Howard’s Santa Claus School. Held at Santa’s Candy Castle in 1938, this was the only time these two incredibly famous Santas were known to have met. (A picture of this meeting can be found here.) From this point, Yellig began being known as “The Real Santa from Santa Claus”.

A Tale of the Santa Claus Statue

At the same time that Yellig was coming onto the scene, Harris’ plans for the Candy Castle caught the attention of another entrepreneur, reportedly Harris’ arch-rival, a guy named Carl Barrett. Now, Barrett decided that he didn’t like Harris’ “materialism”, and so Barrett began planning his own attraction, called “Santa Claus Park”, in direct competition with Harris, just down the road, less than half a mile away.

On Christmas Day 1935, just days after Harris’ Candy Castle opened, Barrett dedicated a 22-ft tall statue of Santa, erected on the highest hill in the town. He claimed it was paid for by the people, that it was built on the spot where a meteor had landed and therefore was divinely inspired, and that the statue was made out of granite. At least one of those claims later was revealed to be false.

Barrett’s plans were just as big as Harris’. Barrett wanted to make his Santa Claus Park a world shrine, a children’s dream paradise with log cabins, a giant doll house, and an ice village. It never moved forward, however, as in January, Harris sued Barrett, essentially derailing both their grand plans. 

Lawsuits went back and forth, mostly regarding land ownership, and even made it as high up as the Indiana Supreme Court. They were battling over the right to Santa. Harris and Martin were able to continue expanding Santa Claus Town due to their sponsor partnerships, but Barrett’s more principled “of the people” stance relied solely on personal donations due to his spectacular Santa.

But the thing was, people began to notice the statue didn’t look so great. In fact, it had started cracking and crumbling. And obviously, granite sculptures don’t do that. As it turns out, the statue was made out of concrete, and Barrett had lied. This obviously didn’t sit well with the townsfolk. Unfortunately, war broke out, World War II, more than just a petty squabble between business rivals. Things grew quiet in Santa Claus, IN, and the attractions there, especially Barrett’s Santa Claus Park, fell into disrepair and neglect.   

Santa Claus, AZ and Santa Claus, GA

Let’s step back in time a bit, and interrogate something I mentioned earlier. 

Now, apparently, by 1928, the US post office supposedly decided that there would be no other post office with the name of “Santa Claus” due to the influx of holiday mail and the staffing problems it caused over in Indiana. This is an unsubstantiated fact from Wikipedia, but it does appear to be technically accurate. There is only one post office in a town named Santa Claus, and that’s Santa Claus, IN. But there are two other towns by this name: one in AZ, and one in GA. 

Santa Claus, GA

I’ll discuss the latter first. Established in 1941, Santa Claus, GA is one of those cute little small American towns. Located a few miles from Vidalia (home of the onion by the same name), the town of Santa Claus, GA is tiny, with only a couple hundred people. It’s quaint, with holiday-themed street names, a Santa Claus mailbox (but not a post office!), and an oversized Santa statue that people can pose for pictures by. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the place for the purposes of our podcast – the town was reportedly named in an effort to drive traffic to local pecan farms. It’s too small for any fancy restaurants or attractions beyond the name, but it’s still there.

Santa Claus, AZ

Now, let’s get to Santa Claus, AZ. Santa Claus, in Arizona? Yup.

I grew up in the Arizona desert myself, and the notion of a Santa Claus town there has tickled my funny bone since I first heard about it. There’s just something so absurd about trying to focus on Santa and icicles and snow when you’re surrounded by creosote and tiny lizards and endless brown desert dirt, and don’t even own a winter coat. 

Santa Claus, AZ was the brainchild of a realtor named Ninon (sometimes spelled Nina) Talbot who was born in 1888. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to focus on a woman for part of this podcast, finally. 

The famous sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein had nothing but praise for Talbot, describing her thusly: “In her own field, she was an artist equal to Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare.” No, this was not the kind of caliber of person I was expecting when I set out to shape a holiday episode of a podcast about abandoned theme parks and attractions.

Talbot promoted herself as the biggest real estate agent in California, a fun play on words since she also was apparently over 300 pounds at the time. “The Biggest in the Business!” was her slogan, and thank goodness, we’ve got a person who has a sense of humor. Talbot and her husband moved from Los Angeles to Kingman (AZ) in the late 1920s or early 1930s, with the goal of selling land or setting up a resort or otherwise making some money. Kingman was a hub of sorts, functioning as the big city to service all the small mining towns that littered the hills. Too, it attracted folks stopping off old Route 66, the Mother Road.

Talbot established herself with a hotel first, called the Kit Carson Guest House, located right in the heart of Kingman at the intersection of what is now I-40 and US 93. Here she honed her skills in charisma and cooking, enticing guests. Said a person who knew her at the time “She knew how to treat people. She could sell you anything you didn’t even want.”

After a few years, Talbot sold the Kit Carson Guest House, with a new profitable venture in mind. She purchased 80 acres of land, some 14 miles north of the town of Kingman. (That’s probably meaningless to non-locals – the town in question is in the northwest section of the state, about an hour and a half south from Las Vegas, three and a half hours north of Phoenix.) 

The town of Santa Claus, with the obvious theming implied by the name, was officially incorporated in 1937.

She called it Santa Claus as a promotion, as a way to attract folks to the town to buy the 1-acre plots of land she was selling surrounding it, called Santa Claus Acres. Spoiler alert: it never really worked, and it’s generally accepted that the only people who actually lived in the town were the workers at the various town attractions.

Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam)

You might be asking yourself, though, why someone would think it was a good or profitable idea to try and sell land up in this remote area of the state, and to have it make sense, I need to tell you about what else was going on in AZ at the time. 

In the early 1900s through the 1920s, it was settled that a dam on the Colorado River would provide flood control, irrigation water, and hydroelectric power generation for a growing number of people occupying these desert towns. Additionally, it would allow US 93 to connect Arizona and Las Vegas, instead of the ferry boat in use prior. President Coolidge authorized the Boulder Canyon Project Act in December of 1928, and construction began in 1931 on one of America’s “Seven Modern Engineering Wonders”. 

Suddenly, tens of thousands of workers were moving into the area to begin building the massive dam, many living in the model city of Boulder City, Nevada. Not only that, but the construction of the dam was on such a huge scale that it became a tourist attraction before it was completed in 1936, and after. Suddenly there was this huge new audience driving past to see the Hoover Dam (originally called the Boulder Dam). 

Talbot was on to something.

Santa Claus AZ as an Attraction

At the time, drivers still expected to be surprised around every bend of the road. They wanted to have a great time, and not make great time, as the saying goes. Or perhaps didn’t have a choice – this was the age before the implementation of the interstate highway system (remember the beginning of the episode? It always ties in somehow!).  Thus, the proliferation and success of roadside attractions, corridors with wild theming and over the top names to entice drivers to stop. (Remember Prehistoric Forest in Irish Hills, MI, back in episode 4 of TAC?) It didn’t matter if the attraction itself was makeshift, a bit garish, and something of a let-down. It was the idea that mattered.

Santa Claus, AZ was one of these, enticing visitors as they drove to and from Vegas, Hoover Dam, Kingman, Phoenix, and so on.

See, while people didn’t actually want to live there, Talbot managed to create a fun roadside attraction nonetheless. Everything had a Santa theme or a North Pole theme, with candy-cane striped buildings and green roofs. It kind of had a Swiss chalet feeling, which was certainly startling in the desert (especially back in the day, it was a lot of adobe and cheap wood, not Swiss chalets with gingerbread trim). 

Talbot called her town “The Pride of the Desert”, and it was said that in its heyday, Santa Claus could rival anything else along old Route 66. (Only back then, it was new: Route 66 began paving in 1931.) Talbot’s charisma and excellent home cooking were perfect bedfellows for the incongruous theming at this otherwise lonely desert gas stop.

As famed writer Robert Heinlein, known for Starship Troopers among others, wrote of the town in his 1950 story “Cliff and the Calories”, as it arose from the “grimmest desert in the world”. “You know what most desert gas stations look like — put together out of odds and ends. Here was a beautiful fairytale cottage with wavy candy stripes in the shingles. It had a broad brick chimney — and Santa Claus was about to climb down the chimney! Between the station and the cottage were two incredible little dolls’ houses. One was marked Cinderella’s House, and Mistress Mary Quite Contrary was making the garden grow. The other one needed no sign: the Three Little Pigs, and the Big Bad Wolf was stuck in its’ chimney.”

The centerpiece building was named the Santa Claus Inn. Though some retellings of the town’s story indicate this was solely a renamed Kit Carson Guest House, this was a brand new building, designed by Talbot’s husband and built by local Kingsman contractor W. J. Zinck. In addition to the holiday decoration and prominent Santa Claus, a Christmas tree too stood outside (the building was later renamed the Christmas Tree Inn). 

Inside, the restaurant was decorated with nursery rhyme paintings from a former Disney animator, Walter Winsett. Breakfast was $0.75, about $13 in today’s money; lunch $1; and dinner $1.50. The restaurant was famed for its Chicken a la North Pole and Rum Pie a la Kris Kringle. Talbot dressed as Mrs. Claus, and brought her vivacious energy to the task at hand. “Any known or asked-for dish or delicacy asked for will be served. The everyday routine provision of ordinary food is not the policy of this cage,” she once said. Year round, she served five course meals every day. A historical postcard shows a sample menu: olives, celery, iceberg; fruit or shrimp cocktail; tomato or chicken soup; chicken, lamb chops, or filet mignon; sherbet; salad; multiple desserts like ice cream, pie, or cake; and coffee and mints. All, of course, with appropriately holiday-themed names. 

Talbot’s cooking brought some modicum of fame to the attraction. Famed food critic Duncan Hines (now best known for the cake mixes bearing his name) made early Zagat-type guides of good restaurants across the country for his friends – an essential at a time prior to GPS, cell phone data, or the internet. One of his recommendations was the Santa Claus Inn, which in addition to good food offered a moderately air-conditioned space through the use of swamp coolers, a relatively new technology at the time. Hines considered the Santa Claus Inn to be one of the best places to eat in Arizona, and even included her rum pie recipe in one of his cookbooks. “Perhaps the best rum pie you ever ate, chicken a la North Pole and lots of other unusual things.”

Other “attractions” included the tram shaped into a train, called “Santa Claus Arizona Express” with the “locomotive” called Old 12-25. A donkey wandered the grounds. Inside the two small cottages, nursery rhyme dioramas amused the children.

And of course, the special postbox. Although there was never an actual post office, a mailbox was available, with a special postmark – “Santa Claus, Arizona, via Kingman”. Talbot responded to every child’s Christmas letter. They also sent postcards to every visitor who stopped, whether for gas or food, reminding them to come back. 

The 30s through 50s in Santa Claus, AZ were a magical time.

Christmas Park, NY

We return to Albion, NY after the war, where our friend, Santa legend Charles Howard, had established his Santa Claus School. It ran for two months, in October and November, of each year. Howard continued to busy himself in the Santa Claus field. He served as Macy’s Santa-in-chief and reported was Santa in the first nationally televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He continued this appearance for the next 17 years, and even served as a Santa consultant for 1947’s “Miracle on 34th Street”.

Locally to Albion, Howard decided to expand his Santa Claus School with an attraction for the children, as well. It was called “Christmas Park”, and it was located right on his farm, where the school itself was located. 

In comparison with any true theme park, this is honestly closer to a playground with a theme, as honestly most summer festivals in my town have more rides and attractions today. Nonetheless, it was a draw for people of the time, when America was still recovering from the war and traveling locally. 

“Christmas Park” had a themed playground, a petting farm with goats and real reindeer, a wishing well, something called “Santa’s Gold Mine” (perhaps a pan for gold type attraction), a toy and gift shop, and a diesel-operated miniature train called “The Railmaster” that was memorable for going through a tunnel. Here’s a link to photos of the park in operation. Howard reportedly had a collection of antique sleighs placed throughout the park for theming purposes, as well. There was also a “Christmas Tree” ride, a specially made version of the classic Allan Herschell helicopter ride; instead of helicopters, the ride buggies were themed as Christmas ornaments. Inside the various barns and outbuildings, there were Christmas-themed displays, fake snow, and a constant stream of Christmas music.

The park opened in 1953, with a short 13-week summer season.

In later years, the park was open year round. According to accounts online from people who visited the park as children, there was no trouble believing in Santa Claus, because they lived in the same town and could see him anytime! 

Santa Claus Land: America’s First Theme Park

Back in Santa Claus, IN, the post-war landscape saw a lot of run-down attractions. A local businessman named Louis Koch entered the scene, looking for a retirement project. He and his wife had nine children, and loved the holidays. He thought the town of Santa Claus, with that wonderful name, needed more attractions that appealed to children, especially ones that featured Santa himself. In the early 40s, then, he purchased some lots of land in Santa Claus. The war postponed development on his attraction, and the family was able to break ground in 1945. 

The attraction was christened as “Santa Claus Land”, and it opened in August of 1946. And without much fanfare at all, I present to you the recognized first theme park in the US. That’s right, Koch’s little retirement project,“Santa Claus Land”, is considered America’s first theme park. 

It started out small, a sort of family business that Koch ran with his son Bill. Originally, the park had no entrance cost. It featured toy displays, Santa’s toy shop, a restaurant with a Bavarian village theme, and a few children’s rides, including the “Santa Claus Land Railroad”, a miniature train ride that went through Mother Goose-themed displays. And of course, there was Santa, portrayed by the legendary Jim Yellig who we talked about a little while ago, the so-called Real Santa Claus from Santa Claus.

Not only that, but the Santa Claus post office moved that same year, to a new building on the property of the Santa Claus Land park, when the former building was reported in bad condition. The original building itself was also moved and restored, renamed as House of Dolls, a doll exhibit.

Bill Koch, though initially pessimistic about the park’s chances for success, was buoyed by the first few years of operation, and he took over from his father. He expanded the park, adding a ride area (“Rudolph’s Reindeer Ranch”), the first Jeep-go-round ever manufactured (in 1947), and in 1948, a deer farm with a few of Santa’s reindeer. There were “educated animals” like the Fire Chief Rabbit and the Piano Playing Duck. There was a wax museum, called Hall of Famous Americans. 

The 1946 Christmas Room Restaurant was an incredibly popular “attraction” in the early years, like the Knotts’ serving chicken dinners that attracted long lines. Bill Koch was quoted as saying that their business in the early years was built on those chicken dinners.

In 1952, the Koch family put the park up for sale, with quite a few strings attached. The family was worried about the effect of managing the park on the Sr. Koch’s health. However, at the same time, they did not want to see the park commercialized. Reportedly, many of the townsfolk and park workers were opposed to the sale. Jim Yellig, said to have been Santa to more children than anyone else in the world, was quoted as saying “I hope it’s never sold. I’d be lost without this job. I love it so much.”

After a year on the market, the Koch family decided to retain ownership of the park. There had been several interested buyers, but none were willing to abide with the requirements on non-commercialization, so the decision was made to keep it within the family. 

By 1955, the park began charging admission: $0.50 for adults, kids free. A 1960 video is available on Youtube, showing a delightful scene of the park as it was.

In 1960, Bill Koch married Santa’s daughter, Patricia Yellig, daughter of Jim Yellig, a poetic reminder of the importance of the two families to the city of Santa Claus, IN. 

The Decline of Santa Claus, AZ

Back in Arizona, Talbot’s time at Santa Claus was coming to an end. World War II hadn’t necessarily been kind, closing US 93 road access across Hoover Dam for several years in the 1940s and slowing tourist traffic. Talbot’s husband Ed passed away in 1942, and she remarried two years later, still operating the restaurant and promoting her Santa Claus Acres lots. Several of the lots sold, but none were ever built upon, despite the proximity to the booming tourist attraction of the Hoover Dam and the location along the route to Las Vegas. Why?

Water, as always is the story in the desert. 

Santa Claus, AZ had unexpectedly been built atop land where the water table was very deep, due to a nearby geologic fault. No successful wells were dug, so water had to be hauled by tanker the 14 miles from Kingman, an expensive task. Notes on each dining table reminded guests not to waste water, signed “Mrs. Claus”. 

Talbot also began losing interest in running her tourist attraction due to her increasing gambling habit, reportedly gambling away entire days’ profits at a time. Her second husband died in 1947, and she was getting older, becoming less interested in water conservation and constant food service, especially with the lure of the gambling tables nearby. In 1950, she sold Santa Claus and moved back to Los Angeles near her children. 

The new owners, Doc and Erma Bromaghim, carried on where Ninon Talbot had left off, and for a decade, it was still a holiday at Santa Claus. However, business began to slow, and the Bromaghims began closing the attraction December through February starting in the mid-50s, in order to save money. Water again was a big issue. They were exhausted with trucking water, and reportedly drilled down a staggering 2,000 feet deep, still not finding water. This was the last straw, and they sold Santa Claus in 1965.

And from here, it was nothing but downhill for Santa Claus, with the common end-of-life tale for roadside attractions like this. At least eight different owners spun through the place, which clearly drew in those who didn’t give thought to the practicalities of water and customer service. But of course, no owner lasted long, and no one invested any money in improvements or even upkeep. Maintenance slipped, and things got shabby. The new owners stopped answering the children’s Christmas letters each year.

The holiday aesthetic of the neat and charming Santa village was lost. 

Where once there was Mrs. Santa Claus and her Rum Pie, there now was microwave sandwiches. The gas station closed, becoming a very slow moving antique and curio shop specializing in music boxes. One owner reportedly favored using mannequins in parked cars in an attempt to give the attraction an air of business. 

Author Mark Winegardner described the latter days of Santa Claus in his 1987 book “Elvis Presley Boulevard: From Sea to Shining Sea, Almost”: “Styrofoam silver bells, strands of burned-out Christmas lights and faded plastic likenesses of Old Saint Nick garnished this little village. A lopsided, artificial twenty-foot tree whistled in the wind beside a broken Coke machine and an empty ice freezer. Two of the three buildings were padlocked; through their windows, encrusted with layers of sand and decade-old aerosol snow.”

Drivers in the second half of the century weren’t looking for roadside attractions and surprises like their parents and grandparents had, either. People wanted to get where they were going, be it to the glimmers of Phoenix in one direction or Vegas in the other. 

A variety of new uses for Santa Claus were proposed throughout the years, but nothing went beyond the dreaming stage: a foster home, a trailer park, a cocktail lounge, a shopping center. Ultimately, the town was wiped from the official maps, and officially closed services in 1993 (some sources say 1995).

The entire “town” has been for sale off and on since. As of this recording, you can buy Santa Claus, Arizona for the princely sum of $440,000. The real estate listing (which you can view here) dully lists a brief history of the place, ending with the following in a scream, sans punctuation and with several typographical and grammatical errors: “4 ACRE ON MAJOR HWY BRING BACK THE ORGINAL TOWN OF SANTA CLAUSE ONCE HAD ITS ON POST OFFICE NUMBER THINK OF A GREAT SHOW CAR AND BIKE STOP MAKE A STATEMENT, REBUILD AND DRAW IN THE TOURIST AND LOCALS”. 

Route 93, where Santa Claus is located, is still the sole route between Vegas and the major Arizona cities, yet Santa Claus sits abandoned, covered in graffiti and dilapidated on the side of the road, in the middle of the harsh and unyielding Mojave Desert. 

It’s a cautionary note for the future of many desert cities, as water in the area becomes more scarce. What happens when a place is no longer habitable? Here lies Santa Claus, Arizona. 

Images of the abandoned interiors: http://www.placesthatwere.com/2015/07/christmas-tree-inn-in-abandoned-santa.html

The End of Santa Claus Land and Christmas Park and Santa Claus School? No.

It was reportedly one of Charles Howard’s great dreams, that modest little theme park called “Christmas Park”, sitting next to the school for Santa Clauses in Albion, NY. It was ultimately not a long-lived park, however. Howard became distressed with the direction the park was heading in 1964, quoted in an article at the time as saying, “They put in merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels. I have nothing against these things, but in Christmas Park a ferris wheel should be in the form of a Christmas wreath, and a merry-go-round should have reindeer to ride on.” His complaints came along with reports of financial troubles, and the next year in 1965, Christmas Park filed for bankruptcy, about ¾ of a million dollars in debt in today’s money. 

The entire operation was sold at auction; a man named Vincent Cardone purchased the school and theme park, and a woman named Elizabeth Babcock purchased the Santa suit business she’d been managing for several years. Other items and tracts of land were sold to other buyers. 

Howard died in 1966. Said by a journalist at the time, he “guided his sleigh into the limitless great beyond.”

http://nyhistoric.com/2012/12/santa-claus/ The remnants of Christmas Park were left alone, untouched by all accounts over the last 50 or so years, and still remain to this day, including the old train tunnel and the barns, some still with signs attached and Christmas wreaths decorating the insides. Today, a historical marker stands on the site. It reads: “Santa Claus. Charles W. Howard, 1896-1966. In 1937 he established here a world famous Santa Claus School, the first of its kind, and 1953 Christmas Park. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa Claus”. 

What about Santa Claus Land? 

The park continued to add new rides through the 60s, 70s and 80s, delightfully detailed on the park’s official timeline page: https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2019/05/15/timeline-santa-claus-land-holiday-world-splashin-safari/  In the 1970s, the park moved its entrance, signalling a major focus change from kid-focused to whole-family entertainment. They added nine major rides over the next decade. By 1984, the park changed its name to Holiday World, expanding with two new holiday-themed areas, Halloween and 4th of July. Jim Yellig served as Santa at the park from its opening in 1946 until a few months before his death in 1984. There’s also been a couple of community housing developments from the Koch family, called Christmas Lake Village and Holiday Village.

1993 saw the addition of a major waterpark called Splashin’ Safari, and 2006 saw the addition of a Thanksgiving themed area to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the park. The park is of course, still open today, a major, award-winning theme park and waterpark, and at least four generations of the Koch family have owned the park. In 2004, it won the international Applause award, honoring “foresight, originality, and creativity, plus sound business development and profitability,” the smallest theme park at the time to ever win said award. 

Ironically, the park is once again no longer open during the Christmas season, closed mid-November through mid-May. Visitors to Santa Claus, IN can find themselves in the same situation as folks 70 years ago – not a lot of Santa Claus in Santa Claus around the holidays. 

As part of the park’s 70th anniversary celebrations, the “Freedom Train”, the miniature railroad engine that had been the last original ride removed from the park, was brought back as a stationary display, considered by the park’s president as “an important part of our history”.

As for the Santa Claus School, it too is still in operation. It operated in Albion until 1968, at which point Charles Howard’s friends, Nate and Mary Ida Doran, moved the school to Bay City, MI. Tom and Holly Valent took over operation in 1987, and the school moved to Midland, MI, where it still teaches approximately 300 Santas per year today. 

And as of 2010, professional Santa Phillip L. Wenz authored the Santa Claus Oath, a set of guiding principles for those seeking to embody Santa Claus. It was dedicated in the honor of Charles Howard and Jim Yellig, in the rotunda of Santa’s Candy Castle, there in Santa Claus, IN. https://santaclausoath.webs.com/abouttheoath.htm 

Conclusions

Now, to the pedantic out there as we get back to our question about earliest theme parks. You might also award Knott’s Berry Farm the title of the first theme park, as it had a Wild West and Ghost Town area that opened all the way back in 1941. However, it was still primarily a restaurant at the time and didn’t become an enclosed theme park officially until the 50s or 60s. But that’s really neither here nor there. And of course, if you broaden the question to include “amusement” parks and not just theme parks, you’ll have to go back to the 1500s.

Of course, there was another Christmas theme park that was also considered one of the first theme parks in the US. But we’ll have to save that one for another year.

I really liked this quote I found while researching for this episode, in an article about historical preservation and Charles Howard. Orleans County historian Matt Ballard writes in a 2018 article: “Material culture serves a valuable purpose in the process of interpreting the past. Void of any physical representation of past cultures, we would lose all ability to understand the lives of those who lived without a voice.” It’s this quote that shines a light on at least my own fascination with abandoned places and abandoned theme parks. What we leave behind helps us understand what came before, especially if they were a person of less power.

Charles Howard, one of the great Santa Clauses, himself wrote a letter in favor of historical preservation for landmark buildings in Albion in the 1960s. From a young age, too, Howard realized that teaching the role of Santa was a great task and always viewed that task as a privilege. So important was this role, that Howard remarked, “To say there is no Santa Claus is the most erroneous statement in the world. Santa Claus is a thought that is passed from generation to generation. After time this thought takes on a human form. Maybe if all children and adults understand the symbolism of this thought we can actually attain Peace on Earth and good will to men everywhere.”

References

Santa Claus, AZ

1. Arizona Name Stories: Winter Holiday Edition. Names ReDefined. December 2018. https://storiesaboutnames.wordpress.com/2018/12/03/arizona-name-stories-winter-holiday-edition/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
2. PlacesThatWere. Christmas Tree Inn in abandoned Santa Claus, Arizona. Places That Were. http://www.placesthatwere.com/2015/07/christmas-tree-inn-in-abandoned-santa.html. Accessed December 8, 2019.
3. www.nerdmecca.com. Christmas Tree Inn, Santa Claus, Arizona – Ghost Towns of Arizona and Surrounding States. http://www.ghosttownaz.info/santa-claus-arizona.php. Accessed December 8, 2019.
4. Thompson C. Clay Thompson’s Valley 101: A Slightly Skewed Guide to Living in Arizona. American Traveler Press; 2003.
5. Ho! Ho! Ho! Have you been to Santa Claus, AZ? KNXV. https://www.abc15.com/entertainment/events/santa-claus-arizona-yes-there-used-to-be-a-christmas-themed-town-in-arizona. Published December 9, 2016. Accessed December 8, 2019.
6. Hoover Dam. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hoover_Dam&oldid=928283754. Accessed December 8, 2019.
7. Keeping It Straight: Welcome to Santa Claus, Arizona. Kingman Daily Miner. https://kdminer.com/news/2015/jul/09/keeping-it-straight-welcome-to-santa-claus-arizon/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
8. Towne DC. MAYBE CHRISTMAS WASN’T MEANT TO LAST FOREVER: The Rise and Fall of Santa Claus, Arizona. The Journal of Arizona History. 2008;49(3):233-254.
9. Meet Santa Claus, Arizona: An Abandoned Theme Town In The Middle Of The Desert. TravelAwaits. https://www.travelawaits.com/2479200/santa-claus-arizona-abandoned-theme-town/. Published September 6, 2019. Accessed December 8, 2019.
10. Ninon Talbott. Restaurant-ing through history. https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/tag/ninon-talbott/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
11. Pomona Public Library Digital Collections : Item Viewer. http://content.ci.pomona.ca.us/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Frasher&CISOPTR=3483&CISOBOX=1&REC=2. Accessed December 8, 2019.
12. r/arizona – Christmas, Arizona. reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/arizona/comments/7jmdq5/christmas_arizona/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
13. Ruins of Santa’s Land, Santa Claus, Arizona. RoadsideAmerica.com. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14388. Accessed December 8, 2019.
14. Santa Claus ghost town: The abandoned Christmas-themed park in Arizona. The Vintage News. June 2016. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/06/07/santa-claus-ghost-town-the-abandoned-christmas-themed-park-in-arizona/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
15. Lost NQ. SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN. NEVER QUITE LOST. November 2015. https://neverquitelost.com/2015/11/20/santa-claus-is-comin-to-town/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
16. Inc Z. Santa Claus Real Estate – Santa Claus Golden Valley Homes For Sale. Zillow. https://www.zillow.com:443/homes/Santa-Claus,-Golden-Valley,-AZ_rb/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
17. Trimble M. Santa Claus, Arizona. True West Magazine. December 2016. https://truewestmagazine.com/santa-claus-arizona/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
18. Santa Claus, Arizona. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Claus,_Arizona&oldid=925254378. Accessed December 5, 2019.
19. Santa Claus, Arizona. Atlas Obscura. http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/santa-claus-arizona. Accessed December 5, 2019.
20. Santa Claus, Arizona – Far from the North Pole. Abandoned Spaces. February 2018. https://www.abandonedspaces.com/towns/santa-claus-arizona.html. Accessed December 8, 2019.
21. Santa Claus, Arizona: A Brief History. Arizona Highways. https://www.arizonahighways.com/blog/santa-claus-arizona-brief-history. Published December 21, 2015. Accessed December 8, 2019.
22. Santa Claus, AZ – Ruins of Santa’s Land. RoadsideAmerica.com. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/12727. Accessed December 8, 2019.
23. Santa Claus: Arizona Ghost Town of Christmas Past. Images Arizona. November 2016. https://imagesarizona.com/santa-claus-arizona-ghost-town-of-christmas-past/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
24. Santa Claus: Arizona Ghost Town of Christmas Past. Images Arizona. November 2016. https://imagesarizona.com/santa-claus-arizona-ghost-town-of-christmas-past/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
25. Matthews L. The Abandoned Christmas Town in the Arizona Desert. Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a18685/santa-claus-arizona/. Published December 23, 2015. Accessed December 8, 2019.
26. The once-festive town of Santa Claus (just off RT-66) is now abandoned and run by rattlesnakes. Roadtrippers. https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/once-festive-town-santa-claus-arizona/. Published December 18, 2018. Accessed December 8, 2019.
27. Clark M. The Route 66 Cookbook: Comfort Food from the Mother Road. Council Oak Books; 2003.
28. Roadsidepictures. This Is It!; 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/2210370280/. Accessed December 8, 2019.
29. U.S. Route 66 in Arizona. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=U.S._Route_66_in_Arizona&oldid=924959230. Accessed December 8, 2019.
30. Matthews L. We’re Fascinated by This Abandoned Christmas-Themed Desert Town. Country Living. https://www.countryliving.com/homes/real-estate/santa-claus-arizona. Published December 22, 2015. Accessed December 8, 2019.

Santa Claus, IN; Charles Howard; Santa Claus Land

1. $2,000 closer to Charles Howard statue. The Daily News. http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/article/20190907/BDN01/190909637. Accessed December 6, 2019.
2. Santa Claus Land – Home. https://www.facebook.com/SantaClausLand/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
3. 80-year-old Candy Castle still popular with kids. Dubois County Herald. https://duboiscountyherald.com/b/80-year-old-candy-castle-still-popular-with-kids. Accessed December 9, 2019.
4. 1960s “Santa Claus Land” Film (Now Holiday World). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u4WKeEVS6Q. Accessed December 11, 2019.
5. 1960s “Santa Claus Land” film (now Holiday World) – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=2u4WKeEVS6Q&feature=emb_title. Accessed December 4, 2019.
6. Townsend AA. Albion. Arcadia Publishing; 2005.
7. America’s First Theme Park Was All Santa, All the Time | Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/89923/americas-first-theme-park-was-all-santa-all-time. Accessed December 4, 2019.
8. Carroll A. America’s First Theme Park: Berries, Chicken, & Ghost Towns. Medium. https://medium.com/@austincarroll/americas-first-theme-park-berries-chicken-ghost-towns-d6dea86292d2. Published May 1, 2018. Accessed December 4, 2019.
9. Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School. Atlas Obscura. http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/charles-w-howard-santa-claus-school. Accessed December 6, 2019.
10. Christmas Park – Albion, New York. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqzyXZDVihs. Accessed December 6, 2019.
11. County Legislature votes in support of dedicating Route 31 in memory of Charles W. Howard | Orleans Hub. https://orleanshub.com/county-legislature-votes-in-support-of-dedicating-route-31-in-memory-of-charles-w-howard/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
12. CWH Santa Claus School| Santa & Mrs. Claus | Michigan. CWH Santa Claus School. https://www.santaclausschool.com. Accessed December 11, 2019.
13. Curtiss S. Dear Santa: Santa Claus, Indiana. The Weekly Special – Indiana Public Media. https://indianapublicmedia.org/theweeklyspecial/dear-santa-santa-claus-indiana/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
14. Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York on June 9, 1965 · Page 13. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/136520476/. Accessed December 11, 2019.
15. Fond Memories of Santa! Kim’s Thoughts. December 2007. https://thoughtsbykim.com/2007/12/21/fond-memories-of-santa/. Accessed December 11, 2019.
16. Founder of Santa Claus School also was a farmer | Orleans County Department of History. http://orleanscountyhistorian.org/founder-of-santa-claus-school-also-was-a-farmer/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
17. Freedom Train Returning to Holiday World. https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/31241150/freedom-train-returning-to-holiday-world. Accessed December 11, 2019.
18. Historical presentation will focus on legendary Albion Santa Claus Charles Howard. The Daily News. http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/article/20171014/BDN01/171018995. Accessed December 6, 2019.
19. HISTORY LESSON: Post Office in Santa Claus, Indiana. https://www.courierpress.com/story/life/columnists/2016/12/05/history-lesson-post-office-santa-claus-indiana/94822120/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
20. Koch P, Ammeson J. Holiday World. Arcadia Publishing; 2006.
21. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holiday_World_%26_Splashin%27_Safari&oldid=925690128. Accessed December 4, 2019.
22. Mitchell D. How Santa Claus was saved. Indianapolis Star. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/12/09/santa-claus-saved/20133669/. Accessed December 11, 2019.
23. Ricci-Canham H, Canham A. Legendary Locals of Orleans County, New York. Arcadia Publishing; 2012.
24. Harris K. Life In Santa Claus, Indiana, The Most Christmas-y Town In America. History Daily. https://historydaily.org/life-in-santa-claus-indiana-the-most-christmas-y-town-in-america. Accessed December 11, 2019.
25. Johnson L. My Dad Knew Santa Claus: The True Story of Christmas Park and the Santa Claus School in Albion, New York. L. E. Johnson; 2004.
26. New panel at Mount Albion tells life story of Charles Howard | Orleans County Department of History. http://orleanscountyhistorian.org/new-panel-at-mount-albion-tells-life-story-of-charles-howard/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
27. Our History…The Facts. Town of Santa Claus. November 2015. http://townofsantaclaus.com/santawordpress/our-history-the-facts/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
28. Overlooked Orleans: Christmas Park shone briefly and brightly. The Daily News. http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/article/20171218/BDN01/171218421. Accessed December 6, 2019.
29. Overlooked Orleans: Keeping the focus on historic preservation. The Daily News. http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/article/20181224/BDN01/181229449. Accessed December 6, 2019.
30. Park History: From Santa Claus Land to Holiday World. Holiday World. https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2018/10/11/park-history-santa-claus-land-holiday-world/. Published October 11, 2018. Accessed December 4, 2019.
31. podcast. Holiday World. https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/tag/podcast/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
32. Podcast Episodes and Ringtones from Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. Holiday World. https://www.holidayworld.com/holisounds/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
33. Podcast: the Town named Santa Claus. Holiday World. https://www.holidayworld.com/holiblog/2018/12/14/podcast-the-town-named-santa-claus/. Published December 14, 2018. Accessed December 4, 2019.
34. Ballard M. Recalling Howard’s Beloved Christmas Park. Pioneer Record. December 2017. https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/pioneer_record/51.
35. Resurrected Chateau in Mariah Hill delivers on its dry-rub ribs, fried chicken, other delights. http://www.courierpress.com/features/resurrected-chateau-in-mariah-hill-delivers-on-its-dry-rub-ribs-fried-chicken-other-delights-ep-4445-324681571.html. Accessed December 11, 2019.
36. Rich history of Santa Claus instruction traces its roots back to Albion. The Buffalo News. December 2016. https://buffalonews.com/2016/12/24/rich-history-santa-claus-instruction-traces-roots-back-albion/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
37. Foley M. Saint Mick: My Journey From Hardcore Legend to Santa’s Jolly Elf. Polis Books; 2017.
38. Koch P, Thompson EW. Santa Claus. Arcadia Publishing Library Editions; 2013.
39. Thompson PK and E. Santa Claus. Arcadia Publishing; 2013.
40. Santa Claus. New York Historic. https://nyhistoric.com/2012/12/santa-claus/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
41. Santa Claus Land and the Town Named Santa Claus. Retro Planet. https://blog.retroplanet.com/santa-claus-land/. Published January 28, 2014. Accessed December 4, 2019.
42. Santa Claus Land, Santa Claus IN: showing house of dolls. https://contentdm.acpl.lib.in.us/digital/collection/coll6/id/3220. Accessed December 4, 2019.
43. Santa Claus Land, Santa Claus, Indiana. https://vintage-ads.livejournal.com/3714917.html. Accessed December 4, 2019.
44. Santa Claus Museum and Village. In: Wikipedia. ; 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Claus_Museum_and_Village&oldid=850940893. Accessed December 9, 2019.
45. Santa Claus Oath. Santa Claus Oath. https://santaclausoath.webs.com/. Accessed December 5, 2019.
46. Staff W. Santa Claus, Indiana. Moment of Indiana History – Indiana Public Media. https://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/santa-claus-indiana/. Accessed December 4, 2019.
47. Santa Claus, Indiana. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Claus,_Indiana&oldid=928519362. Accessed December 4, 2019.
48. Santa Claus, Indiana gets 20,000 letters a year – and “elves” reply to all of them | US news | The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/09/santa-claus-indiana-gets-20000-letters-a-year-and-elves-reply-to-all-of-them. Accessed December 11, 2019.
49. Santa Clauses, Salami-Tyers and Soap-Tasters – Mechanix Illustrated (Dec, 1952). Modern Mechanix. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/santa-clauses-salami-tyers-and-soap-tasters/. Accessed December 11, 2019.
50. The Birth of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School | Orleans County Department of History. http://orleanscountyhistorian.org/the-birth-of-the-charles-w-howard-santa-claus-school/. Accessed December 6, 2019.
51. The Early History of Theme Parks in the United States. https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/September-2017/%E2%80%8BThe-Early-History-of-Theme-Parks-in-America. Accessed December 4, 2019.
52. The History of Holiday World. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgzWYYhl4QY. Accessed December 4, 2019.
53. The History of Holiday World Theme Park. TripSavvy. https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-history-of-holiday-world-3882464. Accessed December 11, 2019.
54. The History of Santa Claus, Indiana. http://web.archive.org/web/20151103203238/http://www.hohoholdings.com/schistory.htm. Published November 3, 2015. Accessed December 4, 2019.
55. The year-round Santa. http://westsidenewsny.com/pastarchives/OldSite/westside/news/2003/1222/feature/theyearround.html. Accessed December 11, 2019.
56. Dahl DL. Those Kids Deserve Water Too: A History of the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewer District. Lulu Press, Inc; 2019.
57. Marimen M, Willis JA, Taylor T. Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.; 2008.
58. Western New York Amusement Parks – Rose Ann Hirsch – Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=xtrLDCJYVsAC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=igloo+tunnel+christmas+park&source=bl&ots=jAmCGrIUyu&sig=x3-ggbRI5W5iqooOk2SoEEZJHXg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6bS8UP6vMvOs0AHDwoH4BA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=igloo%20tunnel%20christmas%20park&f=false. Accessed December 6, 2019.
59. World’s Oldest Santa Statue, Santa Claus, Indiana. RoadsideAmerica.com. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16624. Accessed December 9, 2019.

Other Santa Claus References

1. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Life_and_Adventures_of_Santa_Claus&oldid=929426527. Accessed December 5, 2019.
2. Boissoneault L. A Civil War Cartoonist Created the Modern Image of Santa Claus as Union Propaganda. Smithsonian. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/civil-war-cartoonist-created-modern-image-santa-claus-union-propaganda-180971074/. Accessed December 5, 2019.
3. Christmas. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christmas&oldid=928552167. Accessed December 5, 2019.
4. Copyrigit Messages. http://smib.tripod.com/copyrght.htm. Accessed December 5, 2019.
5. How Coca-Cola invented Christmas as we know it. Salon. https://www.salon.com/2017/12/16/how-coca-cola-invented-christmas-as-we-know-it_partner/. Published December 16, 2017. Accessed December 9, 2019.
6. How Santa brought Coca-Cola in from the cold. National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/santa-coca-cola. Published December 17, 2014. Accessed December 5, 2019.
7. Ought it not be a Merry Christmas? https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/fortward/default.aspx?id=39996. Accessed December 6, 2019.
8. Santa Claus. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Claus&oldid=928457109. Accessed December 5, 2019.
9. Santa Claus, Georgia. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Claus,_Georgia&oldid=926675816. Accessed December 8, 2019.
10. The True History of the Modern Day Santa Claus. The Coca-Cola Company. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-santa-claus. Accessed December 5, 2019.
11. Thomas Nast | Santa Claus in Camp (published in Harper’s Weekly, January 3, 1863) | The Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/427502. Accessed December 5, 2019.
12. Trolley park. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trolley_park&oldid=919839820. Accessed December 4, 2019.
13. Solutions UCC-O. USPS Operation Santa. http://about.usps.com/holidaynews/operation-santa.htm. Accessed December 9, 2019.
14. Where Was the First Department Store Santa Claus? New England Today. December 2018. https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-history/first-department-store-santa-claus/. Accessed December 6, 2019.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

The post A Town Called Santa Claus appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. Image of the Opera House is from the collection of Bob Carroll and used with permission. Theme music is from “Aerobatics in Slow Motion” by TeknoAXE. Incidental music includes “Olde Timey” and “Plucky Daisy” by Kevin Macleod / incompetech.com. “The Ballad of Gaslight Village and Frontier Town” by Brian Dorn, Addison Rice, and Jahnavi Newsom (aka The Love Sprockets), used with permission. Additional audio clips are from the collection of Bob Carroll’s Gaslight Village memorabilia and are used with permission. All are available in full on his YouTube page, and include a clip of Warren Boden, the Gaslight Village commercial jingle, audience “boos” from a mellerdrama, and part of the Heckler sketch.

Well, it’s been some time since we were last in the Adirondacks, but we’re back. You might remember my episodes on Magic Forest (still operational, with some changes) and Time Town (long gone) back in the single digit episodes of TAC. Well, here we are, all the way in episode 25, back again in upstate NY, back in Lake George, this time to talk about a shining gem of the past. Let’s go back to a time of cool summer nights, brightly lit rides glowing in the twilight, music spilling out from the speakers and the shows at the Opera House. Gaslight Village, yesterday’s fun today.

Charles Wood

To start today’s story, you need to know about the man behind it all: Charles R. Wood, dubbed by the IAAPA (the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) as the “grandfather of the American theme park”. Born in 1914, Charles was an entrepreneur who made his own opportunities. 

He started out his investments at a young age – he bought two houses at the age of thirteen, unthinkable and impossible in today’s world a century later. As he became an adult, he worked in aviation as an aircraft technician throughout World War II.

After the war, it was an article in Reader’s Digest, of all things, that planted the seeds for his future in the amusement industry. See, Charles read about the Knotts and their berry farm over in California. An article in Reader’s Digest led him to Southern California to see Knott’s Berry Farm. “I fell in love with what he had done,” says Charley. “Mr. Knott had created the boysenberry, and Mrs. Knott cooked chicken and made boysenberry pie. People would swarm this place. Mr. Knott built a chapel and a volcano to entertain people while they waited for the dinner. He had started an amusement park. I came back full of beans and wanted to get into the amusement business.”

The story goes that Wood visited Albany, NY after seeing an ad for a skating rink for sale. The rink deal fell through, but he saw an ad locally for some land about 60 miles north, up in Lake George. When he asked for directions, he was told to take Route 9 north. As he later said, “It was just so pretty,” says Charley. “And I could just see nothing but opportunities.” It was a fateful trip.

Some consider Wood the pioneer of the tourism concept in Lake George. He started by purchasing property near Schroon Lake (30 minutes north of Lake George) and developed a resort there called Arrowhead Lodge. Then came a second property. Originally called Erlowest, it was a Queen Anne-style stone castle that Wood developed into Holiday House, right on Bolton Road in Lake George, now called Sun Castle. After years of development with these two summer resorts, Wood saw an opportunity. He’d realized something important about his audience – they were looking for more than just summer basics like tennis and boating. The resort wasn’t fulfilling enough for the guests. They were looking for amusements.

In 1954, then, a year before Disneyland opened, Charles Wood invested $75,000 in five acres of land off Route 9 between Lake George and Glen Falls. It was called Storytown USA, themed after Mother Goose stories, and is generally considered one of the first true theme parks in the US. 

We’ll get into the history of Storytown in another episode, but without a doubt, Storytown was a success. Guests came in droves, and one quote from Wood remembering opening day illustrated the fervor: “When we tried to count the money it was blowing all over the place.” Wood invested the profits right back into the park. His success with Storytown paved the way for Wood’s future endeavors and future successes, including the topic of today’s episode, Gaslight Village. 

Pottersville and the First Gaslight Village

In the tales of Gaslight Village, it’s an under-reported fact that Gaslight Village in Lake George was not actually the first Gaslight Village. Instead, the park had its beginnings in the hamlet of Pottersville NY, some 28 miles north of Lake George. From the 1870s through the 1960s, the small town hosted a variety of amusements drawing thousands of people, due to its proximity to the transportation of the time. These were things ranging from religious fairs in the early years, to dance halls, roller rinks, circus acts, and finally, the precursor to Gaslight Village. Specifically, by 1950, the town was promoting itself as “the home of Gaslight Village” in newspaper advertisements. 

According to a 2007 retrospective article by Andy Flynn, the local Chestertown paper, “The Summer Sentinel”, reported on the opening day of the original Gaslight Village: “June 30, 1950 with the headline, “Gaslight Village, Gay ’90’s Spectacle, Opens this Evening.” ” They described the opening, and noted that the famed creative genius Arto Monaco had a hand in the design of Gaslight Village.

Now, not to get too much into a second tangent, but we should talk about Arto Monaco briefly before we move on. I’ll talk more about him when I get into the other area theme parks he was better known for. But he was an important guy – a Hollywood designer, working for Warner Brothers and MGM and Walt Disney. He made toys for companies like Mattel, and designed theme parks, lots of theme parks. He’s best known for his work on Storytown and The Land of Makebelieve, but he had his hands in many different parks in one way or another, including, as it turns out, Gaslight Village. 

A July 1950 article clearly notes that the park was designed by Arto Monaco. Additionally, a sketch is floating around with an original layout and concept for Gaslight Village, attributed to Monaco, with his trademark designs – perfect, charming, and a little askew at the same time.  And the original buildings, too, bear his aesthetic.

Back to the amusement park. Milt Selleck was the man behind the original Gaslight Village, owner of the nearby Glen Manor hotel for 5 years prior to opening the new amusement park. It was located at a resort called Under the Maples, which was later converted to a campground called Smoke Rise. Described by the paper at the time: “a movie set quality pervades the place, and you find yourself transported to an old village square complete with a candy shoppe, village store, firehouse, and jail.” There was an outdoor music hall with live entertainment, a carnival for children, and a miniature train called The Adirondack Limited. The park served all kinds of food and drink, including cocktails and steins of beer. 

There was also, of course, a carousel. The 2007 retrospective calls it “Clint Swan’s 1903 merry-go-round from Kansas”. The July 1950 article describes it thusly: “vintage of 1890, complete with prancing steeds powered by steam, no less.” The train and the carousel were both set on terraces above the road to attract the eye to the park, between which led a wide gravel-paved road. 

Another article from June 1950 goes into greater depth, describing much that would be familiar to any fan of the later version of the park: keystone cops, photo studios offering old-fashioned tintypes, a penny arcade, museum, dueling pianos, a barbershop quartet, and of course, a magician. The evening program began with the “Lamplighter’s Serenade”, where the gas lights around the village square were illuminated, followed by a “Gaslight Waltz” routine and then an evening play.  

The July 1950 article concludes by saying that the park is “too good to miss!” 

Despite this delightful description, the Pottersville Gaslight Village reportedly lasted only a single season. That summer was apparently wet and cool, and that was a death knell for a park relying on primarily outdoor entertainment. Just over a year after its glowing report on the park’s opening, the Summer Sentinel published another article about the park, calling it a ghost town. Quote: “Today the square, a false facade in the Hollywood style, stands grey and mournful behind Glen Manor. Only the entrance, visible from Route 9, still glistens, but even that is neglected, forsaken in the greenery creeping up its very sides.”

One person has posted images of this place to a historical FB group, from a grandparents’ album, and they’re available on Facebook. In his description, the photos are noted as dating from 1949, which does conflict a bit with the information given in the paper articles. Perhaps they were from prior to the park’s opening? Nonetheless, the park didn’t survive for long in Pottersville by any account.

As the Adirondack Almanack describes in a 2009 blog post, Charley Wood purchased the Pottersville Gaslight Village “kit and kaboodle” in 1958, seven years after its reported abandonment. He would’ve been very familiar with the original park – not only was he friends and business associates with designer Arto Monaco, but he would’ve driven past Gaslight Village in Pottersville as he drove to his Arrowhead Lodge on Schroon Lake property. How exactly the buildings made it the 28 miles south isn’t quite clear, but move they did, to their more familiar location: Lake George.

Preparing the Site for Gaslight Village in Lake George, NY

By the time Gaslight Village officially opened in Lake George in 1959, Charles Wood had reportedly invested over half a million dollars in the park. Not only was there the cost of moving property from Pottersville. No, Charles Wood actually had to move a small mountain. 

The location of Gaslight Village in Lake George was on the site of the former Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Railway’s Freight House, where the D&H terminated and trains turned around on the “balloon track”. Charles Wood purchased the former railroad property some time in 1958. On the site was also a sawmill with a huge sawdust mountain. Under Wood’s direction, the sawmill was moved. The sawdust pile and large hill or mountain on the south side of the property were taken down with heavy machinery, finally lending a lake view to the now-level site. A May 1959 article describes it thusly: “the visitor sees only beauty where unsightly products of early industry had been before. Moving the hill revealed the unforgettable beauty of Lake George.” Now, then, Wood had his blank canvas for building his newest theme park: Gaslight Village.

Gaslight Village: Opening Day, 1959

It was, from the outset, an adult-oriented amusement park. 

Wood’s first theme park, Storytown USA and Ghost Town, had already been opened for five years. This park predated even Disneyland (by a year) and was themed around Mother Goose rhymes, as I’ve already mentioned. Storytown, though, as the theme might suggest, was aimed at younger children, and was open for the earlier hours of the day, closing by 5. Gaslight Village at its heart was the complement to Storytown, aimed at adults and older children, open after noon through the late evening. 

The earliest press release I could find is from a July 1959 “Queensbury Hotel & Motor Inn News”, posted on the invaluable Gaslight Village Lake George NY Facebook page. The park was described as combining “the fun of an amusement park, the entertainment of stage and screen, the enjoyment of participating [in] activities, the educational value of a museum, and all the romance of the gay 90’s in an authentically recreated setting”. 

Gay Nineties

I suppose I’ve breezed past it enough times that we ought to have a brief discussion on the term “Gay Nineties”, since it’s the park’s theme. Obviously this term has a bit of a different conotation nowadays (yes, there’s a gay bar by this name in Minneapolis now in 2019). The term in its historical definition was coined in the 1920s and 1930s to describe the decade of the 1890s, with people at the time longing for a comfortable past in the midst of the Great Depression. In the UK, the decade is referred to as the “Naughty Nineties”.

It was a time thought of as decadent, full of scandals, as well as the beginning of the suffragette movement. It was a time when Oscar Wilde was at the height of popularity. 

Despite the plight of the massive lower class, and the actual poor economy of the decade, including the 1893 panic and the depression that set in for most of the decade, popular culture remembers the period for its pleasant aspects. It’s remembered for the icons of a new age in steam-driven machines, the 1893 invention of the Ferris wheel, nickelodeon movies, vaudeville, and of course, glimmering gas lighting. 

(Gaslights were initially introduced in the 1810s, but did not reach widespread use until the mid-1850s or later. The invention of the “gas mantle” in 1891 and commercial production of the same in 1892 are likely the reasons behind our association of gaslight and this era, as the mantle was rapidly adopted, remaining an important part of street lighting until the widespread adoption of electric lights in the early 1900s.)

Other more broad names for the same gay nineties era are the Victorian era (1837-1901), the Gilded Age (1870s through 1900), and the Belle Epoque (1871-1914).

Summer 1959 at Gaslight Village

Given all this, then, we can move back to Gaslight Village with a better sense of historical context.

The catchphrase? Yesterday’s fun today.

The park in its initial conception, seen in the Pottersville version and in the Arto Monaco sketch, was solely about the village aspect, without any rides. Blueprints reportedly called for the eponymous gaslights every 40 feet along the park streets. There were horse-drawn trolleys and horse and buggy rides for guests to experience, and a vintage double-decker bus. A 1912 steam locomotive was reportedly shipped from Louisiana up to the park via Chicago and then to Glens Falls.

The 1959 version of the park had a 1900 drug store, reportedly purchased complete with interior furnishings, cabinetry, and old pharmaceuticals. Then there was a Bicycle Shop, featuring over 30 bicycles, some as old as 1867. Reportedly, the shop contained an example of almost every type of bicycle to date, “from the first glider […] to the old high-wheelers”. Many of these bicycles were purchased from the Tracy Killiam transportation collection in 1958, previously on display in Sandy Creek NY, 200 miles due west.

There was a Musical Museum, featuring “many rare and priceless music-making devices of the old days”, such as lap organs and melodians from the 1830s, as well as an 1891 Edison home phonograph. Something called The Ladies Emporium featured the “only known matching collection of fashion dolls”. These were not paper dolls or toy dolls. They were actually more than 50 life-sized figurines, displaying clothes of the decade, “showing what Fifth Avenue grand dames wore in the time of our grandparents”. 

And then there was the Antique Auto Collection, some of the cars that would later be part of the Cavalcade of Cars. In the early stage, there were 1908 buggies and 1922 and 1925 model Ts, as well as 1882 horse drawn firetrucks. 

The Penny Arcade featured old but playable penny arcade machines.

The Palace Theater was the home to silent films on endless loop, at the outset reported to be from the “original Edison collection”.

And then there was the Opera House. It reportedly had the largest dance floor in the area, roomy enough for 1000 people. The Opera House from the outset had both an indoor stage and an outdoor stage. The latter looked out onto a vintage beer garden, where guests could enjoy a beer stein with their stage show. The outdoor stage, though nice in concept, was reportedly difficult for everyone in rainy or cold weather (as had been the issue with the Pottersville park), so after some time, it was closed and only the interior of the Opera House was used. The stage shows themselves were old time “mellerdrammer”, or melodramas, where there were heroes and villains. The audience was expected to participate at minimum with boos and hisses, shouts and catcalls. 

This was the park as it was on opening day in 1959.

Rides at Gaslight Village

On May 31, 1791, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to his daughter, “Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a contour of mountains into a basin… finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal, and the mountain sides covered with rich groves… down to the water-edge: here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony.” Lake George is a small summer resort town up in the Adirondacks. Its population as of 2000 was 985. However, summertime population is reported to swell over 50,000 – 50x the normal population. 

It might not be surprising, then, the high concentration of theme parks in the surrounding areas of Lake George, especially in the days before inexpensive air travel, when most vacationing was done via car. A three and a half hour drive from NYC was no big deal back in the day, and even now, 3.5 hours isn’t that far away to drive. 

Charles Wood’s Gaslight Village in Lake George saw success after its first year, and was able to continue on as an amusement park. 

One of the immediate additions though was rides. As noted earlier, the park was originally intended to be “just” the village, with its museums and displays, shows and entertainment. There was always a boardwalk with sideshow type attractions, like the Wild Man of Borneo and fun house mirror mazes. However, with his theme park knowledge given the years of experience Wood already had from Storytown USA, it’s not surprising that rides were soon added. 

Some of the rides at Gaslight Village may have always there. It seems likely that the carousel and the small train both were purchased from the Pottersville Gaslight Village, though that’s not clear. Some of the articles about the park date the carousel back to 1800 which is almost certainly not correct, given that the first steam-powered carousel wasn’t invented until 1861. However, it does seem that the park did have multiple carousels in its lifetime, with a unique “rocking horse” carousel in colloquial history reportedly sold in parts across Europe prior to the park’s closure. One online commenter references this as a Parker carousel, while another calls it a Dentzel carousel. The world may never known.

The auction catalog for the park’s eventual demise, dating to 2000, does seem to combine some Storytown rides as well as Gaslight Village rides; while multiple carousels are listed, none were this unique-sounding one. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s get back to the operational history of the park and talk about rides some more. 

In or around 1968, after the park had already been open for over a decade, the Steeplechase Bicycle Carousel came to Gaslight Village. This was said to be one of the oldest operating flat rides at one point, dating back to the Steeplechase Park at Coney Island. The ride was likely purchased sometime after Steeplchase’s ultimate closure in 1964. However, it’s actually much older than that, possibly dating back to early 1900. It was originally located in the Pavilion of Fun at Steeplechase in Coney Island. I’ll include a link to pictures of the ride at Steeplechase, as well as the ride at Gaslight Village. The concept was simple – a carousel powered by human action of pedalling bicycles. The faster you and your fellow riders pedaled, the faster the carousel went. The ride was quite the draw, finally being removed from Gaslight Village only when someone fell off and got hurt while the ride was in operation.

The rides started coming fast and furious, with a Paratrooper and the Green Monster (an octopus ride) coming in 1969. Then there were the usual parade of theme park staples, moving in and out of the park: a Ferris wheel, bumper boats, a scrambler, a Tip Top (which seems to have been called the Shaving Mug), a roundup, a tilt-a-whirl, and a trabant. There were kiddie rides like “the turtles” and a classic Red Baron airplane ride. There was a swinging boat “space shuttle” ride and a classic Flying Bobs ride and bumper cars and a flying trapeze swing ride. Apparently Wood was notorious for moving the rides around, not just physically at the park, but between Gaslight Village and Storytown, as well, adding to some of the confusion when researching the exact rides at the park.

(If you’re interested in a rabbithole, you can do some research into the spaceship-like Futuro House, which once sat in the Gaslight Village parking lot between the park and the Waxlife attraction Wood owned across the street. Despite not technically being part of Gaslight Village, many fondly remember the “spaceship”. Of Finnish design, less than 100 were built in the late 60s and early 70s, and there’s a delightful website dedicated to tracking the once and current homes of these spaceship-like houses (here’s the link for Lake George’s Futuro). I recently saw one while driving down I-55 in Illinois, at Pink Elephant Antiques (which also has a Muffler Man among many other cool giant fiberglass figures). Here’s an article with a dynamic map for every known remaining Futuro.)

Antique Car Ride

An iconic ride at the park was the antique car ride, right up front – think Disneyland’s Autopia, but with cars from the 1890s. The cars were built by Arrow Development Corp, and were there at the park from the beginning, advertised in a 1959 Billboard magazine. According to a history of the company, the official description for the cars from the company was “Open-topped antique cars, reproduced to five-eighths scale, provide a pleasant ride through an old-fashioned country setting. Each car seats up to five, and anyone 10 years or over can drive. A single pedal – accelerator and brake combined – controls the one-cylinder engine that pushes the cars along at a top speed of four miles an hour”. 

In the early days, there wasn’t even a guide track; alas, when a guest tried to take a car on a joyride off the track over to the Opera House, a guide rail had to be installed. Online recollections often mention this ride, including the thrilling aspect of a young child being able to drive a real car.

Employees remember the car ride as being a fun place to work, particularly compared to the monotony of the Kiddie rides. One story from a former employee on the Gaslight Village Facebook page tells of how the cars had very small gas tanks, often running out of gas in the middle of a drive. Employees would then have to run out with a gas can to refill the tanks. However, the engines were very hot, and the common slight spills during the fill process would catch the cars on fire, much to the consternation of the guests. Reportedly it was no big deal – the flames were batted down, the guests were on their way, and everyone would cheer.

Mystery House

The next attraction to discuss was a here again, gone again sort of deal. It was called the Mystery House.

Of course, you know I love a good rabbithole here on The Abandoned Carousel, and we have that with the Mystery House. See, one theory is that it originally was called Casa Loca, and that it originally lived at Freedomland, in the Bronx.

Now, I will tell you that Freedomland has a future episode lined up for it, and it has since the moment I heard of the place. This park was only open for five seasons, but has an incredible Facebook page, fan page, and even a 300+ page book about its history. 

Casa Loca was a classic disorienting walkthrough attraction, designed to trick the senses. From an article on patch.com, the attraction was described thusly: “We went in one end not knowing what to expect and came out the other amazed by what our senses told us was impossible. Simple disorientation and gravity created an illusion that had cans rolling up a table and out a window as well as pool table balls that went uphill.”

Freedomland closed in 1964, only five years after its 1960 opening. There are some strong connections between Freedomland and Lake George, as Charley Wood purchased many rides and placed them in Storytown USA. It’s speculated that Casa Loca went to Gaslight Village, where it was renamed Mystery House. 

Ultimately, however, this all turns out to be speculation and coincidence. I’ve been in contact with Mike Virgintino, who wrote the book on Freedomland’s history. He’s learned that Gaslight Village already had a crooked house (the Mystery House) in 1964, when Freedomland was still in its last season. Therefore, it’s only coincidence, and Freedomland’s Casa Loca didn’t actually go to Gaslight Village after all. 

Still, though, a delightful attraction, a crooked house, in any iteration. A former guest commented online about the Gaslight Village version of the attraction, saying “Hey, does anyone remember the ‘Mystery House’? From what I remember, first you passed by some ‘funny mirrors’ where you saw yourself either short and fat or stretched out. Then you entered a room where everything was lopsided and out of proportion, and you got dizzy walking through it. I really enjoyed that one,”

The attraction was said to have been removed a few years prior to the park’s closure, perhaps in 1987 or 1988.

“Gaslight Jamboree”

Some recollections online mention a singing bear, with some degree of uncertainty. It’s true, however, that for a period of time, a set of animatronics operated at Gaslight Village, going by the name “Gaslight Jamboree”.  It operated in the Palace Theater during its later years (where the silent movies ran). One was called Friendly Freddy, a 1977 animatronic black bear with a guitar. He performed with two of the so-called “Wolfpack 5” characters: Wolfman, who was a wolfman, and Fatz Geronimo, a keyboard-playing gorilla. 

This was actually a surprising rabbithole for me to go down in my research. All of these animatronics, and there were many, were predecessors to a show called “Rock-afire Explosion”, which was an animatronic band that performed in Showbiz pizza places as well as other restaurants and shopping centers between 1980 and 1992. You probably don’t remember ShowBiz Pizza, but you probably do remember what they became. Between 1990 and 1992, all ShowBiz Pizza locations were converted to Chuck E Cheese. 

(It’s far beyond the scope of this podcast, but there’s some great details about the process of “Concept Unification” where ShowBiz became Chuck E. Cheese, worth spending five minutes on if you’ve got them. The remaining animatronics are still popular today, as YouTube sensations. Who knew that there was such a huge fanbase for thirty year old animatronic bears?) 

Cavalcade of Cars

By 1974 the Cavalcade of Cars opened at Gaslight Village, to display Wood’s collection of automobiles. At one time, the Cavalcade and Gaslight Village were two separate attractions with two separate entrance fees, but Wood wasn’t seeing the numbers that he wanted. The story goes that one day, Mr. Wood came in and had the prices changed for Gaslight Village, and bam, suddenly the Cavalcade of Cars was part of the Gaslight Village admission price. Visitor numbers shot up.

Now, I’m not really a car person, but apparently the cars were quite special, especially for their time. There was a 1933 Duesenberg once owned by Greta Garbo. There was a car shaped like a giant can of V8 juice, which by some accounts once also dispensed juice, too. An Evel Knevel motorcycle was a big draw, and a former Pope-mobile, though that might not be the correct name. 

There was a car from The Munsters and a car with two fully functional barber shop chairs. There were three large model ships from the 1970 film Tora Tora Tora, and one from Ben Hur. And there was what I think is the coolest of them – one of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cars, used in the 1968 movie. This was the version with “wings”, and featured wax models of Dick van Dyke and the other cast members. According to enthusiasts, this was the model used in all the promotional imagery, posters, and merchandise. The model was also used for most of the scenes for the movie. 

Flight to Mars at Gaslight Village

One of the most unique rides at Gaslight Village was the Flight to Mars. This ride was quite rare, and has a fun history worth talking about. The “Laff in the Dark” dark ride history page has a nice article on the ride. Produced in Europe by Anton Schwarzkopf, better known for his incredible roller coasters, there were only a few of these dark rides ever imported into the US. They came by way of a man called Mickey Hughes, who liked to showcase new rides at his theme parks in order to encourage imports of the rides. The Flight to Mars was a delight – a two story dark ride with a coaster dip visible from the exterior. Theming was vaguely “outer space”, with some versions of the ride more elaborate than others. Riders rode in small two person space cars through a twisty turny track – the thrills came from the spooks and spectres ready to pop out at you in the dark. Think about Joyland’s Whacky Shack from one of my previous episodes.

Like I said, there were only a couple of the rides ever actually brought to the US, and I actually can’t find any info on the rides operating elsewhere. It’s known that one went to Astroland in Coney Island in 1964, and another went to Palisades Park in New Jersey. Palisades Park will be a great topic for a future episode, with a long and interesting history, but for today, know that it was one of the most visited parks ever. It closed in 1971 and was bulldozed for high-rise condos. Astroland also is said to have sold its Flight to Mars around this same time, in 1971.

One of the rides, the Astroland/Coney Island one, went to Adventurer’s Inn, a small park in Flushing, NY. There, it was notable for always having a typo in the large letters spelling the ride’s name: FLIGTH. This park shuttered in the mid-70s, leaving the rides in place, abandoned, until everything was bulldozed in 1978. I’ll include a link to a sad abandoned image of this Flight to Mars. 

Gaslight Village purchased the Flight to Mars from Palisades Park. It was placed in between the Ferris wheel and the bicycle carousel, and there it thrilled guests for years. Here’s a great twilight image taken in 1981. Guests remember it for being scary to a tween, and a nice little dark ride for two for an older set.

Ultimately the Flight to Mars was sold prior to the closure of Gaslight Village. It’s reported that it may have gone to Columbia; others say the ride was demolished before it ever left the park. Unfortunately, it’s not clear what happened to this model of the Flight to Mars.

What I haven’t yet mentioned is that there was also a Flight to Mars that went straight to the west coast, built for the 1961 World’s Fair in Seattle. It went into storage after that year, but by the late 1960s, it had been rebuilt on its original site. That Flight to Mars stayed in operation through the late 90s, until the decline of the surrounding Fun Forest Amusement Park and replacement by the Experience Music Project. This Flight to Mars was sold and now operates to this day at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, TX (though some accounts say it is in storage in the late 2010s). The theming is a little different from the elaborate detailing that was once present in the Gaslight Village version, but it’s nice to be able to have this tangential piece of the park still today.  

People: the Heart of Gaslight Village

Every story about Gaslight Village talks about the aspect that made the park special: the people and the sense of community. 

The park was truly about the performers, the performances, and the shows. They were the heart of the park and what made Gaslight Village unique. 

During its heyday, the park ran a 13 week season, from June until a week after Labor Day, operating 2PM until 11PM daily. The “olio” acts began performing music (such as piano or guitar) right at 2 PM. Then there were singing waiters and waitresses that would begin to sing, until the first show began at 2:30. The entertainment then ran continuously, revolving around the different areas and stages at the park.

 There were people like Joe Jackson Jr, the “clown on the bicycle”. Joe was famous for his broken bicycle act, which he’d inherited from his father, and was particularly popular in Sweden. He performed at New York’s Radio City Music Hall; La Scala in Berlin; Moulin Rouge in Paris and Tivoli Garden in Denmark; and appeared on many television shows, including Ed Sullivan’s.

There were the plethora of ice skaters, performing on the small ice rink in front of the interior Opera House stage. Far too many to name, so please forgive any I don’t mention. Howard Bissell and Jerry Farley performed together, sometimes with Joe Jackson Jr; they did something called a “death spiral” on the small ice rink that was breathtaking. The ice rink was filled with skate shows of all varieties: Randy Choura and Elyn Tia, Kim Reale. One year there was “South Pacific on Ice”. There was Ron Urban’s Ice Revue, a video of which can be seen here. According to a magazine article from the time this was the first ice show to ever visit the White House.

There were animal acts:  Kay Roseiere and her big cats, Carol and her bengal tigers; Frank Mogyorosi and his lions.

Of course, there were other acts: Mario Manzini, the escape artist. The Jumpin Jack duo, performing amazing trampoline acrobatics that included at one time a “hair-raising” high dive onto a giant sponge. Though perhaps not culturally correct, a popular act at the time was the midget wrestling championships, and Bob Hermine’s Midgets show. Magic and ventriloquism from people like the very fine Bob Carroll. 

Bob Carroll

Let me stop here and talk about Bob for a minute. If you look into the park enough, you’ll see a common name pop up, and that’s Bob Carroll. Bob worked at Gaslight Village for 20 years, beginning in 1969 with a few seasons at Time Town in between. I’ve been privileged to have the opportunity to be in contact with Bob, discussing Gaslight Village and what made the park special. He’s one of the people in charge of the Facebook page “Gaslight Village Lake George, New York”, and it’s his photos that will appear on the show notes page and social media posts for this episode. 

Bob wore many hats throughout his twenty years at Gaslight Village, from doing the old time pie fights, emceeing at the Opera House, doing park announcements, etc. He eventually became Opera House Manager, and performed his act 3 or 4 times a day on the outdoor stage or inside at the Opera House. He’s had a very successful career as a ventriloquist and magician, since then, including a stint in the Guinness Book of World Records for telling jokes for over 24 hours straight. Bob told me he wouldn’t be where he is now without the start at Gaslight Village that Charley Wood gave him back in the day. 

Keystone Cops and Pie Fights

Back to the performances at large, there were keystone cops. The Keystone cops, themselves a holdover from the Pottersville version of the park, continued to be a constant presence in the park. They provided skits and guest interactment throughout the park, much to visitors’ delight. At one point, Bob Carroll did a medicine show “selling” guests the magic tonic of a bottle of water. Slapstick comedy on the lawns of the town square! 

The Keystone cops along with other entertainers were also a key part of the daily pie-in-the-face skits: whipped cream or shaving cream pie fights staged messily between the various performers, with reportedly as many as 70 people involved at a time. 

Of course, the pie fight was a vaudeville staple, from a time of silent movies when jokes needed to come across without sound. They were popularized by comedians like Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges. I don’t have the time for it here, but I’m going to link to a fascinating article on the history of the pie fight – worth the read. Pie fights appeared on-screen as early as 1909, so they were perfect for the gay nineties theming of Gaslight Village. 

As the story was told, the pie fight unfolded thusly:

“So every night at 7 PM, we put on a skit about a lady getting her cat stuck in a tree. A drunk happened by, a keystone kop, a baker, a passerby and the park announcer all took a pie in the face. They all were driven away in the old paddy wagon. Those were the days. The longest running pie fight in the history of show biz!”

Opera House and Mellerdrama

The Opera House was the center of the park. Physically, yes, because it was originally the only location for the bathrooms in the park. It was the main place to get food (such as the waffles with strawberries that one guest online remembers). It was the shortcut to get to the Cavalcade of Cars attraction. And it had room for over 400 people, so it was the place to wait out the rain. The Opera House for a long time was the heartbeat of the park. Metaphorically, as well, since the Opera House was the home to the mellerdrama, said to be the last vaudeville house in the US.

An article in 1976 described the Opera House as “dedicated to the production of the 1890’s comic Melodrama art form. Encouraging the audience to “hiss and boo” in true Melodrama fashion, the talented acting troupes present a comedy sketch based on American satire“. Magazine copy from the 80s wrote that the Opera House was the last remaining theatre left in the US “dedicated to the production of the traditional comic melodramatic art form”.

A mellerdrama calls for over-the-top hero and villain stories, with intentional corny jokes, the worse the better.

And there were a variety of musical acts in between the star mellerdrama, like the Sunshine Express show band and banjo acts from the inimitable Warren Boden. 

The evenings would often wrap with Warren Boden playing his banjo. He’d end with a fast polka, as one former band member recalled on the FB group. Warren would look at the bandstand, and “then say “To the ______” – and name the Bar to go to that night.”

The shows were a huge draw for the “non-ride” crowd, and a person could sit with a beer and watch without repeating an act for over two hours. One person in the Gaslight Village FB group remembers the shows as the best part of visiting the park, describing it: “The family eating pizza and getting a pitcher of soda with the plastic Gaslight Village mugs watching the ice revue and other great acts.”

People Are What Make Gaslight Village Special

As I’ve alluded to several times now, it wasn’t the rides that made Gaslight Village special or memorable. It was the sense of community you felt when you visited. 

“One big reason Gaslight Village was so special was its employees. They were always friendly and helpful,” said one person online. ”One thing you noticed is although everyone was working hard it always looked like they were having a good time.”

The park was always sparkling clean, it seemed, and this was due to the hard efforts of the “grounds boys” – the cleaning staff, the lowest rung on the totem. They often moved up the ladder in their tenure at the park, as well. Why, the inimitable Bob Carroll started out as a groundsboy before he became an official entertainer at the park.

Another person, a former employee, said “It was not like a real job. You left work at 11:30 PM and then went out to the bars or went to dinner. We had employee ride nights and Entertainment nights.” They contrasted it with the more standard theme-park atmosphere over at Storytown, saying, “It was a different atmosphere. People met friends, got married to each other and just had a grand time. I know at least 8 people who met their spouses there!” Bob Caroll echoed this sentiment, saying “We all had parties, birthdays and a lot of us met our spouses there. It is now 45 years of marriage to Deb…my wife who I met when she was the parking lot attendant there. The Keystone Cop married the French translator and several other people married there too!”

General sentiment is that working at Gaslight Village was unlike any other job in the world.

Employee morale was often high, it seems. Employees had fairly free rein to make the guests happy. The Gaslight Village FB page describes the importance of events like Ride Night and Entertainment Night, which were held annually for the employees to mingle and get to know one another. On Entertainment Night, the entertainers performed for the rest of the park employees, while on Ride Night, the shoe was on the other foot, with the entertainers able to ride all the rides. Of course, there were plenty of free refreshments: hot dogs, beer, and soda. 

Even though Gaslight Village was located in the village of Lake George, it’s remembered for being its own separate place, a true small village. “Gaslight Village employees were a Gaslight Village Family no matter what you did.” 

The tone came from the top, from the inimitable Charles Wood. I really appreciated the story one person told online, about his reaction to the historic first steps on the moon. Of course, this occurred July 20, 1969, and was broadcast live across the United States. It would’ve occurred around 4 pm in New York. Wood reportedly closed down all of the rides and shows in the park for 20-30 minutes, and had the moon landing broadcast throughout the park’s speakers. “All over the park, families and small groups of people stood, mesmerized by the voice describing man’s first steps on another celestial body.”

Transition from Gaslight Village to Lake George Ride and Fun Park

As always, what goes up must come down. Nothing gold can stay.

Gaslight Village saw a small handful of accidents, with the notable incidents from my research being broken bones on the original fun house slide and on the Ferris wheel. A more well-known incident was a broken car on the Paratrooper in the 1970s, injuring one person and requiring the entire ride to be slowed down, losing its thrilling nature. But none of these had any significant effect on the park as a whole.

1974 saw attendance worries due to the gasoline crisis, but by all accounts, the park bounced back. 

Truly, it wasn’t any one incident that led to the closure of Gaslight Village.

As the 1970s rolled into the 1980s, large theme parks were beginning to take hold, drawing people from far away across the country. No longer was the regional theme park king – people were being drawn to massive theme parks with larger and larger thrills, and flying larger distances for it with the rise of increasingly inexpensive airfare. People simply weren’t staying locally in the area anymore.

The late 70s and early 80s saw the rise of the Six Flags theme park franchise as they acquired and expanded their parks. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, as we talked about last episode, opened in 1971, and EPCOT opened in 1982. Between 1982 and 1983, the nearby Storyland USA acquired at least eight major adult thrill rides and rebranded as The Great Escape.

Against this background, the gay nineties theme of Gaslight Village too seemed more anachronism than “yesterday’s fun today”, as the slogan went. The rides were older, standard at most every theme park, and the shows weren’t having the same draw they once did. There was no room for ride expansion to include a bigger coaster that might draw more folks. 

And the weather, the weather was always a concern. Yes, there was the Opera House, but by the time a few hours had passed, a guest would’ve seen all the shows. Accounts from the Gaslight Village FB page describe the park and the village as a ghost town after a day or two of rain. And there was the age of Charley Wood, who would’ve been in his mid-70s by this point, perhaps with his passions turning to other things. 1989 saw him selling Storytown USA (now called The Great Escape).

Attendance numbers for Gaslight Village in the mid to late 80s reportedly dropped way down. Something had to be done, or it would be the standard story here on The Abandoned Carousel – not profitable to keep investing money in the park.

According to an account over at the Gaslight Village FB page, the operation budget for the entertainment alone in the late 80s was tens of thousands of dollars per week. That was a big line item that could be used to balance the books…

So the decision came down that in 1989, Gaslight Village as it was known would be closed. The entertainment acts were told first. See, it wasn’t the whole park that was closing, it was the Opera House and the Outdoor Stage that were closing. The park would now be rebranded and would only include rides. In an account from the Gaslight Village FB page: “it was the end of Vaudeville. I think it was what it felt like when the last theaters closed “. They went on to say: “The shows started at 2 PM and ended at 10:50 PM. 7 days a week. It was like an engine of a train. It was the lifeline of the park. Yes, the rides were a big part of it but the real soul of the park was the people who came to the park to see the shows. A lot of people came week after week to see the shows. We got to know them by name.”

The Gaslight Village FB page sums it up, saying “we knew that it wasn’t going to be Gaslight Village because without the Opera House, it was just rides.”

Lake George Ride and Fun Park / Lake George Action Park

Funnily enough, there’s not a lot of clarity online about the most recent iterations of the park post-Gaslight Village, despite being more recent. Most of my online research about the place doesn’t even mention the Ride & Fun Park name. I’m thankful to the enthusiasts for The Great Escape in particular, who’ve kept tabs on the park.

Lake George Ride and Fun Park

What is clear is that from 1989 on, “Gaslight Village” as it was was split in half, with half remaining a theme park, and half becoming a parking lot for the new boat on the lake that docked close by. 

What remained was known as Lake George Ride & Fun Park first, reportedly from 1990-1992. During this time, a few more rides were brought in – I’ve seen reference to two different swinging boat rides: both a Pirat that later went to Great Escape, and a “Space Shuttle”. A Balloon trip spinning flat ride and a Dumbo-type elephant ride were also added. Now some of these might have been added in the later years of Gaslight Village, it’s just not clear.

To be honest, there’s not much to say about Ride and Fun Park. I’ll include a link to the one single image I’ve found of a brochure for this aspect of the park.

Lake George Action Park

After Ride & Fun Park shuttered in 1992, it sat closed for several years. In late 1994 or 1995, a Sea Dragon swinging boat ride moved from The Great Escape over to what we’ll now be calling Action Park. And there it reportedly sat, “racked up” for two years until the short-lived Action Park opened in 1996. (The Sea Dragon at Action Park was praised in the forums I found, for having such an exceptionally good swing, for what it’s worth.) It’s known that there was a powered dragon coaster at Action Park for at least a short time (this is listed on the RCDB with pictures), one of Zamperla’s more common models.

The go-kart track was one of the main features of Action Park. A guest remembers online: “The Action Park had really decent rides. The Bumper Cars were one of the best, and both [go-kart] tracks were top notch. The oval track in the back was cool, because you were actually enclosed in the car, and we would pour baby powder on the turns so the cars could skid.”

Another guest remembers: “The majority of the crowd was always at the front gocart track. The line would usually be about 30 mins or so; that’s how crowded it was. Plus, the timer was set for 9 mins, so you actually got your $4 worth.” They go on to say “The park was cool, because it really was never all that crowded.”

At the end of the 1997 season, possibly unsurprisingly, after only two years of operation, Action Park closed.

And that was it.

Auction for Lake George Action Park

With the turn of the century into the 2000s, it was time for another classic theme park auction. As always, I am eternally grateful to the enthusiasts who not only save things like auction catalogs, but also post and caption them and share them freely with others. In 2000, Norton’s auctioned off the remaining Action Park items. It was a huge auction based on the catalog’s listings. Not only were Action Park rides sold, but also things from Storytown USA, and even Charley Wood’s old car collection and the original bicycle museum collection from Gaslight Village.

Thus comes my favorite part – the genealogy of the theme park attraction.

Some, as we’ve discussed, were demolished or are simply unknown prior to the closure of Gaslight Village – the Mystery House, the Bicycle Carousel, Flight to Mars. 

Others went to Wood’s sister park prior to the auction, back to the still-operational Storytown, now called The Great Escape. In this category are the Pirate boat ride, the Flying Trapeze swing ride, the Trabant. The last of these was moved to the Great Escape around 1993, where it operated until it was forced to be removed “due to age” in 2011. The Pirate ship operated at TGE from 1995-2013, according to Wikipedia. The Flying Trapeze still operates today.

Several of the rides went to Delgrosso’s in Tipton, NJ. This includes the balloon ride and the Sea Dragon, both of which are located next to one another at DelGrosso’s. Or were, because some time between 2017 and 2019, both rides are reportedly no longer in operation there. 

The carousel was reportedly purchased by a private buyer and has been in storage somewhere in Vermont since then.

Of the cars, I could only find information on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, though it appears several of the other cars have moved through multiple auctions. This was auctioned in 1990, and was displayed at a Chicago restaurant called “The Retreat” for several years until the restaurant went bankrupt. In 2007, it was auctioned again, and went to live with a collector in Florida, where it’s currently undergoing restoration.

Beyond this, the buyers of the remaining rides and attraction components aren’t readily available online.

With the rides sold, nothing but the buildings remained.

Abandoned Gaslight Village

As the buildings sat, moldering through long New York winter after long New York winter, let’s again ponder the park’s closure.

Why the drawn-out years of this smaller, sadder park? Wood was getting older, and his interests were turning away from amusement parks towards philanthropy. Some suggest that there were legalities in Charley Wood’s contract with the village, preventing him from passing the park on. However, the details for this are unclear. Even the process of making the conservation park, which we’re about to get into, took decades and plenty of local political squabbles. As early as 1988, there was a local news article reporting that Wood was in negotiations to sell the site for a convention center. (The convention center never went forward.) 

Gaslight Village, or Lake George Action Park as it was last known, sat abandoned, for a decade. The rides were all gone. A sign remained for some time, as did the bold blue and white paint on the entrance. Grass grew, rain fell, and the buildings went ever further into disrepair. 

It’s always the same story when it comes to abandoned parks, it seems, with flaking paint, overgrown grass, broken things…especially when the rides have been removed, it’s often hard to see the charm of the original site. From the exterior, it all just looks like sad shabby buildings.

As of 2008, the land was purchased from the Charles R. Wood Foundation. It was a joint purchase, with the town and village of Lake George took 19% ownership of the land, with the county taking 62% ownership. Three environmental groups held a conservation easement on the property, and plans were in place to convert the former Gaslight Village into a “wetland treatment facility to improve the water quality of West Brook and Lake George, while also creating a staging area for festivals.” It took almost a decade to get the purchase to go through in order to get the various groups on the same page about the funding and the future for the property.

The delays continued after the land was purchased, with newspaper reports describing delays due to disagreements between the multiple parties with ownership stake in the land. The news reports about the park once it was opened called it a ten-year collaboration, but it seems that the multi-decade operation was often more contentious than collaborative.

According to the paper, the original plans had called for restoration of the Opera House and other structures on the property. The town invested tens of thousands of dollars in the buildings, partially re-roofing the Opera House and tearing off the sides to begin preparation for an open air building to be used for festivals and events. In early 2010, however, demolition plans moved forward despite the money already invested; investigation had deemed the structures too badly damaged, saying that it would cost the same or less to build a new modern building than try to repair the decaying original structures.

Ultimately, mother nature took care of it: snow collapsed part of the roof for the Opera House in February 2011 before the demolition crews could even begin. The remainder of the buildings were demolished later that spring.

Charles R. Wood Park

Originally, the park was to be called West Brook Environmental Park. After an offer from the Charles R. Wood Foundation to donate three quarters of a million dollars to the park, the name was changed to Charles R. Wood Park.

We haven’t gotten to it yet, but towards the end of his life, Wood turned to philanthropy as a more major focus. He was known for wanting to own places where people were happy, and this began to broaden beyond the theme park scope. “‘I made money here and I want to leave it here,”” Wood was once quoted as saying. In the early 1990s, Wood got in touch with Paul Newman and boldly requested money to begin the Double H Ranch, a free camp for children with serious illnesses. He also founded the Charles R. Wood Foundation, which “focuses on assisting children who are critically ill and furthering culture for future generations.” Before his death in 2004 and afterwards, through his foundation, he donated millions to hospitals, clinics, libraries, and otherwise invested in the lives of the people in his area.

On the 12 acres where Gaslight once stood, are now 2.5 acres of festival ground, waterways, a skateboard course, a kid’s playground, and hiking and fitness trails. The bulk of the land was returned to wetlands, which the area once was prior to being filled in for the timber mills and railroads. Though some find the wetlands unsightly, they apparently serve as natural filters to maintain the clear water quality of the eponymous Lake George.

A local man donated his vintage Gaslight Village memorabilia sign, and it now stands on the site of the conservation park, marking what was once there, making sure that the memory of Gaslight Village lives on.

Gaslight Village Was Special

One account online called Gaslight Village an odd and wonderful place, which is a phrasing I love. “The secret of Gaslight’s appeal to me is the notion of a temporary community involved in one enterprise: Show Business. It’s like a play or building a sand castle: you rehearse, memorize, screw up, in the name of ephemeral art that will wash away. But we were there. We sang, told jokes, booed the villain, juggled, swallowed fire, did toe loops. We worked with skating chimpanzees, poodles and doves. There were clowns and brass bands and a guy who played with Paul Whiteman. It wasn’t all good: We fell for the wrong people; our bosses were petty tyrants; we lied and snuck out for a drink and too many people are gone.”

But in the end, Gaslight Village remains something special: a community, a place that’s more about the people than the buildings or rides or even the land. Charles R. Wood is quoted as saying “We do what we can for society, but it must come from our heart.” And Gaslight Village seems like it did embody that. It was a unique moment in time: yesterday’s fun, today.

Acknowledgements

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Abandoned Carousel where I talked about the history of the unique Gaslight Village, yesterday’s fun today. I’d like to particularly thank Bob Carroll for being an inexhaustible resource on the topic of Gaslight Village. He’s got an incredible archive of videos on his YouTube page and on the Gaslight Village FB page, and I recommend you check them both out. He’s also the source for several of the audio clips used in this episode, and graciously allowed me to include his photos on this episode page. I’d also like to thank all the admins and members of the Gaslight Village FB page. It’s an incredible resource on the topic of this delightful park, and I’m so grateful there’s a place to gather and share memories of this special place.

Additional thanks to Brian Dorn, Addison Rice, and Jahnavi Newsom (aka The Love Sprockets), for allowing the use of their song about Gaslight Village and Frontier Town. Their work beyond this song is delightful to listen to, so check them out!

Remember what Lucy Maud Montgomery once said: nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

1. 1 Aug 1959, Page 18 – The Troy Record at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/57812306/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg:288000:997978358. Accessed November 19, 2019.
2. Bernath J. 001 Gaslight Village-Summerworkers_filtered.; 2006. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jannetie/8705506816/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
3. 5 Sep 1972, Page 32 – The Times Record at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/56862869/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
4. 6 Aug 1965, 8 – The North Adams Transcript at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/545291890/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A777000%3A2115922176. Accessed November 19, 2019.
5. 8 Jun 1968, Page 17 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/85980887/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
6. 9 May 1974, Page 11 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/90491830/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
7. 11 Jul 1972, Page 2 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/85987400/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
8. 11 Jul 1976, Page 19 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/80147561/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
9. 12 Jul 1974, Page 15 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/86883327/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
10. 14 Aug 1971, Page 9 – The Times Record at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/58853504/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
11. 18 Jul 1970, Page 31 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/87054072/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
12. Mann B, Jay in U, NY. 20 Adk: Listening back to a magical encounter with Arto Monaco. NCPR. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/39810/20191025/20-adk-listening-back-to-a-magical-encounter-with-arto-monaco. Accessed November 20, 2019.
13. 20 Jun 1976, Page 25 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/74275668/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
14. 28 Jul 1974, Page 50 – The Kingston Daily Freeman at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/86884352/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
15. 29 Jul 1976, Page 41 – The Times Record at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/57956862/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A1446000%3A416618366. Accessed November 19, 2019.
16. 31 Jul 1959, 1 – Brooklyn Record at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/576134141/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A120000%3A575752990. Accessed November 19, 2019.
17. 31 May 1963, Page 3 – The Raleigh Register at Newspapers.com. World Collection. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/47965522/?terms=%22gaslight%2Bvillage%22&pqsid=HbV3nBZs3i89xgQWuxprFg%3A777000%3A2115922176. Accessed November 19, 2019.
18. Gazette NC. 60 Years Ago, Gaslight Village Debuted In Pottersville. https://www.northcountrygazette.org/2010/07/02/village_debut/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
19. 1964 Gaslight Village. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpsjaoVpKYA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2zEwflnv7WevUqLDhOvAR2QO7pNZ89aodW0EEGXJSJVVszyB31ucisnmE. Accessed November 16, 2019.
20. 031003-10VLPArtoMonaco.pdf. https://www.aarch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/031003-10VLPArtoMonaco.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2019.
21. 201207 Lake George Trails Master Plan Draft_2013-04-17_Draft FinalRED.pdf. https://www.boltonnewyork.com/upload_files/public-notices/201207%20Lake%20George%20Trails%20Master%20Plan%20Draft_2013-04-17_Draft%20FinalRED.pdf. Accessed November 17, 2019.
22. adkalmanack. A Final Design for West Brook, Gaslight Village Project -. The Adirondack Almanack. https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2010/05/a-final-design-for-west-brook-gaslight-village-project.html. Published May 17, 2010. Accessed November 17, 2019.
23. A Tilted House In The Bronx Captures Teenager’s Interest. Naugatuck, CT Patch. https://patch.com/connecticut/naugatuck/tilted-house-bronx-captures-teenagers-interest. Published February 23, 2019. Accessed December 1, 2019.
24. 826 PARANORMAL. Abandoned Amusement Park (Former Gaslight Village Then Action Sport) Lake George , Ny.; 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nespirit/2766788027/. Accessed November 16, 2019.
25. Adirondack Life Article – Arto Monaco – Adirondack Life. http://www.adirondacklifemag.com/blogs/2014/08/05/arto-monaco/. Accessed November 20, 2019.
26. Flynn A. Adirondack theme parks remembered. :1.
27. Ahead of wrecking ball, snow collapses Opera House in Lake George | Local | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/news/local/article_ce6241e6-330a-11e0-8088-001cc4c03286.html?fbclid=IwAR3LjRihrRwJVXZC1NEwuvUHY6W5lZtb8mycAr-m_fp3r6SztMHom4yHQVk. Accessed November 17, 2019.
28. All Points North – Arto Monaco and the Land of Makebelieve. http://web.archive.org/web/20160303233407/http://www.apnmag.com/winter_2005/artomonaco.php. Published March 3, 2016. Accessed November 17, 2019.
29. Amazon.com: Photo Gaslight Village Lake George NY State Adirondack Mountains 5×8: Photographs. https://www.amazon.com/Gaslight-Village-George-Adirondack-Mountains/dp/B07D7HH93M. Accessed November 16, 2019.
30. Futrell J. Amusement Parks of New York. Stackpole Books; 2006. https://amzn.to/2Ygsg5d
31. McManus P. Amusement Ride – Seattle – Polaroid.; 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/electric_crayon/18464937522/. Accessed November 21, 2019.
32. Crwm. And Now the Screaming Starts: Stuff: The haunted houses of Coney Island: Part 3 – Dante’s Inferno. And Now the Screaming Starts. September 2008. http://and-now-the-screaming-starts.blogspot.com/2008/09/stuff-haunted-houses-of-coney-island.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
33. Wortham J. Animatronic Band Moves From Pizza Parlors to YouTube. Wired. August 2008. https://www.wired.com/2008/08/showbiz-pizzas/. Accessed November 24, 2019.
34. Design TO. Arrow Development – Building Disney’s Dream Rides: 1959 was a Very Good Year for Arrow. Arrow Development – Building Disney’s Dream Rides. August 2015. http://arrowdevelopment.blogspot.com/2015/08/1959-was-very-good-year-for-arrow.html. Accessed November 20, 2019.
35. Arto Monaco. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arto_Monaco&oldid=919687016. Accessed November 16, 2019.
36. At Fun Forest, we rode the chill-filled Flight to Mars. The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/at-fun-forest-we-rode-the-chill-filled-flight-to-mars/. Published October 24, 2019. Accessed November 21, 2019.
37. Baby Boomer Alert: How Many Remember Gaslight Village in Lake George? https://cnynews.com/baby-boomer-alert-how-many-remember-gaslight-village-in-lake-george/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
38. Pictures W. Behind the Scenes – New Life to Old Stills Charley Wood VFX Breakdown.; 2018. https://vimeo.com/253465151. Accessed November 17, 2019.
39. Inc NBM. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 1959.
40. SwellMap. Bumper Car Ride, Gaslight Village, Lake George, New York.; 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/94207108@N02/21803144394/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
41. Hanley C. Charles R. Wood the “Father of Theme Parks” Remembered. What’s New In Lake George NY: Fun Events, News & More! https://www.lakegeorge.com/whatsnew/2013/04/remembering-charles-r-wood/. Published April 26, 2013. Accessed November 17, 2019.
42. Charles R. Wood, 90, Amusement Park Creator, Dies – The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/obituaries/charles-r-wood-90-amusement-park-creator-dies.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
43. Brown J. Charles R. Wood: Godfather of Themeparks #TBT. Throwback Thursday. https://www.lakegeorge.com/throwback-thursday/2014/09/storytown-usa-tbt/. Published September 16, 2014. Accessed November 17, 2019.
44. Charles Wood (businessman). In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Wood_(businessman)&oldid=883949644. Accessed November 17, 2019.
45. RANDALL T. Charles Wood Timeline. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/news/local/charles-wood-timeline/article_eb0fa915-421e-5ac7-9d89-9f93d8156b5e.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
46. Charley Wood documentary in the works. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/blogs/don_lehman/charley-wood-documentary-in-the-works/article_fe94d9ae-0610-11e5-b2f1-6ba0d1e4f56c.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
47. CharleyWood. https://web.archive.org/web/20091219071717/http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2003/Jun03/Features/Legends_Charley_Wood/CharleyWood.html. Published December 19, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2019.
48. Colorful Old Unused Gaslight Village Lake George New York Advertising Post Cards – TPNC. http://www.timepassagesnostalgia.com/&pm=0&searchkeywords=Travel+American+Auto+Gas&sin=l260. Accessed November 24, 2019.
49. Coney Island Dark Rides. https://www.laffinthedark.com/articles/coney001/coney2.htm. Accessed November 24, 2019.
50. Coney Island History – Rides & Shows List. https://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/ridelist.htm. Accessed November 21, 2019.
51. [email protected] DR. County takes over Gaslight Village property. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/news/local/county-takes-over-gaslight-village-property/article_72114bf8-049e-11df-910e-001cc4c03286.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
52. dark ride – flight to mars. https://flighttomars.home.blog/tag/dark-ride/. Accessed November 21, 2019.
53. Dragon – Lake George Action Park (Lake George, New York, United States). https://rcdb.com/9390.htm. Accessed November 24, 2019.
54. EDITORIAL: Cavalcade building’s time has passed | Editorial | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-cavalcade-building-s-time-has-passed/article_127bd200-c5da-11df-a10e-001cc4c03286.html. Accessed December 2, 2019.
55. Exhibits | lgha. https://www.lakegeorgehistorical.org/exhibits. Accessed November 17, 2019.
56. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/bob.monaco.1/videos/1024218917596553/?permPage=1. Accessed November 21, 2019.
57. Fight over Gaslight property continues | Local | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/news/local/fight-over-gaslight-property-continues/article_6e7ba95f-244d-5d42-ab7b-b4d53556dc93.html. Accessed December 2, 2019.
58. Flight to Mars (Exterior). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b3DPDc9YM. Accessed November 21, 2019.
59. Flight to Mars Dark Ride. https://laffinthedark.com/articles/flight2mars/flight.htm. Accessed November 15, 2019.
60. Flight To Mars Dark Ride, (on Ride) at the State Fair of Texas, Dallas TX 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNjiQUL6HD0. Accessed November 21, 2019.
61. Former Gaslight Village gets new life as community park. WNYT NewsChannel 13. https://wnyt.com/news/new-community-park-where-gaslight-village-used-to-be-lake-george-warren-county/5370689/. Published May 29, 2019. Accessed November 3, 2019.
62. Freedomland U.S.A. – The World’s Largest Entertainment Center – Photos. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Freedomland-USA-The-Worlds-Largest-Entertainment-Center-246939775358072/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1232733076778732. Accessed November 19, 2019.
63. Freedomland U.S.A. – The World’s Largest Entertainment Center – Photos. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Freedomland-USA-The-Worlds-Largest-Entertainment-Center-246939775358072/photos/?tab=album&album_id=748898905162154&ref=page_internal. Accessed December 1, 2019.
64. Friendly Freddy. ShowBiz Pizza Wiki. https://showbizpizza.fandom.com/wiki/Friendly_Freddy. Accessed November 24, 2019.
65. Funworld Magazine. https://web.archive.org/web/20090416095004/http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2004/nov04/features/RealLifeFantasy/index.html. Published April 16, 2009. Accessed November 16, 2019.
66. Futuro. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Futuro&oldid=911424629. Accessed December 2, 2019.
67. Gallery: Gaslight Village > accidental discovery by ’dukes – Urban Exploration Resource. http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?locid=21270&galid=11917. Accessed November 20, 2019.
68. Gaslight Announcements.Wmv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xld_6pzCCDc&fbclid=IwAR1SQbCtcCRObYwRBu676RV-1ZSkUA1SoNyPZDgB3P_DXRTIMiXS-Ym9jGY. Accessed November 17, 2019.
69. PRUITT D. Gaslight Follies. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/gaslight-follies/image_81bbfa70-0104-11e2-96a9-001a4bcf887a.html. Accessed December 2, 2019.
70. Gaslight Village. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaslight_Village&oldid=921916877. Accessed November 3, 2019.
71. Archive A. Gaslight Village 1970s Lake George NY.; 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/albanygroup/16351962614/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
72. Gaslight Village Bandstand Magic Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfJFIkhzX7M&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1i3vmPdufJiJmkSi6tstM9RRmyRSTahKBfZ3HxmtwsISgsd3e_JPvYORg. Accessed November 17, 2019.
73. Sesqui E. Gaslight Village Flier.; 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleasecho/6249494293/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
74. Gaslight Village in Lake George NY Photo Update. GECentral. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/gecentral/gaslight-village-in-lake-george-ny-photo-update-t239.html. Accessed November 25, 2019.
75. Gaslight Village in the Late 1960’s — Lake George, NY. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGdruPym3q4. Accessed November 16, 2019.
76. Bird W. Gaslight Village Lake George NY.; 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/edge_and_corner_wear/7617088452/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
77. Gaslight Village Lake George NY Memories – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loLMHToyG44. Accessed November 16, 2019.
78. Gaslight Village Lake George, New York – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/GaslightVillageLakeGeaorgeNY/posts/as-seen-in-lake-george-historical-museum/10155428273847395/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
79. Gaslight Village Lake George, New York – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/GaslightVillageLakeGeaorgeNY/posts/10153249541837395?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDuxMDdJc1NB4ZjYkfVRsX2GMwNmrJxK6jkvprQ2NAKYemX6GaLPe3TmrZOc61MRkllNIprB9W_FkoSr_nVvd0c6JCfuGyuLIw-eaQvShW4HKIbFv7Mpsajp5FIRBcO-9c8KxVlT4uaUkFzOzYadykGVQ9WXmgS8b2rFzMf810B52XibX8UBQI4ynQFyYH-CfjpnIjNJ7RGfyyELSvNCDBUYuKQ2JpSQrI5-xAXj_H3Iv5bQ-aoopajAenibSg_28HYsttTiApdNK3SGckqzEBkh0eJhiaxivb0jBPc6l8sonbz5PSnR-lNdIZjC6cg3TR41yMzkml1OyCGQbRa2GXeVZFLx0-Tb0hJ8FzqGOeBqTMGtFr7e1mCWeb_D15lKcP7oq7JQAs2O1AZF-XI50qdWC1Heul6x3hEKy0rBM1WTQhYdyp_13sdHUYhEDfiglA6AI-2FATcIiU4NIAfObP63cYN1fCM4ulaIdtX11HldAua79oa&__tn__=-R. Accessed November 17, 2019.
80. Gaslight Village Lake George, New York – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/GaslightVillageLakeGeaorgeNY/posts/10153249541837395?__tn__=-R. Accessed November 17, 2019.
81. Gaslight Village Pictures. Great Escape Central Forums. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/greatescapeforums/gaslight-village-pictures-t178.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
82. FIEGL,[email protected] C. Gaslight Village sale nears. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/news/local/gaslight-village-sale-nears/article_0ac56d9b-7c13-5106-b556-006aca7a6d5f.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
83. Gay Nineties. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gay_Nineties&oldid=926704990. Accessed November 20, 2019.
84. Gay Nineties (1890s) Live Again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBYh2IXsyNw. Accessed November 20, 2019.
85. Railpage G. Gino’s Rail Blog: The D&H Lake George Branch and Glen Lake Too! Gino’s Rail Blog. September 2013. http://ginosrailblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-d-lake-george-branch-and-glen-lake.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
86. Glens_Falls_Post_Star_102584.jpg (930×1495). https://thefuturohouse.com/images/Collection_Digital/Glens_Falls_Post_Star_102584.jpg. Accessed November 17, 2019.
87. GOING HOME: Canada St. LAKE GEORGE NY in the 1940s-1960s. https://www.facebook.com/groups/130739763632433/permalink/1122554284450971/. Accessed November 20, 2019.
88. Guinness World Record Joke Teller. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rOpQV0XJYc. Accessed November 24, 2019.
89. Berman ML. Historic Amusement Parks of Long Island: 118 Miles of Memories. Arcadia Publishing; 2015. https://amzn.to/2Rdnp3l
90. Warren J. Historic Tales from the Adirondack Almanack. Arcadia Publishing; 2009. https://amzn.to/33KNadI
91. History. Storytown  USA, A Retrospective. June 2009. https://stusa.wordpress.com/information/about/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
92. History and Legends of the Adirondacks. https://www.facebook.com/groups/adirondackhistory/permalink/916831555175614/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
93. History and Legends of the Adirondacks. https://www.facebook.com/groups/adirondackhistory/permalink/916200598572043/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
94. History and Legends of the Adirondacks. https://www.facebook.com/groups/adirondackhistory/permalink/1083023295223105/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
95. Joe Jackson Jr. IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413235/. Accessed November 21, 2019.
96. Kim Reale Skating To Memories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgPivDQh01o&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0mQ_hOEDlL6zjlyKIHvmSodz9o42UdDSdTTT20iZiQtpyQgGkILIOOK0I. Accessed November 17, 2019.
97. LAKE GEORGE 1973.Mpg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGYPk68uBU8. Accessed November 16, 2019.
98. Lake George Action Park. TomSlatin.com. June 2008. https://www.tomslatin.com/lake-george-action-park/. Accessed November 16, 2019.
99. Lake George Action Park Pictures. http://www.tomslakegeorgesite.com/Action%20Park%20Pics.html. Accessed November 16, 2019.
100. [email protected] MT–. Lake George festival park concept plans endorsed by county board. Glens Falls Post-Star. https://poststar.com/news/local/lake-george-festival-park-concept-plans-endorsed-by-county-board/article_d4238dea-cdd5-11e0-9d5f-001cc4c03286.html. Accessed December 2, 2019.
101. Roberto41144. Lake George Ride and Fun Park, Lake George, New York.; 2017. https://www.flickr.com/photos/9385421@N08/33600753135/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
102. Lake George, NewYork : Gaslight Village. https://adirondack.pastperfectonline.com/library/DD2EAF24-04D4-453D-A2C2-349788952010. Accessed November 24, 2019.
103. Lake George, NY – 1976.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-4uZbN1pZ8. Accessed November 16, 2019.
104. Last flicker for Gaslight Village. https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Last-flicker-for-Gaslight-Village-847694.php. Accessed November 3, 2019.
105. Last of the Gaslight Village, Lake George, NY. http://patriciaaziegler.blogspot.com/2010/05/last-of-gaslight-village-lake-george-ny.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
106. Layout Guide to the NEB&W;: Lake George. http://web.archive.org/web/20100610130830/http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/article.php?article=837. Published June 10, 2010. Accessed November 17, 2019.
107. Local News | Flight to Mars amusement ride was rite of passage | Seattle Times Newspaper. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20070717&slug=flightmars. Accessed November 21, 2019.
108. Lost at the CRW Theater. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10150928695822395. Accessed November 17, 2019.
109. Hemmings.com. Mannix’s puller: Barris-built Oldsmobile Toronado ro | Hemmings Daily. Hemmings Motor News. https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/08/24/mannixs-puller-barris-built-oldsmobile-toronado-roadster-heads-to-auction/. Accessed December 1, 2019.
110. Modified Wolfpack 5 at Gaslight Village by DrFawkes on DeviantArt. https://www.deviantart.com/drfawkes/art/Modified-Wolfpack-5-at-Gaslight-Village-622038202. Accessed November 24, 2019.
111. Monaco. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=889092. Accessed November 15, 2019.
112. NEB&W Guide to Lake George Village, NY – NEB&W Railroad Heritage Website. http://nebwrailroad.com/index.php/NEB%26W_Guide_to_Lake_George_Village,_NY#Freight_House. Accessed November 17, 2019.
113. NEB&W; Guide to Lake George Village, NY. http://web.archive.org/web/20110414143729/http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/article.php?article=218. Published April 14, 2011. Accessed November 17, 2019.
114. MS2171. Old Photo Scans: Me – Gaslight Village 1966?; 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ms2171/2169647603/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
115. Old Swamp In Flushing Has a Touch Of Coney – The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/18/archives/old-swamp-in-flushing-has-a-touch-of-coney.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
116. Opens Jan 27: Nickel Empire: Coney Island Photographs 1898-1948. Amusing the Zillion. January 2011. https://amusingthezillion.com/2011/01/19/opens-jan-27-nickel-empire-coney-island-photographs-1898-1948/. Accessed November 21, 2019.
117. Bird W. Opera House Gaslight Village Lake George NY.; 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/edge_and_corner_wear/5789930888/. Accessed November 16, 2019.
118. Palisades Amusement Park Historical Society. http://www.palisadespark.com/rides/FlighttoMars.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
119. Corporation B. Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation; 1949.
120. Corporation B. Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation; 1955.
121. adkalmanack. Pottersville Fair: Gambling, Races, and Gaslight Village -. The Adirondack Almanack. https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2009/05/pottersville-fair-gambling-races-and-gaslight-village.html. Published May 4, 2009. Accessed November 17, 2019.
122. Flynn A. Putting the spotlight on Gaslight Village. Adirondack Daily Enterprise. August 10, 2007:15.
123. Randy Choura and Elyn Tia, Ice Adagio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AcUXMvoYqg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3Fj3FjF_aXJpUEr0LTafw-KL6gvkTi7Zs9b-XYcdVY_iCb3fQXrUvnhOA. Accessed November 17, 2019.
124. Refueling Gaslight Village | Local | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/news/local/refueling-gaslight-village/article_94f1ef23-1886-5294-94c7-55c225215367.html. Accessed December 2, 2019.
125. Remembering The Past. Great Escape Central Forums. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/greatescapeforums/remembering-the-past-t1036.html. Accessed November 24, 2019.
126. Restoring Wetlands Will Improve Water Quality Of Lake George, New York. https://www.lakegeorge.com/news-archive/wetlands/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
127. Rides That Aren’t There Anymore Gaslight Village Defunct Amusement Park – Final Season 1988 – Rides – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3lRTz2L2Ks. Accessed November 16, 2019.
128. Search “‘gaslight village’” on DeviantArt – Discover The Largest Online Art Gallery and Community. https://www.deviantart.com/search?q=%22gaslight+village%22. Accessed November 24, 2019.
129. Seattle Municipal Archives Digital Collections : Image Record : [Seattle Center Amusement Park Rides Night Scene, Flight to Mars] [73205]. http://archives.seattle.gov/digital-collections/index.php/Detail/objects/111854. Accessed November 21, 2019.
130. seq-15.pdf. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn86033360/2007-08-10/ed-1/seq-15.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2EZ0mZWHG1eCKI3c180CQK1qNEIdPt59tgRkOQAy8DydStTtCFbOjIK5A. Accessed November 16, 2019.
131. site:poststar.com “gaslight village” – Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNTwPXXAzWyrI9xtPwGJOVqDqRFe6A%3A1575267564887&ei=7KzkXezUNYTWtQWwkIDgBw&q=site%3Apoststar.com+%22gaslight+village%22&oq=site%3Apoststar.com+%22gaslight+village%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3…857070.868693..868971…5.0..0.168.3630.41j4……0….1..gws-wiz…..10..35i302i39j35i39j0i273j0i131j0j0i67j0i131i273j35i362i39.Ak_bMUeZULw&ved=0ahUKEwjs-oX9qJbmAhUEa60KHTAIAHwQ4dUDCAs&uact=5. Accessed December 2, 2019.
132. Some great Century 21 shots. World’s Fair Community. http://www.worldsfaircommunity.org/topic/14205-some-great-century-21-shots/. Accessed November 21, 2019.
133. Storytown USA (the original group). https://www.facebook.com/groups/storytownusa/permalink/2547103828663937/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
134. Archive A. Storytown/Gaslight Village Ad Lake George Ny Favorite Albany Ny Day Trip 1960s.; 2013. https://www.flickr.com/photos/albanygroup/10110579573/. Accessed November 15, 2019.
135. Storytown/Gaslight Village Commercials – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n714a360PIE. Accessed November 16, 2019.
136. Post P. Storytown/Great Escape founder’s legacy lives on. The Saratogian. https://www.saratogian.com/news/storytown-great-escape-founder-s-legacy-lives-on/article_b33c9449-0b58-5c62-a895-e5c765edcf3c.html. Accessed November 17, 2019.
137. Sunshine Express – Ragtime Medley 1987. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKWXkARcGxo&fbclid=IwAR29Ru0HxrlV729N-w2oS85V5wKdrm2vlmZ39eiw6REbqY6-tXsOYFyI6I4. Accessed November 17, 2019.
138. The fairy tale of Arto Monaco | Local | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/news/local/the-fairy-tale-of-arto-monaco/article_c49e6930-7548-5e6d-8d57-eeefea2c9e9d.html. Accessed November 20, 2019.
139. The Futuro House – “Lost Souls” – Units Location Unkown – Information, Photographs, History, Maps. https://thefuturohouse.com/Futuro-House-Lost-Locations.html#lakegeorge. Accessed November 17, 2019.
140. Neal M. The Last 57 Remaining Futuro Houses in the World, Mapped. Atlas Obscura. http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-map-of-the-last-remaining-flying-saucer-homes. Published 00:00 400AD. Accessed December 2, 2019.
141. The messy history of the pie fight, from vaudeville to Nickelodeon. Hopes&Fears. http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/culture/film/216433-history-of-pie-fights. Published September 2, 2015. Accessed December 1, 2019.
142. The Post-Star from Glens Falls, New York on June 26, 1988 · 47. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/347438558/. Accessed December 2, 2019.
143. The Rock-afire Explosion. ShowBiz Pizza Wiki. https://showbizpizza.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rock-afire_Explosion. Accessed November 24, 2019.
144. The Sad End & Demolition of The Gaslight Village Amusement Park Lake George, NY. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8F4XHrP1ls. Accessed November 16, 2019.
145. The World’s Most Famous Unknown Magician and Ventriloquist – Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_s_Most_Famous_Unknown_Magician/kMlNmgEACAAJ?hl=en. Accessed November 24, 2019.
146. Theme Parks | Adirondack Experience: More than a Museum. Adirondack Experience. https://www.theadkx.org/about-us/adirondack-journal/birth-theme-parks-adirondacks/. Accessed November 24, 2019.
147. There Used to be an Amusement Park. http://www.bbrent.com/gallery/ad_inn.htm. Accessed November 24, 2019.
148. therockafire. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjhqAaWA7JZtxm3Mof3KJcA. Accessed November 24, 2019.
149. TR: Great Escape and Lake George 9/1-9/2/02 | Roller Coasters, Theme Parks & Attractions Forum. https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/106429. Accessed November 17, 2019.
150. Tracking Futuro, Lake George’s Flying Saucer Home | Lake George Mirror Magazine. http://web.archive.org/web/20160731181012/http://www.lakegeorgemirrormagazine.com/2013/07/08/tracking-futuro-lake-george%E2%80%99s-flying-saucer-home/. Published July 31, 2016. Accessed November 17, 2019.
151. Travel the world through Webshots photos! http://web.archive.org/web/20121111034010/http://travel.webshots.com/album/569620602YcQYtM?start=0. Accessed November 25, 2019.
152. Vintage Ads. Lake George Guide. http://www.lakegeorgeguide.com/vintage-ads/. Published December 3, 2010. Accessed November 24, 2019.
153. Warren Boden King of the Banjo-Gaslight Village. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUMZdE5loOA&fbclid=IwAR0wlzdcZ7k8Kh88xTxM2-NveMJBtA3mijjeaH9p_LkxWheyWP9McXtLsao. Accessed November 17, 2019.
154. Watch – Discover. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154345624992395. Accessed November 17, 2019.
155. Wayback Machine. http://web.archive.org/web/20110208120244/http://srandsgallery.com/uploads/images/E-E-Rutter-Untitled-Steeplechase-Bicycle-Ride-c1925.jpg. Published February 8, 2011. Accessed November 20, 2019.
156. Randall T. West Brook park to be named for Great Escape founder, $750k grant lined up. Sun Community News & Printing. https://www.suncommunitynews.com/api/content/f48fcf2f-4495-50d0-8c16-471a1bec14e7/. Published January 17, 2012. Accessed November 17, 2019.
157. What year did TGE get the Trabant? GECentral. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/gecentral/what-year-did-tge-get-the-trabant-t491.html. Accessed November 25, 2019.
158. Why exactly did Gaslight Village close? GECentral. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/gecentral/why-exactly-did-gaslight-village-close-t380.html. Accessed November 25, 2019.
159. Why were they called the gay nineties? http://youaskandy.com/questions-answers/28-articles-series-1990/2150-why-were-they-called-the-gay-nineties.html. Accessed November 20, 2019.
160. WMHT | Charles R. Wood: A Storied Life. WMHT. https://www.wmht.org/crwood/. Accessed November 17, 2019.
161. Wood founded Gaslight Village | Hometown | poststar.com. https://poststar.com/lifestyles/hometown/wood-founded-gaslight-village/article_2e72389a-61c2-11df-be9d-001cc4c03286.html. Accessed November 15, 2019.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

The post Gaslight Village appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Audio credits: Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. Carousel cover photo is by James Loesch, Flickr, CCBY2.0. Theme music is from “Aerobatics in Slow Motion” by TeknoAXE. Incidental music is from “Olde Timey” by Kevin Macleod / incompetech.com. 

Coney Island

Our story today begins almost 200 years ago.

In 1829, Coney Island, a peninsula with sandy beaches, was linked to NYC by road. The first resorts there opened up as a result. Along with the resorts came something that we ironically rarely talk about: a carousel. 

“Balmer’s Carousel” at Coney Island opened in 1875, featuring hand-carved wooden animals and powered by a steam engine. This carousel was designed by a man named Charles Looff. 

Looff was German, with the birth name  Carl Jürgen Detlev Looff .He immigrated to the US at the age of 18, in 1870. At Ellis Island, he Americanized his name from Carl to Charles. 

He moved to Brooklyn. There, he reportedly worked as a furniture carver during the day, but took wood scraps home with him and in his leisure hours began carving animals. After a few years, he had sufficient carousel animals carved that he set them up on a platform. Attached to a motor, the platform went around in a circle: et voila, a carousel. Looff set them up at Vanderveer’s bathing pavilions on Coney Island. It was Coney Island’s first carousel and according to some, its first amusement ride.

History of the Carousel

Now, the carousel as a ride has its origins in many cultures, centuries and centuries back. I won’t go too in-depth into the nitty-gritty details, but we might as well have a bit of history.

In brief, you can find carousel-like concepts in many cultures, as far back as 500 AD. 

The name carousel itself has its roots in the Spanish word “carosella”, meaning little battle. This word has it roots in the Italian word for chariot, which in turn ties back into the proto-Indo-European “carrus”, meaning “to run”. In Europe, between 1500 and 1800, the meaning of a carousel evolved from jousting practice to showy horseman dressage to carved wooden animals on display on the carnival circuit.

In the 1800s, the steam engine was invented, refining the carousel into what we know it today. Carousels in the 1800s and most of the 1900s were incredibly popular rides on the fair circuit. A contemporaneous writer from the mid-1860s described the ride as such: it “whirled around with such impetuousity, that the wonder is the daring riders are not shot off like cannon- ball, and driven half into the middle of next month.”

And in the United States moving into the 1900s, the carousel industry was booming, led by immigrants like Gustav Dentzel and our friend Charles Looff, both from Germany. The turn of the century was the golden age of the carousel. 

In the golden age of carousels, each horse and animal were hand-carved; several different dominant styles arose. Country Fair style was the hallmark of popular amusement names Allan Herschell and Edward Spillman, characterized by simpler horses often without saddles. These Country Fair style carousels were often easy to move.

Philadelphia style was the next major style, the hallmark of names like Gustav Dentzel and the Philedelphia Toboggan Company. These carousels were often menagerie carousels (horses as well as non-horse animals) and had realistic saddles and detailed carvings.

Finally, Coney Island style, characterized by flamboyance, mirrors, lights, elaborate saddles, and jewel-bedecked animals. Looff was the biggest name in this style, and taught many others, such as Illions.

At the height of the carousel’s popularity, over 5,000 carousels are said to have simultaneously operated in the US. 

In general, it seems as though every amusement park, even nowadays, has a carousel – it could be one of the most popular rides at a theme park. 

Looff’s 18th Carousel

As noted, Looff not only built the first carousel and first amusement park attraction for Coney Island, but went on to build many carousels, a theme park, oh, and the Santa Monica Pier (the Newcomb Pier side). 

I already mentioned this, but it is worth emphasizing his renown for being the premiere carver in the Coney Island style, where carousels were decorated flamboyantly and elaborately, from the carousel structure all the way down to the saddles on the horses.

Looff’s 18th carousel was built around 1910, in conjunction with Gustav Dentzel. Different sources place one or the other of the carvers as the true designer. For the purposes of this story right now, I’ll refer to it as Looff’s carousel. 

Around the same time, the Manhasset Realty Company was formed for the purposes of purchasing the Seaside Heights beachfront property in New Jersey. 

The 18th carousel didn’t go directly to the newly-formed Seaside Heights, however. Instead, it went to a small park on an island in the Delaware River, near Philadelphia. It was called Burlington Island.

Burlington Island

The island had originally been named Mantinicunk Island by the original inhabitants, the Lenape people, Mantinicunk meaning Island of Pines. It changed hands many times after the first European settlement there in the 1600s, as well as names: High Island and Verhulsten Island were names prior to the modern Burlington Island.

Eventually, it was granted to the city of Burlington for primarily farming use. The residents reportedly often campaigned for a bridge to be built between the island and the city of Burlington on the mainland, which never did happen. 

In 1900, the first family picnic resort opened on the lower half of the island. (And here, I’ll pause to say that if you remember back to the Rose Island episode (theabandonedcarousel.com/10) you’ll see many parallels to the story of Burlington Island, as they are contemporaries.)

The developer put in picnic tables and a bath house, built a pier, and had sand deposited in order to form a beach. There was also an ice cream stand. All told, this was a huge draw at the turn of the century. Reportedly, 4,000 people visited the island in just a single day at the peak of the 1902 season. An early contemporaneous description of the park was “An ideal temperance picnic resort”.

Around 1907, with things going so well, the park owners reportedly talked to the owner of another park – Rancocas Lake Park, in Mount Laurel, NJ. That park was a trolley park. 

A Brief Sidebar on Trolley Parks

We haven’t really discussed the concept yet here on TAC, but trolley parks are an important park of amusement park history. In the latter part of the 1800s, working hours were reduced, disposable income was on the rise, and rapid industrialization was occuring. Trolley or streetcar lines sat idle on the weekends, much to the dismay of their operating companies. In an effort to increase weekend ridership and therefore profits, the companies began building “trolley parks” at the end of the lines. These were were small amusement and resort areas, often near lakes or beaches, with picnic grounds, carousels, and other small mechanical amusement attractions. 

Trolley parks, then, are the precursors to the modern amusement park, and in some cases some are still operational (you might know about Lakemont Park in Altoona PA or Kennywood in Pittsburgh PA. Most famously, you might know Lake Compounce in Bristol CT, built in 1846 and considered the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the US).

Development and Downfall of Burlington Island Beach Park

Back to Rancocas Lake Park, as we were talking about, was located about 12 miles south of Burlington Island. It was opened by a man named George Potts in the early 1900s. Rancocas Park was a classic trolley park. There were picnic groves, a dance pavilion, a midway, and a carousel and other amusement rides. 

This is an episode about a carousel, so let’s enjoy ourselves, and briefly talk about that carousel, there at Rancocas Lake Park. It was described as a “classic Philadelphia carousel”, housed in its own building to keep off the elements. It reportedly had beautifully carved horses and was quite popular with the visitors to Rancocas Lake Park. 

The owners of Burlington Island came to a deal with Potts around 1907. In a move to generate additional revenue, Potts relocated several of his amusement rides to Burlington Island for several years. These rides joined a set of large swing cages already present on the island.

After an unknown time, Burlington Island management purchased updated versions of the rides they had onsite, and Potts’ rides were moved back to Rancocas Park in Mount Laurel. 

It was somewhere in this timeframe that the 18th Looff carousel was built, between 1908 and 1910, and subsequently delivered to Burlington Island. The carousel featured chariots and animals that were carved by Looff, as well as by other big names in the carousel world: Dentzel, Morris, Carmel, and Illions. This carousel is reportedly considered unique in that it was worked on by so many of the master carvers. There were 35 jumping horses, 18 standing horses, a lion, tiger, mule, two camels, and two chariots. Some of its animals are even reported dated to the 1890s. 

(Click this link to see images of the carousel at Burlington Island.)

The carousel was reportedly quite popular, as was Burlington Island. Visitors came in droves from both sides of the river: from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

New Ownership at Burlington Island

In 1917, the island was sold, and the new owners, George Bassler and Robert Merkel, began up the amusement park, giving it the longer name of Burlington Island Beach Park. The newly updated park was described by one source as “elaborate”. A 1921 Bristol Daily Courier article described the owners’ goals for the park were to become “one of the biggest and most popular pleasure resorts in the East”.

(The same 1921 article devotes more than one paragraph to the food served at the meeting between Burlington Island management and the local communities. Roast pig was served, garnished with an oyster dressing. On the side, roasted sweet and white potatoes, hamburg steak, corn, celery, bread, pickles, coffee, pie, and cheese. Hungry?)

New attractions were set to be opened May 15, 1922, including “a roller-coaster, a merry-go-round, whip, airships and Venetian swings,” according to the newspaper article. Other sources mention a Ferris wheel, a boat swing, an “ocean wave”, a Tunnel of Love, Steeplechase, Tumblebug, Dodge-em cars, bumper scooters, caterpillar, a fun house, a rifle range, and a pony ride.

The centerpiece of the updated park was a delightful wooden coaster called “The Greyhound”, which had already begun construction in fall 1921. This was a lovely out-and-back coaster. From the article, described by a representative of Baker & Miller Company: “It is to have a 4000 feet run, with a height of 55 feet and eight dips. […]   There will be a 400 feet tunnel at the beginning of the ride. This will be dark and suitable for lovesick couples. The coaster will be the very latest thing of its kind.” 

This coaster was designed by John A. Miller, the “Miller” in Baker & Miller Company, and built by Harry C. Baker, the “Baker” in Baker & Miller Company. (Miller and Baker were a dynamic duo, responsible for many popular coasters of the era. Miller is considered by some to be the father of the modern high-speed coaster due to his design for the underfriction wheel, patented in 1919 and used on nearly every coaster in the world today.) 

(a great view of the coaster here and here) 

Of course, there was a miniature train, too, this one called the Reading RR. 

The carousel too got an upgrade. A Wurlington military band organ, model 146A, was shipped to Wissahicken Station in May 1924, to entertain the guests with delightful music as they whirled on their horses.

Reportedly, the Burlington Island Beach Park became the hit of the river under new ownership. 1927 ad copy described the park, saying: “Nature’s beauty and modern amusement devices combine to make Burlington Island one of tho most popular pleasure parks. ” Thousands took river excursions up and down the Delaware, leading to 6 or 7 steamers idling at the pier at a time. Some would come by train and take the ferry. The ferryboat was called the William E. Doron, and shuttled people back and forth from Bristol to the island. There was a promenade and a midway, lighted walking paths, and multiple rides. As the industrial age came into full swing, this was the place to be.

Two Stories of Fire at Burlington Island

Now, there are two semi-conflicting stories about the flaming end of Burlington Island. The common point between both is the method. The end came with fire, the nemesis of many early parks; at quibble is the dates.

The first is the most common, and is repeated almost everywhere, including the Historic American Buildings Survey, number HABS NJ-1141, through the Library of Congress. It tells of two fires, the first and most destructive in 1928. It goes like this:

In 1928, a fire is said to have begun at 2 am. As the park was on an island, the firefighters and firefighting equipment had to be ferried across. As such, nearly all of the rides and amusements had burned to the ground by the time the firefighters were able to begin fighting the fire.

The fire more or less destroyed the amusement park, and a second fire in 1934 sealed the fate of the park. 

The other story is newer but reputable, making it worth describing here, and comes from historian Paul W. Schopp, to the Riverton NJ Historical Society. At the link, you can see the original rectangular carousel building as well as the newer round building. 

Schopp maintains that no fire occurred at Burlington Island in the 1920s, and especially not in 1928. He points out the timing (the Great Depression) and the closure of Delaware River steamboat traffic as factors that lead to the closure of the rides and concessions at the amusement park by the end of the 1920s. 

Schopp describes the conflagration similarly to the previous story, and references the date April 24, 1932. 

There is a freely-accessible OCR text available for the Daily News in New York for this day, describing multiple fires that broke out in the area the night previous; however, this describes only a small fire on Burlington Island (“Two small houses and several barns were -destroyed in a blaze that covered a wide area on Burlington Island in the Delaware River.”) and otherwise describes a fire destroying the scenic railway and concessions at Bayonne Pleasure Park, a different lost NJ theme park.

However, an alternate article from the Asbury Press from the same day provides a clearer view. The paper describes how the fire swept through the entire island, causing a loss of over $100,000, including summer homes and most of the amusement park buildings. 

Schopp then gives the dates of January 28, 1934 for the second fire, which can be backed up by an article from the Bristol Daily Courier. The paper describes how the firefighters from Bristol and Burlington were ferried to the island to put out the blaze, reportedly accidentally caused by two young boys. “One of the amusement concessions, the scenic railway, partially wrecked by the flames, can be seen on the right. In the foreground are firemen battling the blaze with buckets of water and chemicals.” The image being referenced does show the half-burnt scenic railway coaster Greyhound, visible even in the free public-access view. Another article from “The Mercury” charmingly describes the firefighters rowing themselves across the Delaware in rowboats with buckets to attempt to fight the fire.

Mystery of the 1928 Fire

So based on newspaper reports – primary sources – we know there was a fire in 1932, and another fire that sealed the deal in 1934. What about 1928? Well, a 1972 retrospective in The Philadelphia Inquirer on the history of the island gives the date of 1928 for a first, damaging fire. And as mentioned earlier, nearly every single secondary source discussing the carousel’s history mentions a 1928 fire. However, I’ve been unable to find any newspaper reference to a 1928 fire at Burlington Island.

Whenever exactly the first fire occurred, the hero of today’s story, Looff’s 18th carousel, miraculously escaped the blaze nearly unscathed, and was only partially damaged by fire. 

Burlington Island, however, was done for. Merkel, without the interest or funds to rebuild, sold the land (this to the VanSciver Sand Company) and began selling off any salvageable amusement rides. In the 50s, the sand company began mining sand and gravel from their half of the island, where the former amusement park used to be. This created the large lake that can now be seen in aerial views of the island. Currently, the city of Burlington now owns this half of the island. The other half is owned by a Board of Island Managers, a trust that actually predates the formation of the US, back to 1682. Their charter states that any development on their portion of the land must be “educational, conservational, historical, or recreational ”.

Currently in 2019, Burlington Island is undeveloped.

Seaside Heights: the early years

Now, let’s pause for a moment and head 60 miles due east from Burlington Island, to Seaside Heights, NJ, going back in time. When I last mentioned Seaside Heights a few minutes ago, it was the early 1900s, and a development company had just purchased the property with the intent to build. This was exciting, because the land is and was a barrier island, not useful for farming or producing any food). The general opinion at the time was reportedly that oceanfront property was unattractive, though developers were trying to change this. Excursion trains (trolleys) began running to the area on the weekends to the newly built resorts. By 1915, the land was changing hands at a public auction. At the same time, the first carousel opened at Seaside Heights – a steam-driven Dentzel carousel located on pilings only a few hundred feet from the shoreline.

The land took its first steps towards becoming a tourism and amusement mecca. A man named Joseph Vanderslice and the Senate Amusement Company built a gasoline-powered carousel, among other amusements. This failed within a year, lasting from 1915 through 1916.

The next summer, 1917, local builder Frank Freeman installed an electric Dentzel carousel in a building right on the water’s edge, reportedly with figures carved by Daniel Muller. The National Carousel Association describes Muller, saying that he “is generally recognized as the greatest carver of carousel animals, carving very realistic and artistic animals.” Reportedly, his only remaining carousels are at Forest Park (in Queens, NY) and at Cedar Point (in Ohio).

Freeman not only added a carousel, but other amusements as well: an indoor dance hall, an arcade, a skating rink, and a pier for fishing. It was named the Freeman Amusement Center, and became a successful trolley park.

The Carousel at the Heart of Casino Pier

This brings us back to the timeframe of Burlington Island and its 1928 fire, which had more or less destroyed the park. 

There was a man. A man named Robert Merkel. He had gotten involved with the development of Seaside Heights. The name might sound familiar, as he’d been the previous owner of Burlington Island. 

Merkel facilitated the sale of the Looff carousel to a Princeton contractor, Linus Gilbert. Gilbert wanted to bring some competition to the popular Freeman’s Amusement Center in Seaside Heights.

Some of the horses on the Looff carousel from Burlington Island were missing or damaged, but overall the carousel was in reasonable condition. Gilbert, of the L. R. Gilbert Construction Company, purchased the carousel and moved it to Seaside Heights. The carousel was restored, and the missing and overly damaged horses replaced with horses from other carousels.

The Wurlitzer band organ moved with the carousel, as well. With serial number 3673, the band organ is a style 146A.

In 1932, the carousel was officially opened at Seaside Heights. Gilbert had brought the original cupola building from Burlington Island, as well. The 10-sided unenclosed building did little to keep the weather off, and made the neighbors complain due to the noise of the Wurlitzer organ. Additionally, the Looff carousel was smaller and less elaborate than the neighboring Freeman carousel at the other end of the boardwalk. It was also completely detached from the other established amusements in the area. At the north end of the boardwalk, there was only the Looff carousel and a fishing pier, nothing else. The first few years were tight.

Not only locally, but nationally. It was the Great Depression. The economy of hand-carved carousels was collapsing – it was too expensive. Starting from the 1930s onward, fiberglass, aluminium, and plastic molds were the regular order of the day.  

Within five years, however, Gilbert built a larger surrounding complex around the carousel, including an Olympic-sized chlorine swimming pool. This was called the Seaside Heights Pool, and was reportedly a really “big deal” in the community, according to a later owner of Casino Pier. This drew thousand of people and gave reason to build more attractions along the pier. A fishing pier was built oceanwards with a few more modest attractions.

The Early Days of Casino Pier

In 1948, a man named John Fitzgerald and his business partner John Christopher purchased Casino Pier from Linus Gilbert. Carousels were beginning to fall out of favor. The younger generation was seeking thrills, and the older generation couldn’t make up the gap. The audience for slow-moving carousels began to dwindle. Oftentimes, the most efficient way to dispose of a carousel at a theme park looking for space was to literally set it on fire. Can you even imagine.

The town of Seaside Heights began to expand after the war, with veterans coming back for the good jobs and pleasant inexpensive oceanside housing, and this meant expansion for Seaside Heights amusements, as well. Kenneth Wynne Jr had married Fitzgerald’s daughter. Wynne was a lawyer and a lobbyist, and later worked for a TV station. 

Meanwhile, down the beach, catastrophe visited the Freeman’s carousel, that glorious Muller carousel with its beautiful details. Yes, another fire. The wooden carousel burned to the ground, completely destroyed. Floyd Moreland references a “phantom carousel” in a letter to the site Carousel Corner, saying it “operated only half of the summer of 1955 with the Carmel and Borelli animals on it”. An Illions carousel, formerly the Chafatino Carrousel from Coney Island, replaced it in 1957. This was a truly spectacular carousel – check out this image for some details. With the new carousel came a new pier and name – Funtown Pier.

In the late 50s, Fitzgerald came to Wynne to take over some of the park management and operations. Christopher had passed away in 1959, and Fitzgerald inherited full ownership rights. Wynne, Fitzgerald’s son-in-law, accepted the offer to manage the park, somewhere between 1958 and 1960. ”I liked the idea of coming to the Casino Pier here because it was show biz, something with a flair to it,’ he said in a newspaper interview.

Expansions and Firsts at Casino Pier

Wynne quickly expanded the pier eastward, and began adding amusements and rides. Our hero, the Dentzel/Looff carousel, got an upgrade to its Wurlitzer organ, with the conversion from a single-roll to a double roll. A fascinating 2001 article from Carousel Organ details exactly how Wurlitzer rolls are made, including photos. Well worth reading!

Wynne met up with Zurich-born Eddy Meir, who sold amusement rides on the behalf of the manufacturers. Meir and Wynne built up a good and regular relationship. “each year he would bring another spectacular ride”, Wynne is quoted as saying.  The first true rollercoaster at the pier was a Schiff wooden Wild Mouse coaster, opened in 1958, though, a kiddie coaster is said to have been at the pier in both 1952 and 1964.

In 1963, the first Himalaya ride in the US opened, right here at Casino Pier. You might remember the Himalaya from a different episode on this podcast, the Elektrenai episode, where I went a bit more in-depth into the Caterpillar and Music Express rides (Himalaya is another name for Music Express). 

1964 saw the installation of the Skyride, taking visitors from the pool area all the way to the east end of the pier at the time. This was essentially a Skyway-type ride, offering excellent views and a mild thrill. The Skyway had been a novelty and a marvel stateside when it opened at Disneyland in 1956, if you recall back to the early episodes of TAC. Parks around the country jumped to follow in Walt’s footsteps, and the Disneyland’s imported European Skyway began a US boom within the next decade.

1965 Fire at Casino Pier

1965 saw the expansion of the pier, 320 further feet out into the ocean. Additional things were to happen, though. On June 10, 1965, a major fire whipped up by the wind on the pier destroyed many of the rides. In particular, the Wild Mouse was absolutely burnt to a crisp. Interestingly, this was all caught on film and is available on YouTube. In the video, you can see the fire burning on and around the ferris wheel, wild mouse, that two-year-old Himalaya, and a scrambler. The video continues as firefighters put out the blaze with patrons looking on. A later article describes how the fishermen were so intent on having their fishing pier back that they reportedly chipped in free labor with Casino Pier-provided materials to begin the rebuilding effort.

A second wild mouse was brought in for the remainder of the 1965 season, running at a different place on the pier. By 1966, a third wild mouse was brought in and placed on the site of the original Schiff Wild Mouse. An image of the coaster during this time can be seen here. However, this wild mouse also only lasted the year, and it wouldn’t be for another 30+ years that another wild mouse would be installed at Casino Pier.

1970s at Casino Pier: “Firsts”

A small metal Zyklon coaster operated for a few years, between 1967 and 1969. 

In 1970, a Schwarzkopf Jet Star was purchased new and installed on the pier. You might remember a sibling of the Jet Star we’ve already discussed on the podcast: the Jet Star 2, SBNO at Children’s World in Elektrenai. (Though it may not be SBNO for long; internet hearsay is that some of the rides at Elektrenai have already been demolished between the time of that recording and the time of this recording. How about THAT for a live update?) 

In 1975, the first Enterprise ride in the United States was installed, right here at Casino Pier. Remember, Wynne was notably interested in the European ride circuit. You might remember the Enterprise ride from the Abandoned Yangon Amusement Park episode here on TAC. 

In 1976, the Wurlitzer organ on the carousel received a major rebuild from the BAB Organ Company. At the same time, mirrors featuring sculpted horseheads were added to the center pole of the carousel. Originally, there had been paintings in this position; however, these were destroyed in the 1950s (cause of the destruction unclear) and cartoon prints had been in place there between the 1950s through 976. The mirrors + horseheads are still in place today.

In 1979, the “Love Bugs” indoor/outdoor coaster was added – this was a ride built in 1959 for a travelling German carnival, known then as the Broadway Trip. This coaster operated at a number of different parks before arriving at Casino Pier, including Fun Forest in Seattle, Cedar Point in Ohio, and Palisades in New Jersey. This coaster was renamed to Wizard’s Cavern in 1988, and finally demolished in 2003 – a good long run for a once-travelling coaster.

1984: Floyd Moreland Saves the Carousel

In 1984, Wynne nearly sold the Loof/Dentzel carousel. By this time, the carousel was in need of repair, and a sale had reportedly been arranged to the tune of $275,000. Individual horses were selling for up to $100,000 at that time, as private collectors saw value in carousel horses in their living rooms and not at theme parks. Down the beach, the Illions Chafatino carrousel had been broken up and sold at auction, to be replaced by a Chance Rides fiberglass carousel.

Ultimately, Wynne decided not to sell the Looff carousel.

Why?

Enter Dean of the City University of New York, also a classics professor, Dr. Floyd Moreland. He’d ridden the carousel as a young child every summer. In his later adolescence and college years, he worked at the Casino Pier, operating the same carousel, coming back from school in California to operate the ride. “It paid my way through college. It paid my way through graduate school,” he is quoted as saying to the paper. He began campaigning to save the carousel when rumors began to spread about its demise.

Ultimately, he succeeded, and with a group of dedicated volunteers and private donors, began to refurbish the carousel in the unheated building during the pier’s off-season. Members of the community were able to donate to support the restoration, and many of the animals are inscribed with the names of particular donors.

One of the prominent people involved in the restoration was veterinarian Dr. Norma Menghetti. She assisted Dr. Moreland in patching and painting: the animals, the chariots, even the original paintings on the center pole. Menghetti operated the ride on weekends for many years. Moreland later described her as having “put her heart and soul into the renovation, upkeep, and operation of the carousel at Casino Pier”. Moreland’s partner, Elaine Egues, also was heavily involved, and Moreland and Egues ran the carousel-themed shop on the boardwalk together, as well, called the Magical Carousel Shoppe. 

1980s and 1990s at Seaside Heights

After the successful preservation of the carousel, things seemed to be going well, both for the carousel and for Seaside Heights.

Glockenspiel bells were added to the carousel’s Wurlitzer organ in 1986, a cheerful upgrade to the sound of the now 62 year old organ.

In the late 1980s, Wynne and Bennett remodeled the original Arcade building and pool area. The original structures had caused a traffic obstruction, requiring motorists to detour around the Casino Pier structures. By tearing down the arcade and remodeling it, Wynne and Bennett granted the municipality the ability to continue their road. This wasn’t just kind-heartedness. This made it easier for people to get to Casino Pier and park, creating more business. ”It is the smartest move we ever made,” Mr. Wynne said, ”because it opened up the town, made everything more accessible, and also made us the middle of the boardwalk, rather than the end.”

The “Water Works” opened on the site of the former swimming pool, with water slides and a lazy river, and the new arcade building was renamed the Palace Amusements building. The centerpiece of the Palace Amusements building remained the original Looff/Dentzel carousel. By 1988, it was said to attract 150,000 visitors per year, and was valued at $750,000. 

In 1988, Wynne sold his family’s share of the business to Robert Bennett, already a partner in the park since the early 80s. Wynne cited excessive governmental regulations and difficulty finding college-age employees as reasons for choosing to sell. It wasn’t as fun in the late 80s as it had been in the mid 60s, was his general opinion at the time as described to the papers.

An E. F. Miler mouse coaster was installed in 1999, some 30+ years after the last time a mouse coaster operated on the pier. It was demolished in 2012, but we’ll get to that in a minute. 

The other big coaster, the Jet Star closed in 2000 and was removed. The only currently operational Jet Star coaster is at Luna Park La Palmyre in France.

Restoration (Again) of the Carousel

Our good carousel friend, the Floyd Moreland Dentzel/Looff carousel, was round about 90 years old at this point, and the Wurlitzer organ was 76 years old. Unfortunately, it was showing its age. In the fall of 2000, the organ was described as “like a poor soul on life support”. That winter, then, the organ was shipped off to Carlisle PA, to the Mechanical Musical Instrument Restoration shop. There, the organ underwent a complete restoration, involving multiple skilled artisans and almost every part re-created, re-machined, or re-built. The restoration is detailed at this link. I strongly recommend reading this article, even if you don’t give a fig about the technical details of Wurlitzer organ restoration. The eight month saga of the restoration involves a sudden death, the mourning of a friendship, and the rebuilding of lives along with the rebuilding of the instrument. When the Wurlitzer organ returned to the carousel in 2001, a new plaque was also added to the carousel, memorializing the artist gone too soon.

More Changes to Casino Pier in the 2000s

In 2002, Bennett sold his portion of Casino Pier to the Storino family. 

You might remember I told you that a ride called the Jet Star closed in 2000. Confusingly, the Star Jet was added in 2002. This isn’t a typo or a misspeak, it’s a different coaster, coming from E & F Miler. Only two of these 52ft tall coasters were made. The other has been at three different parks, currently sitting disassembled at Fun Spot America Atlanta, waiting to be rebuilt. This one was called the Star Jet, and entertained riders for a solid decade with roller coaster thrills right at the end of Casino Pier. 

We’ll get back to the Star Jet in a moment.

In 2004, Water Works, the Casino Pier-associated waterpark, was remodeled, and renamed to its current branding, Breakwater Beach.

2010 saw the 100th anniversary of the Floyd J. Moreland Dentzel/Looff carousel. TV’s “The Cake Boss” (Carlo’s Bakery) was reportedly on hand with a cake depicting the carousel. The carousel continued to do solid business with carousel enthusiasts, though videos and photos show half-empty rides more often than not.

And then we reach 2012.

A Hurricane: 2012’s Hurricane Sandy

Here in 2012 is where I’d originally intended this story to start. Remember how I was telling you this would be a quick story? Yeah, I’m funny.

So if you do searches for abandoned amusement parks (https://www.google.com/search?q=abandoned+amusement+parks), you’ll see a few really popular images – the creepy decayed caterpillar train, the ghostly spiral of the coast at Nara Dreamland, the radioactive rides at Chernobyl’s Pripyat and this. The image of a roller coaster, sitting in the middle of the ocean. 

Remember the Star Jet?

The deadliest, most destructive hurricane of the 2012 season was Hurricane Sandy. Superstorm Sandy. Between October 22 and October 29, Sandy battered the Bahamas, Cuba, the eastern US, and specifically, the Jersey shoreline. She currently stands as the forth-costliest hurricane in US history, estimated at around $65 billion. 

The Jersey Shore and Seaside Heights in particular were among the worst-hit areas. “You can’t even imagine,” was said of the damage. 

The flooding and massive waves caused collapses and damage to both Funtown Pier and Casino Pier. This iconic image, the Star Jet “floating” in the ocean, all by itself from some perspectives. Day after Sandy video shows the immediate aftermath for the coaster and pier: https://youtu.be/y6Xsdx0KGfI?t=117 

All told, eighteen rides, including the Star Jet coaster, were destroyed by Sandy. 

Cleanup took quite some time, not surprisingly. The Star Jet sat in the ocean for almost 7 months before it was finally demolished in May 2013. This has led to incredible images and video of the “abandoned” coaster – search Flickr, Youtube, or Google, and you’ll find them, from incredible photographers and videographers.

This, then, is the source of that mysterious, strange image of a rollercoaster in the ocean, seemingly perfectly intact. Not so mysterious after all, but certainly sad, and iconic.

2013 Seaside Heights Fire

After the hurricane, business along the Jersey shore slowly began to recover. Casino Pier and Funtown Pier began cleaning up in the off-season. 

The century-old carousel was still standing, structure untouched by the ferocious winds of the hurricane.  The pier’s basement had flooded, however, leaving the ride’s mechanics in standing water for some time. There was no way to determine whether the ride had been damaged.

But when electricity to the pier was finally turned on again before Memorial Day, almost seven months after the hurricane? The carousel came to life. It was open for Memorial Day weekend that year, 2013. 

Down the beach, despite surviving the hurricane, in 2013, the fiberglass Chance Rides carousel burned down, along with more than 50 businesses nearby, in a six-alarm fire. The fire was due to a spark from compromised electrical wiring, corroded by Hurricane Sandy’s floodwaters. The Freeman’s Carousel and the Futown Pier end of the boardwalk didn’t reopen. As of a 2018 article, several attractions were in the planning process but had not yet come to fruition. As of the time of this recording, based on my understanding, owners have decided not to rebuild the pier. The borough has limited the max height of rides on the pier to 100ft, plus case by case exemptions, and the owners were seeking to build 200-300 ft tall rides; they could not guarantee profits without guaranteeing their ability to build the rides they wanted, so they chose to walk away.

Recent Years at Seaside Heights

In 2014, the Moreland carousel was nearly sold, again.

As of 2014, an article described the carousel as “quietly for sale” the prior few years, and openly for sale in the last few years, meaning the late 2010s. The carousel was described as in poor shape, needing major repairs, and ridership was decreasing. At the time, the owners blamed the economy, declining ridership, and maintenance expenses for the historic carousel.

Locals and carousel enthusiasts were worried. They feared a terrible carousel fate, last seen at the Whalom Park carousel in 2000: being split up, horses and animals and machinery sold away in pieces, boxed and split up. Support groups were started to “Save The Carousel”.

A deal was proposed by the mayor at the time and ultimately went forward, where the borough would take control of the carousel as well as a Casino Pier-owned parking lot, swapping oceanfront public property north of the pier with Casino Pier in return. The deal generated controversy and legal challenges, although the general public opinion of the deal was positive. 

Rebuilding of Casino Pier

The land swap actually enabled Casino Pier to rebuild and expand after their losses during Hurricane Sandy.

2016 saw a mini-golf course with 36-holes, as well as a wave pool at Breakwater Beach, the “water park” side of the park. Construction also began on the new expansion to the pier on the land traded in the carousel-land swap. By January of 2017, a new Ferris wheel and the new extreme Hydrus coaster began to be constructed on the newly-built newly-expanded pier. 

Hydrus is a so-called Euro-Fighter coaster. It features a 70+ foot vertical lift and a quote “beyond-vertical” drop, where the coaster goes past 90 degrees after the hill. The Hydrus coaster opened in May 2017, and the Ferris wheel in June of 2017.

2019: Temporary Closure of the Moreland Carousel

In April of 2019, the carousel took its last ride there at Seaside Heights, after 87 years of operation. 

I’m recording this episode on the first of October, 2019. Later this month, the Floyd Moreland carousel is slated to be disassembled by the Ohio restoration group Carousels and Carvings, with parts to be stored in a pole barn workshop owned by the city nearby. 

The borough estimated a cost of approximately $4.5 M to construct a new building for the carousel, according to the local paper. Earlier in the year, the group applied for several grants, including one specifically for historical preservation and repair of the physical structure of the carousel, including machinery, decking, and horses. 

This is obviously a lot of money for a local government to cover. In November, voters will actually help decide how easy the carousel’s restoration can be. The “Natural Lands Trust Fund Program” is on the ballot. Currently, the county’s open space tax provides a small dedicated revenue stream for the local governments to step in and acquire lands for “general conservation or farmland preservation”, but this money currently can’t be used for historical landmarks, either to save them from destruction or preserve them. The ballot issue would change that, and allow Ocean County to use taxes to do things not currently financially feasible, such as preserve things like the carousel. 

The Seaside Heights Historical Society was planned to be created years ago, after Sandy, but was delayed until its formation earlier in 2019, a non-profit, volunteer-run group that is the official fundraising group for the Moreland carousel restoration. Their website contains some information about the project, and includes a set of detail shots from the carousel, as well as blueprints for the future new building.

A few weeks ago, a new sign was put up at the location of the carousel’s future home.

The mayor of Seaside Heights is quoted as saying that he hopes the carousel will be up and running by summer 2021. 

Conclusions

For many years, the carousel was the symbol of Seaside Heights, decorating official insignia, flags, and police cars. The carousel, as Moreland himself once wrote, was the soul that shaped the development of this once-barren mile-long stretch of Jersey shoreline. 

Today, the carousel is a declining breed. The majority of the masterfully hand-carved wooden animals from a century ago were burned or destroyed following the Depression, and many still extant fell into disrepair. But even a modern aluminum or fiberglass carousel can be an excellent connection to the golden days. Riding one, you might close your eyes and sit back, picturing a different time, when the simple pleasure of a carousel, going round and round, was the pinnacle of the amusement scene. And maybe if you’re lucky, you are close enough to a beautifully restored wooden classic to ride one of those, too.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of The Abandoned Carousel, where I told you about Burlington Island and Casino Pier, and about the historic century-old Floyd Moreland Dentzel/Looff Carousel. Please check out the official historical society page: seasideheightshistory.org, or find them on Facebook: Facebook.com/seasideheightshistoricalsociety. 

I’m always interested in hearing about your experiences with the places I talk about. I also love suggestions for future episodes, and corrections for this or past episodes. Contact me through my website or across social media as The Abandoned Carousel. 

I’ll be back soon with another great episode. It’s October, so maybe the episodes will take a bit of a spookier tilt? You’ll have to come back to find out. Remember what Lucy Maud Montgomery once said: nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

References

1. http://web.archive.org/web/20180130002029/http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/recommendations/ad.html. Accessed September 23, 2019.
2. http://www.dryl.org/2010/Burlington_Island/Burlington%20Island.htm. Accessed September 23, 2019.
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20150526000808/http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/recommendations/ad.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
4. https://carousels.org/psp/CasinoPier/. Accessed September 28, 2019.
5. Seaside Heights Historical Society – Home. https://www.facebook.com/seasideheightshistoricalsociety. Accessed October 1, 2019.
6. Historical Society of Riverton – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/rivertonhistory/posts/2357080464359335?__tn__=-R. Accessed September 30, 2019.
7. 2013 Seaside Park, New Jersey fire. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2013_Seaside_Park,_New_Jersey_fire&oldid=892943079. Accessed September 29, 2019.
8. McCormick AJ. A historian adds details and corrects the record for the origin of the Seaside Heights carousel. Historical Society of Riverton, NJ. August 2019. https://rivertonhistory.com/2019/08/a-historian-adds-details-and-corrects-the-record-for-the-origin-of-the-seaside-heights-carousel/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
9. About Us. Casino Pier & Breakwater Beach. https://casinopiernj.com/history/. Accessed September 17, 2019.
10. After Blaze, a Two-Carousel Boardwalk Comes Full Circle – The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/nyregion/after-blaze-a-two-carousel-boardwalk-comes-full-circle.html. Accessed October 1, 2019.
11. After Blaze, a Two-Carousel Boardwalk Comes Full Circle – The New York Times. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103003625/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/nyregion/after-blaze-a-two-carousel-boardwalk-comes-full-circle.html. Accessed October 1, 2019.
12. Lam B. America’s Last Carousel Craftsmen. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/the-carousel-capital-of-america/380042/. Published September 12, 2014. Accessed October 1, 2019.
13. American Coaster Enthusiasts New Jersey Region – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/ACE.NewJersey/photos/pcb.10157511063293684/10157511062733684/?type=3&theater. Accessed September 30, 2019.
14. American Coaster Enthusiasts New Jersey Region – Posts. https://www.facebook.com/ACE.NewJersey/posts/10157511063293684?__tn__=-R. Accessed September 30, 2019.
15. Futrell J. Amusement Parks of New Jersey. Stackpole Books; 2004.
16. Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey on July 22, 2014 · Page A3. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/108541983/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
17. Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 31, 1996 · Page 14. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144330413/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
18. Mitchener H. Bristol. Arcadia Publishing; 2000.
19. halt26. Burlington Island. The Illustrated River. November 2013. https://haltaylorart.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/burlington-island/. Accessed October 1, 2019.
20. Burlington Island, NJ, Theme Park. TowersStreet Talk. https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/burlington-island-nj-theme-park.1199/. Accessed September 27, 2019.
21. Byzantium, the New World and More. https://www.dentzel.com/longago/byzantine.htm. Accessed September 23, 2019.
22. carousel. Historical Society of Riverton, NJ. https://rivertonhistory.com/tag/carousel/. Accessed September 27, 2019.
23. carousel. http://members.tripod.com/seaside_park_nj/carousel.htm. Accessed September 27, 2019.
24. Carousel-News-and-Trader-July-2011.pdf. https://carouselhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Carousel-News-and-Trader-July-2011.pdf. Accessed September 29, 2019.
25. Carousels. https://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Library_Bulletin/Apr1996/LB-A96-Krieger.html. Accessed September 23, 2019.
26. Casino Pier. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casino_Pier&oldid=891950112. Accessed May 10, 2019.
27. Casino Pier. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casino_Pier&oldid=915272425. Accessed September 17, 2019.
28. casino pier. Down by the Seaside. https://christophervaz.wordpress.com/tag/casino-pier/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
29. Vaz CJ. Casino Pier 1950s. Down by the Seaside. February 2012. https://christophervaz.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/casino-pier-1950s/. Accessed September 29, 2019.
30. Casino Pier Carousel in Seaside closes after last rides this weekend. https://www.app.com/story/news/local/2019/04/05/jersey-shore-seaside-heights-casino-pier-carousel-last-rides/3374790002/. Accessed September 23, 2019.
31. Ulozas B. Casino Pier History.; 2015. https://vimeo.com/128827077. Accessed September 17, 2019.
32. Casino Pier History – Home. https://www.facebook.com/CasinoHistory/. Accessed September 17, 2019.
33. Casino Pier Restoration. https://web.archive.org/web/20050908182703/http://www.carousels.com/cpier_restoration.htm. Published September 8, 2005. Accessed September 29, 2019.
34. Charles I. D. Looff. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_I._D._Looff&oldid=915922848. Accessed September 23, 2019.
35. Clipped From Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park Press. April 25, 1932:1.
36. Clipped From Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park Press. September 5, 2014:A4.
37. Clipped From The Bristol Daily Courier. The Bristol Daily Courier. October 26, 1921:1.
38. COAA Home Page. coaa.us. http://www.coaa.us/index.php. Accessed September 29, 2019.
39. Coney – Carousel List. https://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/carousellist.htm. Accessed September 23, 2019.
40. Coney Island. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/coney_island.html. Accessed September 20, 2019.
41. Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey on July 22, 2014 · Page A4. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/108603689/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
42. Deal averts sale of N.J. shore town’s carousel – The Boston Globe. BostonGlobe.com. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/09/04/deal-averts-sale-shore-town-carousel/9j9JIAuhBYYKDziNsEtrmK/story.html. Accessed September 29, 2019.
43. Delaware River Heritage Trail – Burlington Island. https://delawareriverheritagetrail.org/Burlington-Island.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
44. Demolition to begin on NJ coaster wrecked by Sandy. https://news.yahoo.com/demolition-begin-nj-coaster-wrecked-153435019.html. Accessed October 1, 2019.
45. Survey HAB. Dentzel-Looff Carousel, Casino Pier (The Boardwalk) between Grant & Sherman, Seaside Heights, Ocean County, NJ. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/nj1438/. Accessed September 23, 2019.
46. Dentzel-Looff Carousel, Casino Pier (The Boardwalk) between Grant & Sherman, Seaside Heights, Ocean County, NJ. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/item/nj1438/. Accessed September 23, 2019.
47. Down by the Seaside. Down by the Seaside. https://christophervaz.wordpress.com/. Accessed September 29, 2019.
48. Bailey SR and P. Early South Jersey Amusement Parks. South Jersey Publishing Co; 1979.
49. Effects of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_in_New_Jersey&oldid=916542540. Accessed October 1, 2019.
50. Borland K. Freeman’s Carousel.; 2012. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinborland/7571925066/. Accessed September 29, 2019.
51. Great Moments | National Amusement Park Historical Association. http://www.napha.org/LibraryResources/FactsFigures/GreatMoments/tabid/69/Default.aspx#paging:currentPage=0. Accessed September 17, 2019.
52. Greyhound. http://lakewoodparkcharlotte.com/classicpostcards/greyhound.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
53. Greyhound – Island Beach Park (Burlington, New Jersey, United States). https://rcdb.com/2126.htm. Accessed September 30, 2019.
54. Guernsey’s Auctioneers & Brokers Since 1975. http://web.archive.org/web/20160518111956/http://www.guernseys.com/Guernseys%20New/carousel.html. Published May 18, 2016. Accessed September 29, 2019.
55. Harry C. Baker. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harry_C._Baker&oldid=906168908. Accessed September 30, 2019.
56. Historic Images of Burlington County – Burlington Island. http://www.westjerseyhistory.org/images/Burlington/burlingtonisland/index.shtml. Accessed September 27, 2019.
57. Historic Seaside Heights Carousel Needs Friends Fast [And Got Them!]. AntiqueCarousels.com. https://antiquecarousels.com/historic-seaside-heights-carousel-needs-friends-fast/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
58. History | Seaside Heights Memorabilia. https://seasideheights.org/history/. Accessed September 27, 2019.
59. Home. SH History. https://www.seasideheightshistory.org. Accessed September 30, 2019.
60. Caulfield M. How Wurlitzer Rolls Are Made. 2001;(7):4.
61. Caulfield – 2001 – How Wurlitzer Rolls Are Made.pdf. http://www.coaa.us/index_archive/Issues_1_to_10/How%20Wurlitzer%20Rolls%20Are%20Made_Matthew%20Caulfield__7.PDF. Accessed September 29, 2019.
62. Hurricane Sandy. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hurricane_Sandy&oldid=915938383. Accessed September 17, 2019.
63. India, Mexico, Olde England and la France. https://www.dentzel.com/longago/india.htm. Accessed September 23, 2019.
64. Island Beach Park – SouthJersey.com. https://www.southjersey.com/article/8599/Island-Beach-Park. Accessed September 23, 2019.
65. Island Beach Park (Burlington, New Jersey, United States). https://rcdb.com/5338.htm. Accessed September 30, 2019.
66. S. Jersey Shore carousel was so popular, tourists want to help locals pay to save it. nj. https://www.nj.com/ocean/2019/06/jersey-shore-carousel-was-so-popular-tourists-want-to-help-locals-pay-to-save-it.html. Published June 14, 2019. Accessed October 1, 2019.
67. John A. Miller. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_A._Miller&oldid=914700844. Accessed September 27, 2019.
68. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology. Archaeological Services; 1998.
69. Keep It Spinning Society for Seaside Carousel (KISS for Seaside Carousel). https://www.facebook.com/groups/299615973555753/?ref=gs&tn-str=*F&fref=gs&dti=299615973555753&hc_location=group_dialog. Accessed September 30, 2019.
70. Lenape. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lenape&oldid=916820789. Accessed September 28, 2019.
71. LIVE NOW! Seaside Heights Cam. https://www.earthcam.com/usa/newjersey/seasideheights/?cam=seasideheights. Accessed September 30, 2019.
72. Severini RG and G. Lost Amusement Parks of the North Jersey Shore. Arcadia Publishing; 2017.
73. Louise de La Vallière. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Louise_de_La_Valli%C3%A8re&oldid=914453972. Accessed September 23, 2019.
74. Benjamin W, Williams B. M.D. Borrelli and His Role in the 20th Century Amusement Industry. 2010:9.
75. Benjamin and Williams – 2010 – M.D. Borrelli and His Role in the 20th Century Amu.pdf. http://carouselcorner.net/Articles/carouselnewsandtrader/Carousel_News_and_Trader_BW_Borrelli_MAY_2010.pdf. Accessed September 29, 2019.
76. Man saved N.J. boardwalk carousel, not sure he’ll stay. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/05/superstorm-sandy-carousel-dreams/2493241/. Accessed September 23, 2019.
77. Marine Engineering & Shipping Age. Aldrich Publishing Company in conjunction with Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company; 1922.
78. Marine Engineering/Log. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation; 1922.
79. Marine Journal.; 1921.
80. Sawyer SM. Mount Laurel. Arcadia Publishing; 2014.
81. National Carousel Association – Census of North American Carousels. https://carousels.org/NCAcensus.html. Accessed September 25, 2019.
82. National Carousel Association – Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel at Casino Pier – Seaside Heights’ First Carousel. https://carousels.org/psp/CasinoPier/freemansveryearly.html. Accessed September 25, 2019.
83. National Carousel Association – Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel at Casino Pier – Wide Angle View. https://carousels.org/psp/CasinoPier/CASINOPIER.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
84. National Carousel Association – Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel at Casino Pier – Wurlitzer Military Band Organ Style 146A. https://carousels.org/psp/CasinoPier/wurlitzerorgan.html. Accessed September 29, 2019.
85. National Carousel Association – Major Carousel Builders and Carvers, by Brian Morgan (Page 1 of 3). https://carousels.org/Carvers_Builders.html. Accessed September 25, 2019.
86. National Carousel Association – Major Carousel Builders and Carvers, by Brian Morgan (Page 3 of 3). https://carousels.org/Carvers_Builders3.html. Accessed September 28, 2019.
87. New Jersey – Lost Amusement Parks Index. http://lostamusementparks.napha.org/NewJersey-Parks.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
88. New Jersey History. New Jersey Historical Society; 1973.
89. Nee D. Owner: Funtown Pier Will Not be Rebuilt. Lavallette-Seaside Shorebeat. July 2016. http://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/2016/07/owner-funtown-pier-will-not-be-rebuilt/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
90. Crane KJ. Pennsauken. Arcadia Publishing; 1997.
91. Photos: Voyage to “forbidden” Burlington Island. Burlington County Times. https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/photogallery/PA/20180903/NEWS/903009998/PH/1. Accessed September 27, 2019.
92. Power. McGraw-Hill.; 1921.
93. Property owners plan to rebuild fire-damaged Seaside boardwalk for summer – nj.com. https://www.nj.com/ocean/2014/03/property_owners_plan_to_rebuild_fire-damaged_seaside_boardwalk_for_summer.html. Accessed September 27, 2019.
94. Court NJS, Appeals NJC of E and. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court and the Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of New Jersey. D.F. Randolph; 1928.
95. Carney L. Rides Go On, bu He’s Getting Off (Archived). http://web.archive.org/web/20180130002029/http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/recommendations/ad.html. Published July 24, 1988. Accessed September 23, 2019.
96. Rides Go On, but He’s Getting Off – The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/nyregion/rides-go-on-but-he-s-getting-off.html. Accessed September 23, 2019.
97. Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome. In: Wikipedia. ; 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Monica_Looff_Hippodrome&oldid=839878485. Accessed September 25, 2019.
98. Santa Monica Pier. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Monica_Pier&oldid=917914371. Accessed September 25, 2019.
99. Search results for “casino Pier”, Available Online. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/search/?in=&q=%22casino+pier%22&new=true&st=. Accessed September 23, 2019.
100. Mikle J. Seaside boardwalk fire: 5 years later, here’s what has changed. Asbury Park Press. https://www.app.com/story/news/local/redevelopment/2018/09/12/seaside-boardwalk-fire-5-years-later/1209992002/. Accessed September 29, 2019.
101. Seaside Carousel & Museum? CarouselHistory.com. https://carouselhistory.com/seaside-carousel-museum/. Published May 9, 2015. Accessed September 29, 2019.
102. seaside Heights. Historical Society of Riverton, NJ. https://rivertonhistory.com/tag/seaside-heights/. Accessed October 1, 2019.
103. Seaside Heights – Casino Pier Fire June 10, 1965. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhGWjIWZcOc&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0bBfNxQqkwSr6uAVEDy90sUo8ZNlIOWruLHnIz7zbfafPINEdhkDZ9YIA. Accessed September 29, 2019.
104. Seaside Heights – Memories of Times Past. http://www.discoverseasideheights.com/history/nostalgia-history-memories. Accessed September 27, 2019.
105. Seaside Heights Boardwalk History. http://www.discoverseasideheights.com/history/boardwalk-history. Accessed September 27, 2019.
106. Seaside Heights Borough, Ocean County, New Jersey (NJ). https://www.livingplaces.com/NJ/Ocean_County/Seaside_Heights_Borough.html. Accessed September 23, 2019.
107. Seaside Heights carousel will be moved, $1.5M sought for new home. https://www.app.com/story/news/local/redevelopment/2019/03/08/seaside-heights-carousel-will-be-moved-money-sought-new-home/3094352002/. Accessed September 27, 2019.
108. Mikle J. Seaside Heights carousel will soon be dismantled, but will it be rebuilt? Asbury Park Press. https://www.app.com/story/news/local/redevelopment/2019/08/27/seaside-heights-carousel-dismantled-but-rebuilt/2099158001/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
109. Nee D. Seaside Heights Forms Nonprofit to Raise Funds for Carousel’s New Home. Lavallette-Seaside Shorebeat. June 2019. http://lavallette-seaside.shorebeat.com/2019/06/seaside-heights-forms-nonprofit-to-raise-funds-for-carousels-new-home/. Accessed September 27, 2019.
110. Seaside Heights’ Historic Carousel. https://www.discoverseasideheights.com/history/seaside-heights-carousel. Accessed September 23, 2019.
111. Star Jet on-ride. https://www.facebook.com/CasinoHistory/videos/438624526220575/. Accessed September 17, 2019.
112. Survivors of earlier era: 11 beloved trolley parks. https://web.archive.org/web/20100730054740/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/travel/survivors-of-earlier-era-11-beloved-trolley-parks-815560.html. Published July 30, 2010. Accessed September 27, 2019.
113. The Amazing Resurgence of Casino Pier : Park World Online – Theme Park, Amusement Park and Attractions Industry News. https://www.parkworld-online.com/the-amazing-resurgence-of-casino-pier/. Accessed September 23, 2019.
114. Gulliford A. The American Carousel as an Immigrant Icon. Journal of American Culture. 1984;7(4):3-17. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.1984.0704_3.x
115. The Bristol Daily Courier from Bristol, Pennsylvania on January 29, 1934 · Page 1. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48742270/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
116. Unknown. The Burlington Board of Island Managers: A Path from the Past… The Burlington Board of Island Managers. August 2015. http://burlingtonboardofislandmanagers.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-path-from-past.html. Accessed October 1, 2019. ‘
117. Papa C. The Carousel Keepers: An Oral History of American Carousels. McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company; 1998.
118. Cartmell R. The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster. Popular Press; 1987.
119. The Mercury from Pottstown, Pennsylvania on January 29, 1934 · Page 2. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/50884156/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
120. The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1972 · Page 190. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/179983846/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
121. The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 6, 1910 · Page 13. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/167438636/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
122. The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1908 · Page 11. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/168394407/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
123. The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 19, 1927 · Page 29. Newspapers.com. http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/172810848/. Accessed September 30, 2019.
124. The Re(Former)Historian Of Burlington Island. The Re(Former)Historian Of Burlington Island. https://burlingtonhistorianboimnj.tumblr.com/post/111240332645/some-pictures-of-burlington-island-beach-park. Accessed October 1, 2019.
125. The Roller Coaster That Sandy Dumped Into the Ocean Is Being Torn Down. Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/the-roller-coaster-that-sandy-dumped-into-the-ocean-is-505659435. Accessed May 10, 2019.
126. Trash and treasure: Historic Burlington Island is ready for a comeback — but first it needs a major cleanup. https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey/burlington-island-historic-trash-removal-20190429.html. Accessed September 24, 2019.
127. Weber’s Carousel. Coney Island History Project. http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/ask-mr-coney/webers-carousel. Published April 10, 2009. Accessed September 29, 2019.
128. Welcome to Carouselcorner.net – Update Archive. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iuJ-JwXjOvcJ:www.carouselcorner.net/archive.html+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. Accessed September 29, 2019.
129. McCormick AJ. Will the Floyd L. Moreland Dentzel/Looff Carousel come home to Burlington? Historical Society of Riverton, NJ. August 2014. https://rivertonhistory.com/2014/08/will-the-floyd-l-moreland-dentzellooff-carousel-come-home-to-burlington/. Accessed September 27, 2019.

The post Floyd Moreland Dentzel/Looff Carousel appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

The Human C. P. Huntington

The roots for this episode began growing a long time ago. I was looking at pictures of miniature theme park trains on Google. I started seeing these trains that looked really similar, except for the numbers on the sides, and started casually making A List. I later learned they were called C. P. Huntingtons, but I still had that question: what was the deal with all these trains?

The story of the C. P. Huntington trains begins with a member of “The Big Four”, the four tycoons who built the Central Pacific Railroad. We start our story with a great man from the 1800s: robber baron Collis Potter Huntington.

Collis had a nose for buying and selling. If you’re at all a fan of Star Trek, he would’ve made a fine Ferengi – very concerned with profit. Born in 1821 on the East Coast, Collis came westward in his late twenties, making money by selling supplies during the California gold rush. He was an entrepreneurial man, making his way up in the world by moving on to hardware store ownership before setting his sights on the “railroad issue”.

Collis invested in the new Central Pacific Railroad Company, along with the other members of the Big Four: Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. Ultimately, their railroad in California connected with railroads from the east to finally make transcontinental travel possible.

Starting in 1861 in Sacramento, CA, the Central Pacific railroad began building eastwards until it met the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. This was accomplished with the driving of a ceremonial “golden spike” which is now on display at Stanford University.

This was a huge deal – coast to coast train travel was finally possible, allowing for people to reach the opposite coast in about eight days. This replaced months-long sea voyages around South America’s Cape Horn, or rickety and dangerous wagon rides across the United States.

Huntington continued on throughout the rest of his life as a railroad tycoon, getting involved in the Southern Pacific Railroad line, too. He became a lobbyist, bribing politicians and Congressmen. He was reportedly one of the most hated railwaymen in the country by the end of his life, due to his preference for profit over people. According to his contemporaries, he was “possessed of the morals of a shark.” 

The CP Huntington Locomotive

Now that we’ve talked about the man, let’s get into the story of the locomotive that bore his name: the C. P. Huntington. 

“In the early days of locomotive building, it was considered a great achievement when that pygmy engine with a flaring superfluity of a smokestack, the C. P. Huntington, was put on the road,” wrote a 1926 newspaper op-ed.

Stories from a century ago often seem to bring up the wild adventures of these “Monarchs of the West” as the early Iron Horse engines were called. Apparently, all of these vintage engines were known for having interesting stories or thrilling escapes. 

The CPH was one of these. 

Origin of the CPH

Collis Potter Huntington needed some engines for his transcontinental line, but nothing else was available due to the Civil War – only these two small identical engines. Both engines had originally been built for a different railway back East, but were never delivered as the original purchaser did not pay for them. Collis Porter Huntington went ahead and purchased the CPH and her sister.

The engines shipped from Cooke Locomotive Works (also known as Danforth-Cooke) in New Jersey, all the way to San Francisco in a journey of 131 days around Cape Horn. CPH was #277 out of the locomotive works, and given the #3. The identical sister engine was #325 out of the factory, less popular in cultural references, was named the #4 T. D. Judah, in honor of the CP railroad’s first chief engineer who surveyed a passable route over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The CPH engine was put to use to help build Huntington’s transcontinental railway. 

The CPH: 4-2-4T

In technical details, the CPH is a 4-2-4T. I’ll give a layman’s definition of what this means, but I’m not a true train junkie (yet?), just a research nerd, so please forgive any errors. (I already know I’ll get letters about calling it a “train” and not a “locomotive”. Be kind, my train-friends.) 4-2-4T is train shorthand for the configuration of the wheels on the locomotive. A 4-2-4T has four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle (on the CPH, the big wheels) and four trailing wheels on two axles that support the tank (here, a “side tank” is noted with the T-suffix). There were other trains beyond the CPH that also bore this configuration, but a 4-2-4T is apparently colloquially known as a Huntington.

Working History of the CPH

The CPH did good work on the Central Pacific Railway, used in construction as well as pulling some passenger cars. Notably, she pulled the first passenger cars over the newly completed Western Pacific Railway from Sacramento to Stockton in August of 1869. In 1871, Southern Pacific purchased the engine and re-numbered it the #1. 

Under Southern Pacific operation, things were not as rosy for the CPH. In 1872, the train suffered a massive collision with a larger train. The engineer in the CPH was killed. Quote: “The San Jose Mercury of June 7, 1872, noted: “the construction locomotive is small, and when the collision occurred the larger engine went completely through the smaller, taking in steam boxes, cylinders, smoke stack, driving wheels, boilers, etc., and leaving it a mass of ruins.”” 

It took several years before the engine was rebuilt. Quote from “May 1, 1875, the following account appeared in the Minor Scientific Press of Nevada – most likely taken from an article originally appearing in a San Francisco newspaper. “Certainly a peculiar looking craft it is [the CPH]. The engine is of a most unique pattern, there being but one or two others like it on the coast. ”” 

However, the CPH was only put to limited use once she was rebuilt.

Around the turn of the century, the engine spent some time in storage before being rebuilt as a weed burner (someone’s got to clear the tracks, after all). Reportedly this didn’t last long either. The engine was rebuilt again back to her original configuration, and bounced back and forth out of storage in Sacramento at Southern Pacific’s machine shops, where it was put on a platform to display at the shops. She was pushed into official service retirement around 1900.

Disuse of the CPH

Why all this bouncing around instead of actually using the engines? Well, apparently this 4-2-4 locomotive design had significant issues. The single driving axle was too light and did not carry the full weight of the engine’s trailing rear end. The engine couldn’t reliably pull trains, particularly not on gradients. And the Forney-style water tank was too small, so the trains would consume all their water (necessary to make the steam) if they went any moderate distance. 

Something that’s hard to convey from all of this discussion so far is how small the CPH is. Technical schematics indicate she is 7 ¾ ft wide, 12 ½ ft tall, and 29 ½ ft long. This is incredibly small compared to many other locomotives. Indeed, some of my favorite pictures of the CPH I’ve found during my research are those where she is posed next to a larger engine.

The CPH Out of Working Service

As the years went on, loads grew larger, and the small CPH just couldn’t handle the requirements for larger modern loads of the times. With a need for bigger locomotives, the small 4-2-4s were left in storage, on back spurs at the train yard, or up on high trestles in the paint shops, for longer and longer, until they were scrapped.

The T. D. Judah, C. P. Huntington’s sister engine, was rebuilt into a 4-2-2 configuration at some point in the late 1800s. Some reports indicate that the Judah worked at a sugar plantation in the Hawaiian islands (“Sandwich Islands”); others say she was sold to the Wellington Colliery Company in British Columbia, sometime around 1889. Ultimately, the Judah was scrapped in between 1912 and 1914. (Though several of the 1922 texts I found indicated she was still in active service, nothing else I could find to substantiate this. Another 1899 text indicated she had been scrapped several years earlier. Central Pacific #93 was also converted to a 4-2-2 configuration, so it’s likely that the confusing reports is a result of mixing up the two. Big mystery, our T. D. Judah.)

Why the Poor Railroad Records?

As an interesting sidebar, you might be wondering why the stories of the CPH and the Judah are relatively light with details and mixed in with a bit of confusion. Well, as so often happens, this is a tale of fire damage. The 1906 San Francisco fires, the result of a devastating earthquake, destroyed nearly 80% of the city. Among the losses were those of the railroad: records, drawings, and photographs. A decade later in 1917, another fire in the Sacramento train shops destroyed more railway documentation. What we have available to us now from the time of the Iron Horses is what was saved by families of employees and the occasional state library record – the tip of the iceberg compared to what had been.

Back to the end of the working service record, we’d been talking about the scrapping of the T. D. Judah.

The C. P. Huntington was nearly scrapped in 1914 as well, but was saved this fate by the decision to have her put on display for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This was a World’s Fair, meant to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and showcase San Francisco’s recovery after the 1906 earthquake. 

At the World’s Fair, the C. P. Huntington was displayed alongside a much larger loco, a 2-4-4-2 Mallet. This was meant to drive home to the visiting audience the massive changes in railway needs over the prior 50 years, and it did so very well. The 1840s CPH looked practically like a child’s toy next to the large and modern 1900s locos.

The Original CPH on Display

Thus began the history of the original C. P. Huntington engine as a display piece and a showcase from a different era. 

In January of 1920, national papers reported the CPH being put on display in a place of honor outside Sacramento’s train shops. They called her “California’s oldest locomotive”, and in a bit of revisionist history, the papers declared that she had been the first loco to ever operate in California, a claim which certainly cannot be true. Tall tale or not, the CPH was getting a rest, and getting the due come to her.

She next went on major display at the “Days of ‘49” celebrating the 1849 Gold Rush. Not just a poem by Joaquin Miller that was turned into a song by Bob Dylan…no, in this context, I’m talking about the May 1922 celebrations in California to commemorate the Gold Rush. Old #1 was cleaned up and hooked up to a flat car with seats. She pulled passengers around the city for a modest fare of 49 cents. 

After this, she was kept in better repair, and participated in other displays and showcases, such as being part of the filming for the 1924 movie “The Iron Horse”, the highest grossing movie of that year.

The Iron Horse movie (click for more information).

Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, a lavish movie palace in downtown Hollywood that opened in 1922, held the premiere of “The Iron Horse”. During the movie’s run there, the little CPH was parked in the forecourt of the theater, facing the street, in order to help promote the film. 

She went to state fairs, dedicated bridges and railroad depots, and so on. When she was not out on display, she sat in front of the railyard there in Sacramento, under a small pavilion.

On December 16, 1935, she was even driven on a flat car down to New Orleans, where she was the first train to cross the new Huey P. Long Bridge. 

1939 Opening Ceremonies

In 1939, the engine participated in the opening ceremonies for the Los Angeles Union Station. 

The occasion was observed by Ward Kimball. If this name sounds familiar to you, that’s because he was one of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men”. Kimball was an animator, responsible for the creation of Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio), Jaq and Gus (Cinderella), and the Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland) among many many others. 

Kimball was also a railway fan. He had his own narrow-gauge railway collection which he ran in his 3 acre backyard. Reportedly, Kimball’s train enthusiasm bumped up against Walt Disney’s, and Kimball helped encourage Disney to install the iconic railroad at Disneyland when it opened in 1955. 

Well, don’t mind me, going down a Ward Kimball rabbithole. He was a very interesting man, particularly if you’re into Disney. 

Why did I bring him up? 

Oh yes. Kimball was on hand to observe the opening ceremonies for the Los Angeles Union Station in 1939 because he was a train buff. Not only did he see the ceremonies, he filmed them on 16mm color film video, incredibly expensive in 1939. 

Kimball captured the only known footage of the opening. Decked out in brilliant red and green paint, Southern Pacific’s engine #1 was a relic from a different time, even in 1939 – the little engine was 76 years old at that point! It can be seen puffing smoke, wheels churning, steaming down Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s an incredible sight.

This was likely one of, if not THE, last time the boiler of the venerable CPH was fired and moved under her own steam.

Later Years of the CPH

The CPH was towed out for a few more railway events in the late 50s and 60s, but primarily sat on static display in the Sacramento park in front of the trainyard.

The railway donated the CPH to the state of California in 1964. It was displayed at the Stockton fairgrounds for years. After refurbishment at the Southern Pacific’s Sacramento train shops, the CPH was moved to an exterior display at the Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station.

C. P. Huntington on display. Click for more information.

In 1981, the CPH moved into the newly-opened California State Railroad Museum, where it is still on display in 2019. 

She was restored to her 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition appearance, covered in complicated and artistic gold leaf highlights. A 1930s newspaper article on California railroad history devoted several newspaper inches to descriptions of the paint schemes of the old wood-burning locomotives – what a luxurious, different time it was to see a newspaper devote column inches to such a thing.

The engine is reportedly the only surviving standard steam engine of its type. Danforth-Cooke’s factory produced well over 3000 engines in the Iron Horse era between 1852 and 1926. Of these, only 11 reportedly remain in existence now in 2019, one of which is the CPH; she is the only 4-2-4 remaining.

Reportedly, this locomotive will never operate under its own steam again. The California State Railroad Museum made investigations as to the state of the CPH in 1998. Reportedly “the boiler shell is too worn out to be safely steamed again without major repairs and replacements that would compromise the state of the otherwise intact artifact.”

The C. P. Huntington is the second oldest locomotive owned by the California State Railroad Museum, and one of the older surviving locomotives worldwide. (The oldest known locomotive is the 1813 “Puffing Billy” at London’s Science Museum, an engine some fifty years older than our heroine the CPH.) The CSRM currently owns eight of the 45 pre-1880s locomotives still extant in the US, inclduing the CPH. The CPH silhouette even serves as the logo for the museum.

The Chance CPH

Now, if you’ve sat through this episode in confusion so far about how all this locomotive talk ties into the theme of the podcast, get ready to have a galaxy brain moment. You might think back to the Joyland episodes, for a bit of a clue to the rest of the story. 

In the mid-twentieth century in Wichita, Kansas, a man by the name of Harold Chance was building miniature steam trains. First under the Ottaway Amusement Company name, Chance incorporated his own company as Chance Manufacturing in 1961. A year earlier, in 1960, Chance had begun production on the first version of a new miniature train.

It was the beginning of something magical.

According to the CSRM, the C. P. Huntington had been displayed at at least two occasions: the Southern Pacific Centennial Celebration in 1955, and the Salute to Steam Age in 1958. (The latter event was a good-bye ceremony marking the last run of the last steam engine of SP, #4294. The engines were placed side-by-side in the park in Sacramento to mark the beginning and end of the steam era in Southern Pacific’s history). 

Additionally, scale models of the train were reported nationally around this time in the papers, including a 1951 half-size model by a man named Jack Collier, and much smaller 1.5” scale rideable models by a man named Bob Harpur. Oh, and a very large model made entirely out of fruit by an enterprising Lions Club. 

Being a person interested in trains, it’s highly likely that Harold Chance saw news reports of these events, at the very least, particularly the reports on the end of the steam era for the Southern Pacific in 1958. And like a train at a switch, we can see the leap Harold Chance might have taken.

He began building a miniature C. P. Huntington train for use in amusement parks.

Chance’s CPH was a one-third scale model of the original. His miniature version was faithful to the original as far as looks – handmade, and incredibly detailed. The littler steam engine had the unique design of the original, with the iconic stack and wheel arrangement. 

From a mechanical perspective, his models made some changes. Apparently the big “drive” wheels are false (they can even be removed without affecting the locomotive’s operation, which many operations do to ease maintenance) and the engine powers drive shafts on the front and rear trucks of the locomotive. Gone too was steam power: Chance’s model used gasoline for fuel.

He delivered his first engine to Joyland Park, there in Wichita, Kansas, in 1961.

Joyland’s iconic train served that park from 1961 until 2006. “Joyland’s train really launched Chance Rides,” said Larry Breitenstein, National Sales Director at Chance Rides, some time later. The train was last seen publicly when the park closed in 2006. Reportedly, it is in the hands of a private collector local to Wichita.

Other Chance CPHs

Joyland’s CPH wasn’t Chance’s last miniature CPH, though.

The company has produced over 400 miniature CP Huntington rides as of the time of this recording – 400+ trains over about 60 years. 

Some basic stats: engines run about $200k, and coaches run around $60k (prices from Wikipedia, date unclear). The trains are a narrow gauge. Most CPHs are 24” gauge. However, some of the early CPH models were 20” gauge. Chance still provides individual parts for the CPH in their sales inventory. This is unsurprising, as the CPH is reportedly Chance’s most popular ride.

To some in the amusement park world, the train is frowned upon – considered a cookie cutter train, which is both sad and inaccurate. Each engine has its own modifications and personality, and each engine runs differently. But to a general audience, the CPH is an incredibly popular thing – because it’s a train! Who doesn’t love to go on a train ride?

CPH #1-400+

I’m not going to talk about every single engine on this podcast – that would be a wild, very long episode and I’ll tell you right now that this will already be a long one as it is. But I will hit a few highlights. 

Why should you care, and what is the reason for me even doing this episode in the first place? 

Rabbitholes and those giant numbers on the side of the locomotive.

The best and worst thing about these trains is that they often (but not always) have the engine number visible on the side. This number is usually (but not always) the loco number from Chance. This is the reason I got into the topic in the first place – I got sucked down into a Google image search, wondering why there were similar-looking trains all around parks and zoos, and why they had the numbers they did.

A minute ago, I said “usually” the numbers reflect the manufacturing number from the factory. It’s not always true. Some park remove the numbers, some parks never have the numbers installed, and some parks change the numbers to reflect internal numbering schemes, confusing us all. The only way to accurately know which number CPH a particular train is would be to look at the builder’s plate, attached to each loco, which contains the engine’s serial number. But sometimes these too have been removed, or have become illegible.

Additionally, they are usually robust little trains. (Engine #2 has been in operation for almost 60 years at the time of this recording!) Given their hardy nature, the trains are often sold from park to park. This often leads to confusion about the trains, as when they are in storage or in the hands of private owners, their locations are unknown or unclear. Some engines have also been scrapped, such as the #29, formerly of the St. Louis Zoo, where it was involved in an accident that more or less destroyed the entire engine. Others are nearly so, such as the #8, which currently sits without wheels on the dirt at New Orleans City Park.

Should this podcast ever make money (lol) it would be fantastic to do a history on each of the parks associated with a CPH. I cannot count the number of times during my research for this topic that I would get stuck down a rabbithole for a particular train.

I’m not even going to include a list of the CPHs in my shownotes, the List being the holy grail of CPH research. For that, I’m going to direct you to the incredible Facebook group “C. P. Huntington Train Project”, where you can find an incredible Excel spreadsheet and some very smart people and a lot of cool photos.

Anyhow, let’s talk about some of the engines. Every engine has a story, and here are a few.

#2 – “Robert D. Morrell” at Story Land (Glen, NH)

The #2 is the oldest train currently in public operation, as the #1 from Joyland is in storage or private ownership. It lives at Story Land in Glen, NH, a small family amusement park aimed at the under-teen set. They have five CPHs: #2 (red), #4 (blue), #14 (in storage), #18 (used as a backup), and #47 (green).

There are a lot of interesting things about the Story Land engines that we could get into at another time. For today, we’ll talk about the number on the front. Every CPH has the year 1863 on the front of the engine – that was the year the original CPH was manufactured. There’s only one exception: CPH #2, the red engine from Story Land named “Robert D. Morrell”. It says 1861 on the front. It’s a bit of a mystery why this is. One possibility is that this is a reference to the incorporation date for the Central Pacific Railroad, which of course was where the original CPH first operated as engine #3. It’s not clear why only one engine has this plate, however (and only #2, not #1!). 

#34 – Coney Island and Lake Como Railroad

The trains with the smallest numbers are the oldest, and some of these have been through multiple hands. Let’s take the case of #34, and I’ll illustrate how you might go down a rabbithole of fascination with just a single engine. 

This engine #34 was a 1964 model, part of the “Coney Island and Lake Como Railroad” in Cincinnati. It was painted light blue and red, the “standard” color scheme, and was called “Mad Anthony Wayne.” Coney Island in Cincinnati is a park with an incredibly long history, which we may get to one day. For now, we’ll just talk about the train,where engine #34 operated with engine #35 (“George Rogers Clark”). The train and amusement park delighted guests there at the site of a former apple orchard until 1971, when Coney Island moved to Kings Island. This was a larger site, further away from the river floods that had constantly plagued Coney Island throughout its history, and most of the rides from Coney Island were moved over to Kings Island. However, Kings Island already had trains – larger Crown models, so the small CPH engines were no longer needed. 

CPH #34 was sold to the World of Golf in 1971, reportedly along with the former station which had been cut into sections. Unfortunately, shortly after it was all installed, the nearby Florence KY sewer treatment plant overflowed in 1976 into the area, and the park, including railroad, was shut down. The train was reportedly stored in the deteriorating station for most of the next 20 years. 

In the early 1990s, it was sold to the Oil Ranch in Hockley TX. It has been repainted black and red and lost its number but still operates there as of this recording in 2019.

#235 – Michael Jackson’s Neverland

Other notable trains belonged to public figures. Take #235. Michael Jackson was a hugely influential public figure, of course, no matter what your stance on his personal life and the decades of abuse allegations against him. 

His private ranch, Neverland Ranch, was over five times the size of Disneyland. It had a zoo, a movie theater, an amusement park, and two different trains. One was a CPH – #235, a 1990 model. It was customized for Michael Jackson, and had extra twinkle lights around the coach canopies, extra decorations, and a high end sound system installed. When Jackson died, David Helm (of Helm and Sons Amusements based in CA) purchased the CPH as well as other amusement rides. The engine hasn’t been seen in public since then.

#195, 196, 178, and 89 – Heritage USA

Other problematic public figures had CPHs, too, like Jim Bakker over at his Heritage USA “Christian Disneyland”. (Don’t worry, Heritage USA is a whole, giant episode for the future. The story of Heritage USA is absolutely wild.) Although general public reporting only refers to one train at Heritage USA, it turns out that there were actually FOUR. 

Two trains were delivered new to Heritage USA in 1979, funded by the many private donors who believed in Jim Bakker’s televangelism – these were #195 and #196. One of these was featured on the Tammy Faye Bakker album cover for “Movin’ On To Victory”. The other two trains were purchased used (one was described as a “shell” and the other barely ran), one of which was #178. 

When the park went under in the late 80s as Bakker’s pyramid scheme collapsed, the amusement park assets were liquidated. #195 had been involved in a minor collision with a gate during Heritage USA’s operation, and suffered cosmetic damage. It also was reportedly cannibalized for parts to keep #196 running. As such, #195 was reportedly traded back to Chance Rides during the liquidation of the park in the late 80s (1987/1988). Chance rebuilt the loco, and sold it. This engine is currently in operation at Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA, home of Leap-the-Dips, the world’s oldest surviving, still operational rollercoaster. 

#196, the loco in better shape, was purchased by private collector Mokey Choate, who owned 13+ CPH locos under the business name Big Mokey Trains, Inc. While Mokey passed away in 2016, the business is still in operation. Big Mokey Trains leases out its fleet of trains to parks. Perhaps someone needs short-term extra capacity for an event, or perhaps a park finds it cost-effective to have the trains only during the season and outsource any maintenance costs. This of course adds an extra level of confusion for any CPH hunters, as trains are rotated in and out for maintenance and may not always be at the same park. #196, then, is one of the Mokey trains, and was last seen operating at the Jackson Zoo in Mississippi.  

The other two locomotives, #178 and the unknown loco, have not been seen since.

Electric #400 and it’s Electric Brother, #402

If you’re in Houston and you’re hearing this, I hope you’ve visited the Houston Downtown Aquarium. That’s the home of the groundbreaking landmark CPH #400, the first electric CPH train from Chance. It was named “Electric Eel”. CPH #402, also an electric CPH but this time with a blue color scheme, went to the aquarium just recently, in July of 2019. 

Both trains run through an incredible exhibit called the Shark Voyage, where the trains travel through a completely see-through tunnel with a unique view on a massive shark aquarium exhibit.

Chance Rides spent quite some time perfecting their electric train. One of the few train videos they’ve posted on YouTube is from fall of 2017, showing the electric prototype in a stripped down state, taking some test laps in the Chance lot there in Wichita. 

It is likely not surprising considered today’s environmentally conscious consumers, but it appears that Chance will be making a big push for electric trains as the main CPH going forward. Reportedly, many places looking to make a new train purchase have inquired about electric models. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the next trains be predominantly electric over gasoline models, particularly for more environmentally-minded zoos.

The St. Louis Zoo’s Many CPHs

Finally, the last in the case studies I’ll cover today…the St. Louis Zoo. If there were a record for the place that has had the most CPH engines pass through it, that place might be the St. Louis Zoo.

The zoo has a long history with the engines. They started with engines #27, 28, and 29 in 1963 and 1964. The Zoo caught the CPH bug, and began purchasing additional trains for what became known as “The Emerson Zooline Railroad”. They are reportedly the business that has purchased the most trains direct from Chance, and in the early years, replaced their trains after 10 years of service. 

So when it came time to purchase the next engine, we reach the slight snag in the story. Remember how I mentioned that sometimes, the big numbers on the side of the tender don’t always reflect the manufacturer’s number? This is one of those times. The St. Louis Zoo wanted the numbers of the new trains to be consecutive. So St. Louis Zoo #30 was not CPH #30, muddling the issue of The List significantly. And, as noted, they’ve moved through a number of different trains, with their old trains being sold across the country, continuing to muddle the history of the individual trains. 

All told, St. Louis Zoo has owned a total of 23 different CPH trains to date. The current trains in operation are St. Louis Zoo #45 “Daniel Boone” (CPH #247), #46 “Pierre LaClede” (CPH #263), #47 “Lewis and Clark” (CPH #289), #48 “Ulysses S Grant” (CPH #300), #49 “Charlton Tandy” (CPH #303), and #100 “Emerson” (CPH #362, purchased during the zoo’s centennial). 

Reportedly, the Zooline Railroad is in the preliminary steps of exploring an electric locomotive purchase. Apparently the Zooline Railroad is reputedly the steepest of any CPH railroad, and there is some question as to whether the electric version could handle fully loaded trains on that grade. 

And if you’ve got a child who’s a train lover, you’ll love the St. Louis Zoo – they’ve got a program where kids can shadow an engineer for part of the day.

Other Variations on the CPH

Of course, Chance isn’t the only game in town when it comes to the CP Huntington. 

Western Train Co CPH

Western Train Co, in California, builds its own variation of the 24” miniature engine, suitable for theme parks and zoos as well. There are subtle differences between the WTC versions and the Chance version, but both are beautiful miniature trains.

Little Engines and Bob Harpur

Or, if an even smaller version is your speed, Little Engines makes a 1.5” scale model. Yep, still to this day! These can hold 2-4 people, perched on top of the cars like giants. Remember the 1950s model written up in the newspaper by Bob Harpur that I mentioned, oh, thirty minutes ago? Yep, that was these. Bob’s miniature CPH can actually be seen onscreen in the 1956 film “The King and I” starring Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr. http://www.trainweb.org/jeffhartmann/CPH_models.html 

The episode is running long, so we probably don’t have time to get too in-depth here. However, the short version is that Bob Harpur was a fascinating man. He was incredibly involved with the live steam engine scene through his work with the Little Engines company after his discharge from the Army. He met Walt Disney in 1949 when Walt and his daughter came to the shop to look at the trains. Bob ultimately joined the Walt Disney company as an Imagineer twenty years later, in 1969. He had his hands in a number of different projects, notably including the trains at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Disney Paris, and WDW Animal Kingdom. 

So there you go, information on two different Disney Imagineers in an episode that has little at all to do with Disney. Isn’t life grand?

CPH in Pop Culture

Elsewhere in pop culture, the CPH (or T. D. Judah, depending on your perspective) are iconic, providing inspiration for books, film, etc. The most well-known of these is the design for the Little Engine That Could – think on that friendly blue engine in your mind, and you might immediately see the parallels. Of course, as I’ve already mentioned, the logo for the California Railway Museum is a silhouette of the CPH. And the engine was featured on the cover of the Nostalgia version of Monopoly.

#44, #55, the Pittsburgh Zoo, and Chris Churilla

It’s not just the classic Little Engine That Could, though. There’s a whole series out there in recent days, aimed at the elementary school and younger audience, starring zoo trains Zippy and Guido. 

The best part is that Zippy and Guido aren’t fictional. The series is based on author Chris Churilla’s experiences with the real trains, CPH #44 and CPH #55, both from from the Pittsburgh Zoo. I know I said I was done with case studies of individual trains, but let’s get into just one more.

Churilla actually spent several years as engineer for the #44 and #55, there at the Pittsburgh Zoo. At the age of 14, he began spending summers as “host” of the trains (since he wasn’t allowed to engineer/drive them until age 18). At that time, the Pittsburgh Zoo train ride was dilapidated, giving out a lot of problems for the zoo and receiving very little love in return. After all, the trains had been there since 1965. Chris was instrumental in restoring the trains. He gathered together a group of train lovers, and together they cleaned up the trains, performed regular maintenance, and began raising funding from donors to keep the trains running. 

Eventually, Chris became the primary engineer, in charge of the whole train operation. “Engineering them was a dream come true!” he told me. In 2010, he upgraded the train exhibit (along the train route) to tell the history of the Pittsburgh Zoo and breathe new life into the ride. 

Unfortunately, despite a new paint job for the trains in 2011, the entire train ride was shut down indefinitely in 2013. Although the trains themselves were in good shape, the tracks weren’t. The zoo didn’t see sufficient value in the train ride. They were unable to find funds to repair the tracks, and were looking instead for a place to locate a new dinosaur exhibit. 

To honor Zippy (#55) and Guido (#44), Chris honored them by writing and illustrating first one, and now four, books about them. “There were so many people who loved riding the zoo trains so I wanted them to be able to continue to bring smiles to families for years to come!” If you follow him on social media, he’s recently been showcasing delightful hidden details from each book, such as the real-life counterparts to the cats, coaches, and other engines in the book. 

He still loves trains today. The CPH Facebook group I referred you to is a project Chris moderates, along with several other train-minded folks. There, they collect information on each of the C. P. Huntington trains. Chris now travels the world to ride CPHs, especially those where he can participate in “engineer for a day” programs to get his engineering fix. He also consults with zoos and parks on all things train: finding used trains, operations, and historical information. 

As of the time of this recording, a private train collector has purchased the real #44, Guido, and the real #55, Zippy, and is in the process of slowly restoring them.

No End to the CPH Rabbithole

There’s something about the CPH, that quirky little engine and her 400+ quirky little Chance copies. The CPH gets in your head, gets her hooks in you, and you can’t stop falling down the rabbithole. Maybe it’s something in the steam?

I don’t quite understand it, myself. I’ve reiterated this a few times on the podcast so far, but I’m not really a train buff, not particularly interested in the technical specs and all that. But this episode on the C. P. Huntington train is the one I’ve been working on the longest. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d spend fifteen single-spaced pages writing an essay about theme park train history, I’d have called you mad. But there’s just something about the diminutive overall size, the comically large smokestack, the proportions of the wheels…the CPH just such a classic-looking train, and she really gets in your head.

There’s so much interesting information out there, not only about the 400+ Chance trains but about the namesake engine herself. Someday I hope to visit many of the places I’ve covered on the podcast and visiting the original CPH on display in northern California is definitely high on my bucket list.

Chances are (see what I did there?) that there’s a CPH at a zoo or theme park near you. Maybe get out there and ride one soon. 

All aboard!

Acknowledgements

I’d like to particularly thank Chris Churilla for patiently answering my many questions on the C. P. Huntington trains. You should check out his Facebook group “C. P. Huntington Train Project”, an exhaustive resource and archive for the person interested in compiling a more complete history of each Chance C. P. Huntington. And check out his books about Zippy and Guido – ask your local bookstore, or find them at a major online retailer. 

I also recommend the 1943 article by D. L. Joslyn, “The Life Story of the Locomotive C.P. Huntington As Told By Itself”, available for free online. It’s a charming chatty first-person history of the original locomotive, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. C. P. Huntington photo is by Chris Churilla, used with permission. Theme music is from “Aerobatics in Slow Motion” by TeknoAXE. Incidental sounds and ambience: FreeSound.org (Dungeness miniature railway – jjbulley; old railway station – YleArkisto; Jacksonville Zoo Ambience – inspectorJ; Amusement Park – _alvaro_; Steam Train Interior – allh; Brighton carousel – onetwo-ber) and freesfx.co.uk (Blacksmith Working on Anvil With Hammer).

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show on your podcast app. You might also leave a review, or share an episode on social media. Your word of mouth brings new listeners to the Abandoned Carousel fold.

I’ll be back soon with another great episode, so I’ll see you then. As Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

I’ve included a complete list of references used while researching this topic. It’s hidden under the link for brevity.

The post C. P. Huntington appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Prefer audio? Listen to this article.

Arthur Gillette: Beginnings

Arthur Gillette was a man with a mechanical mind.

As a child, Gillette visited the Savin Rock Amusement Park. In his early adulthood, he did handyman jobs, operated small small roadside stands, and fixed equipment and machinery. All the while, he dreamed of opening up an amusement park like the one of his childhood.

Gillette’s Pontoosuc Lake Beach Carnival

In 1946, Gillette assembled a crude carousel completely out of spare parts. It allowed for three riders. He operated the carousel at North St / Maplewood Ave in Pittsfield, just down from Pontoosuc Lake.

The ride was popular, so that winter, he rebuilt a vintage wooden carousel with his brother. They decided to take a chance at the amusement park business for good. In 1947, they operated the carousel at Pontoosuc Lake Beach. Within the next several years, he added a pony ride and a boat ride to the annual summer carnival setup.

As the carnival continued to prosper, Arthur and his brother opened the Gillette Brother Shows, a traveling amusement company, which is still in operation today. They traveled with their company throughout the East coast in the late 40s and early 50s, and continued to do well.

Lake George Amusement Park and Carson City

Arthur was getting tired of the traveling, though. He decided to set up the Lake George Amusement Park back in Lake George, NY. This small park opened up in 1956. There is little available information about it. We know that the park was only open for one season. In 1957, the land prices rose too high, and Gillette had to sell the park. A hotel developer ultimately purchased the land.

Not one to stay idle, Gillette quickly latched on to a new idea. This time, it was Carson City, a western theme park which he opened in 1958. This was one of the largest replica western villages at the time.

But Arthur Gillette really liked Lake George, and he kept thinking about the pre-Christmas Santa’s villages he’d set up in small towns around Massachusetts. The children had always loved seeing Santa, and were always sad to see him go. So why not, he thought, why not have Santa around for longer?

Christmas City, USA

Christmas City opened up in 1963. Arthur Gillette had found an old car junkyard in Lake George, the prime spot for an amusement park. He cleared away hundreds of cars to create his theme park. He even had to fill in a giant hole in order to create the flat lot where cars now park for the day.

In particular, Christmas City had its roots in a promotion Gillette did in Albany several years earlier. Santa was a huge draw during the Christmas season. Gillette knew he had something special, and set up Santa’s home that children could visit during the rest of the year.

Christmas City was located on Route 9, and drew crowds from both Albany and New York City. Its motto was “Christmas City…a village of warmth and love…where on the warmest day you will find a cool breeze blowing pine needles to the ground.”

Opening Day at the Park

On opening day, the park had log cabins, a museum, a “tilted house” challenging guests to walk on its uneven floors, a gift shop, and a chapel. This chapel was a real chapel, marking the first (but not last) time that Gillette would rehome an item or attraction.

The chapel had previously been located in Renssalaer, where the state department was taking it down for highway construction. Some sources name the chapel as “Chapel in the Pines” and others as “Sacred Heart”. Gillette moved the chapel to the Magic Forest piece by piece, where it still stands. Every item in the chapel is original, including the pews, altar, pulpit, and stained glass windows.

Christmas Theming at Christmas City

Christmas City, of course, wouldn’t be complete without Santa, Santa’s house, and Santa’s reindeer. Animals wandered freely throughout the park in the early years. There were sheep, goats, llamas, and of course reindeer. Visitors could pet and feed the animals, as well.

The park was themed and overlaid in a Christmas-y style, with gingerbread and fanciful lights. Beyond the buildings, there was little theming or landscaping. Gillette saw the natural forest environment, with its many large trees, as one of the most important things about the park.

Even in the first months the park was open, Gillette knew he was missing something. Visitors kept asking where the kids rides were. In the middle of the 1963 summer, the first year in operation, he added a few rides, including a small merry-go-round and a “chair-o-plane” (where riders swing in a circle on a merry-go-round type structure).

Officially Magic Forest

By 1965, Gillette loosened the reins on the Christmas theme, officially changing the name to Magic Forest and Indian Village.

Magic Forest and Indian Village

As the name implies, he added an Indian Village in the same year. This was a “standard” park feature at the time, and was seen as “okay” back then (even if it wasn’t). Obviously today, this is problematic at best.

Yes. Local Native people staffed this part of the park.

Yes. They genuinely informed visitors about some aspects of Native culture.

Yes, it was still problematic.

Interest in the village waned over time, and that part of the park was later closed.

Magic Forest: Island of Misfit Rides

For a couple of decades, Gillette’s Magic Forest truly was a place of constant change and delight. Arthur’s son Jack joined the park management team, fully taking over the park in 1979. Both Gillettes quickly realized how popular the kiddie rides were with park visitors. Additionally, they realized that with their solid mechanical skills, rides could be acquired much more cheaply from defunct theme parks and just fixed up. So over the years, the Magic Forest went from two rides to twenty five.

Acquisitions from Other Parks

In 1964, the Gillettes purchased several rides from a shuttered amusement park in Burlington, Vermont. (I’ve been unable to determine which park this was.) These rides include the Skyfighter, the Whip, and a heavier-duty aluminium merry-go-round.

The first Ferris wheel arrived in 1978. In 1979, Arthur sold his part of the Carson City park further up in the Catskills, choosing to focus instead on Magic Forest. (Carson City stayed in business through the mid-90s.)

In 1987, Kaydeross Park in Saratoga, NY closed in order to make way for luxury apartments. Seen in this 1985 promotional footage are a few of the rides that came from Kaydeross to the Magic Forest: the Tilt-A-Whirl, the Paratrooper, kiddie cars, and a replacement Ferris wheel.

A ride called “Chaser” came from an auction at the defunct Lincoln Park in North Dartmouth in 1988, after that park’s 1987 closure.

In 1990, the Scrambler and a mini merry-go-round arrived from Nay Aug Park in Scranton, PA, where the amusement park shuttered its rides to become a standard city park.

In 1991, the giant spiral slide arrived from Angela Park in Pennsylvania, which had closed two years prior.

The kiddie turtle ride, a smaller version of the classic Tumble Bug ride, came from Maple Leaf Village in Niagra Falls after that park closed in 1992. The asking price? $5,000.

Gillette never met an old amusement ride that he couldn’t find a home for, bringing rides in from at least seven or eight other theme parks. This scavenger philosophy extended not only to rides, but to what the park is perhaps best known for: fiberglass figurines.

Magic Forest and the Fiberglass Figures

In 1960, Bob Prewitt stumbled upon a treasure trove. He was a cowboy, an entrepreneur, and he wanted to make fiberglass horse trailers. Prewitt wanted to create a lighter horse trailer, as the trailers at the time were very heavy. He made a fiberglass horse to help sell the trailers. Well, it turned out that people wanted to buy the horse more than the trailers. Bob quickly cottoned on to what the customers wanted, and began making a wide range of realistic fiberglass animals: cows, horses, etc.

These animals were particularly popular with places like restaurants, meat markets, dairies, and rodeos. Prewitt’s animals continued to sell well, and he began expanding the types of figures he produced.

International Fiberglass

Prewitt sold his molds to International Fiberglass around 1963. The company was incredibly successful over the next decade, likely because of their ability to create almost anything a customer desired. International Fiberglass employed talented sculptors and painters, who could alter any sculpture to the customer’s unique specifications. People call their most famous productions “Muffler Men”, which we’ll likely do a full episode on later. For now, simply know that the Muffler Men were twenty feet tall sculptures of human figures, usually holding objects, and originally were used for roadside advertising.

International Fiberglass destroyed most of the molds when they folded in the early 70s. The interest in the figures waned, and the original fiberglass figures fell by the wayside – shoved in garages, barns, the woods, the back 40.  

Fiberglass Figures Come to the Magic Forest

So the story goes that on a trip to a junkyard in Knoxville, TN for car parts for their Corvette restoration hobby, the Gillettes found some intriguing fiberglass figures, which they hauled back to Magic Forest.

And thus began a new collection. “It was just fun going across the country buying stuff,” Jack Gillette said. “I’ve counted over 600.” Gillette was able to repair these figures just like he repaired rides, so he brought them all home, wherever he could find them.

Danbury Fair

In 1981, the Great Danbury Fair closed. This was a long-running agricultural fair in Danbury CT, dating back to at least 1821. By 1869, the fair had a regular schedule, large fairgrounds, and was open for ten days every October. The fair satisfied guests reliably every year until around 1974, when the owner John Leahy died. The organization fell into disarray, and it wasn’t long before the entire fair closed. Leahy hadn’t made provisions for the fair in his will, and the only way to pay the estate taxes for the venue was to sell the property. Three years later, the Danbury Fair Mall was built on the site.

On a snowy and rainy week in April of 1982, hundreds of buyers came to an auction for the various rides and attractions from the fair. Of course, Jack Gillette was there. He actually spent several days in Danbury, prior to the auction, negotiating for a large number of the fair’s original Prewitt and International Fiberglass figures. It isn’t surprising that he scored big time. “It took more than 20 truckloads to bring everything up that we purchased from the fair,” Gillette said. “We actually had to clear-cut five acres of land to make room for all the exhibits.”

The most famous of these stood in the Magic Forest parking lot, not far from the original Santa Claus and the pink building that has always served as the park’s entrance. It was the 38-foot tall Uncle Sam, supposedly the largest in the world.

Uncle Sam became a symbol for the Magic Forest park, drawing in guests from the road, just like the Muffler Men of yore.

Expansion and Collection at Magic Forest

Throughout the 80s and 90s, the Gillettes continued to expand the Magic Forest amusement park. Brad H on Yelp said of Magic Forest “Everything is very old and super-cheesy, but that’s what is so cool about it! It has character and old-fashioned charm.”

Cinderella Walkthrough

The Fantasyland park in Gettysburg, PA, a popular local theme park, closed. The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center took its place. Gillette purchased a walkthrough attraction from there which told the story of Cinderella.

England Brothers’ Windows

In a log cabin near the chapel, a collection of animated bears and squirrels frolicked, moving on and around houses and tree stumps. These came from Pittsfields’ “England Brothers” store, which was like the region’s Macy’s store (at least in terms of holiday windows). The delightful animals that once cavorted in windows displays at England Brothers were rescued by Gillette and put on display at Magic Forest.

Disney’s Snow White

Inside a castle-shaped building sits a vintage piece of Disney’s early years. Yep, tucked away in this creaking, retro ‘60s era park in upstate New York is a piece of Walt Disney history. Several displays are inside that castle building, each depicting animatronic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves characters. The room also features a giant fiberglass tree (purchased for $10 as part of the Danbury Fair auction, of course).

The sign nearby reads: “Snow White. This exhibit was made by Disney for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The animation is one of a kind. Replacement parts and figures are unattainable, and must be custom made.”

Despite the sign, these figures are not made by Disney and are not from the 1939 World’s Fair. Remarkably, they’re even older.

The Old King Cole Papier Mache Company

In 1935, Disney had licensed its characters to the Old King Cole Papier Mache Company of Canton, Ohio, for the purposes of interior advertising displays, like those in windows. In 1937, this company made a series of displays featuring Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for Mandel Brothers department stores in Chicago. These vintage window displays are what now sit at Magic Forest, some 80 years later, the only such surviving examples.

How’d they get to Magic Forest? Arthur Gillette collected them, of course. Somehow the displays came into the hands of the Coleman Brothers carnival in the early 1960s. When they shuttered their carnival business in the mid-1960s, Arthur purchased the Snow White displays for his park.

Snow White at the Magic Forest

In the early years of the park, the displays were moved to and from a storage barn at the beginning and end of each season. This movement deteriorated the displays, and actually completely destroyed one of the original ten scenes as a result. The rest, however, remain in excellent shape. Artisans at the park refurbished most of the characters and backgrounds, adding new clothing and paint. The figures themselves are all still the original papier mache. To describe the scale of these displays, each of the dwarves fits into clothing sized for six-month-old children. They’re pretty impressive!

The animatronic figures move from the action of custom wooden cams and bolts: 1930s high tech! Magic Forest staff have rebuilt some of the original parts from scratch. Best Buy doesn’t sell these pieces! Overall, these animatronics still run primarily on their original mechanics. This section of the park is well-maintained and quite unique.

Expansion

In 1995, Gillette expanded the park’s boundaries, even relocating rides. He purchased a new ride, the blue goose, from a carnival auction in 1998. The safari train went past many of Gillette’s figures, arrayed in the forest amongst the pines. On “Fairy Tale Trail”, visitors walked past a number of different fairy-tale dioramas, each illustrated with large, fairly horrifying fiberglass figures.

The park had over 1000 of these figures at its prime, so it’s hard to do the topic justice. Suffice to say there were many, many figures at the Magic Forest, some in disrepair, and all a little bit off-putting. A visitor (Keleia76 on Reddit) said: “The figures are absolutely scary. I’m not being hyperbolic. They actually chilled me. Spiderwebs in the eyes, missing face chunks, missing hands or fingers, and honestly, even if they were intact, their actual design looked as though it may have been conjured in the mind of a demon.”

Many of the figures have glassy eyes and feature push-buttons, where visitors could hear some of the darker children’s fairy-tales.That was, of course, if the buttons were working.

Magic Forest’s Train

It wouldn’t be a theme park without the train ride, of course. Is that our new rule here at The Abandoned Carousel? Maybe. This time, it’s an Arrow “Old No. 9” train – Magic Forest’s train was only one of seven such trains in existence. Another is just down the road at Storytown USA, which we’ll cover at a later date. At the Magic Forest, the train chugged down a bridge over a ravine, past many fiberglass figures in the forest, and finished with a ride through a rickety mine tunnel. For many visitors, the somewhat shaky structural quality of the bridge and mine tunnel marked the largest thrills at the park.

Magic Forest’s Live Acts

In addition to the rides and ever present fiberglass figures, there have always been performances at the Magic Forest, as well. Santa Claus was popular in the early years, due to the Christmas theming of the park.

In 1972, Gillette installed a dolphin show at the park. This was a short-lived attraction, running only until 1975. Other acts followed, including dog acts, circus acts, aerial shows, and magic shows. Eventually, park management filled in the ravine at the park, next to the stage, in order to allow for more seats in front of the performance area.

The Diving Horse

One of the things that Magic Forest is known for, aside from the plethora of slightly bug-eyed, off-kilter fiberglass figures, is the Diving Horse. The last diving horse in the country, they say.

What is a diving horse, you might ask, as I did when I started researching this place. Well, settle in. Back in 1881, a man named Doc Carver was crossing a bridge on his horse. The bridge partially collapsed and the horse fell into the water, which apparently inspired the idea. He came up with the diving horse concept, and set up at Steel Pier in Atlantic City. The acts had a circus-like quality, as “diving girls” would leap atop the galloping horse as it reached the top of a 40-60 foot tower, and then sail down into the water on the horse’s back.

This is obviously a polarizing topic. Animal rights activists protested the diving shows in the 20s and 30s. Arnette Webster French, a horse diver from the Steel Pier attraction, said “Wherever we went, the S.P.C.A. was always snooping around, trying to find if we were doing anything that was cruel to animals. They never found anything because those horses lived the life of Riley. In all the years of the act, there was never a horse that was injured.”

The Steel Pier act was nonetheless permanently shuttered sometime in the 1970s. A brief revival in 2012 didn’t get very far after strenuous animal rights protests. “The president of the Humane Society of the United States stated: “This is a merciful end to a colossally stupid idea.”

The Diving Horse at Magic Forest

All the same, a horse diving exhibit opened at Magic Forest in 1977. First starring Rex the Diving Horse (for over 18 years), and later Thunder, then Lightning, the diving horses would walk up a ramp, 9 feet off the ground, and jump into a pool of water. Their trainers reward them with a large bucket of oats. The diving horse jumps twice daily, two months out of the year, and only during dry weather.

Animal rights activists regularly protest the show; veterinarians inspect the horses and the show even more regularly, to ensure the humane treatment of the animals. Reportedly they do it of their own free will, motivated solely by the oats at the other end.

The last of an era for the diving horses has come, however you feel about the act. Lightning the Diving Horse performed at Magic Forest for 24 years. In the summer of 2018, Lightning, now with a white face, refused to jump. And that was that. He still resides at Magic Forest to pet and feed, but the diving show is no more.

Magic Forest: Less than Magical?

As visitors post about Magic Forest online, people either love the place or hate it. The park caters to the smallest of visitors for whom standard theme parks are overwhelming and somewhat inappropriate for. The outdated visuals and somewhat run-down aesthetics can be a small price to pay for a park where your three-year-old can ride almost every single ride at the park.

However, others have certainly recounted less than positive stories about the park. It’s definitely true. The park is outdated and problematic in areas. People find the sculpted figures frightening, are put off by the ride operators operating multiple rides simultaneously, and so on.

Visitors in recent years have described broken figures, covered in spiderwebs. There are tales of broken audio recordings in the Fairy Tale Trail, stories about how the train engine was so poorly maintained that it spewed clouds of toxic fumes back at the first several rows of riders. Visitors complained about the short opening times of the gift shop, and of course, complained about the diving horse.

Stories from Park Workers

Former park workers have posted on Reddit, alleging that some of the park workers were constantly high, since they knew they’d get paid no matter what. A quote about the condition of the Ferris wheel: “If it was too hot, the tar on the cable will slip, and the chairs would slip off the landing while unloading, resulting in people being slammed face first into the platform.” However, there have been no major incidents at the park, which is certainly an exceptional track record given how long Magic Forest has been in operation.

The park isn’t unblemished. Management hired a known registered sex offender, without doing background checks. That didn’t go over particularly well.

And Jack Gillette himself made some waves, particularly in the late 90s and 2000s. He was described as more interested in restoring his Corvettes than in repairing park rides. Several times, he ran afoul of the local government over property disputes, saying that they inappropriately removed boulders from his property, and that they wrongfully used his property for a public snowmobile and biking path.

In 2013, he sued Warren County over these alleged misuses of his personal property. The suits were finally settled in 2018, with Gillette reportedly receiving $150,000 (reportedly less than the costs of the legal fees) over the five years in compensation.

Sale of Magic Forest

Late in 2018, local papers started reporting that Magic Forest was being sold. The deal had reportedly been in negotiations for several years, but couldn’t proceed due to the pending lawsuits. Once the suits were taken care of, the sale was free to go on.

Gillette officially sold Magic Forest at the end of 2018 for $2.5 million dollars to Ruben Ellsworth, “the son of a family friend”, owner of the local business “Ellsworth & Sons Excavating”. Gillette was ready to retire, and Ellsworth had a set of plans for the park that pleased the local county government.

Ellsworth is turning the park into “Lake George Expedition Park”. Part of the park will be a scaled-down Magic Forest. A much larger part of the property will become Dino Roar Valley. This dinosaur themed park will have a large walking trail featuring twenty life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, as well as dinosaur themed shows and additional paid activities.

But Ellsworth didn’t want the majority of the fiberglass figures that Magic Forest has been so well known for over the years. Up for sale they all went. American Giants, known for its restoration work with Muffler Men, was put in charge of the sale, which you can find on its website.

Reportedly, many of the figures were purchased by Storybook Land in Egg Harbor, NJ. Several of the larger Muffler Men are headed to Dallas, TX, where they’ll advertise for a plumbing company.

Uncle Sam Returns to Danbury

The largest of them all, 38-foot-tall Uncle Sam will be returning to Danbury, CT. He was originally a resident of the Danbury Fair. “Danbury – that fair in 1981 and ’82 – the things I bought took my amusement park to another level and allowed me to go even beyond that in two or three years. It really made my park. I thought it was only fitting for it to go back.”

The city of Danbury purchased Uncle Sam for $50,000, including the fence and its support pole; officials estimate that transportation, lighting, and refurbishment for the statue will cost another $50-100k. Moving the statue was reportedly difficult. Movers had to remove one of Uncle Sam’s hands in order to fit under an overpass on the three hour drive between Lake George and Danbury.

Refurbishment has been ongoing over the winter of 2018. The paint covering the entire statue was stripped completely off. Interestingly, restorers found that Uncle Sam originally had a different face. His face was paper-mached over with newspapers sometime in 1975 to give a different shape. “His old face has some crazy eyes” is the quote.

Uncle Sam’s new home is in front of the Danbury Railway Museum, where they plan to unveil him officially at a Fourth of July celebration in 2019.

A New Era for Magic Forest

“The Only Living Girl In New York” blog said: “I love, love, loved the Magic Forest—a theme park that has remained untouched by time, become abandoned while it’s still in business and is completely unaware of how cool and marketable it actually is—and I hope it continues to forget that it should have closed years ago and remains in Lake George forever.”

Magic Forest isn’t abandoned. In its later years, it has certainly seemed as such, with the lack of lines, lack of crowds, and lack of maintenance. But Magic Forest is certainly coming to the end of an era. The sale of its iconic vintage fiberglass figures and massive changes earn the Magic Forest a place on this podcast. The modern era is coming to this retro park, and it will no longer be trapped in the 60s. Lake George Expedition Park opens for the season this weekend: how much of the Magic Forest will remain?

The retro, kitschy feeling is much of what made Magic Forest special. Only time will tell as to whether the Magic Forest portion of Lake George Expedition Park sticks around.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

The post Magic Forest appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Prefer audio? Listen to this article.

Background

In the early 20th century, the rich and famous came to the Adirondacks for their summers, building second homes, mansions, cabins, and camps. As the century progressed, the area became more popular with the lower and middle classes, as well.

Small regional parks were still incredibly popular in the middle of the twentieth century, despite the opening of large parks like Disneyland (1955) and Disneyworld (1971). Why? Because these local, family-owned parks were closer and cheaper than their larger corporate counterparts. Locals saw them as a go-to destination for holidays. And as a result, they flourished throughout the United States along regional highways, and were, for the most part, charming and a little off-beat.

Ted Yund and the Idea for Time Town

Our story this week revolves around Ted Yund, and his theme park, Time Town, in Bolton Landing near Lake George, NY.

Born in 1921, New York native Yund entered the US Marine Corps in 1942 and served until November 1946. As a First Lieutenant, he was wounded during the major World War II battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945, and received several military honors, including the Purple Heart award. After the war, he spent the remainder of his life owning and operating several Albany, NY businesses, including the fondly-remembered Time Town.

Ted Yund’s Celestron Telescope

As Yund was recovering from his injuries after the war, he began studying astronomy. It quickly became a passion of his. He purchased a large, powerful 21” Celestron 22 telescope that needed a dark mountaintop for best results. The telescope cost $20,000, and was reportedly one of the largest in use in the eastern US at the time. He installed his telescope in a small white observatory at the top of Coolidge Hill Road, in Bolton, NY. And, he decided to build the theme park around it. He had fourteen children, so he had “a ready-made workforce”, too. “Storytown and the other parks seemed to be doing well, so I thought an amusement park was probably a good idea”.

Time Town Opens

The park opened in 1970, operating late spring through fall.

The park advertised “space age and yesteryear spectaculars”. A 1971 advertisement proclaimed: “It’s a park where history, past, present and future comes alive. From the exciting space age Dyna Domes, the simulated moon walk and the fully-equipped observatory to the authentic “Iron Horse” railroad, the antique car rides and the many other fascinating attractions. Time Town is a new world of learning and fun.”

As it was situated on a hillside, the park commanded sweeping views of Lake George’s lakes and woods.

As one visitor described it: “you encountered a lot of giant plastic and fiberglass characters that were supposed to represent different eras in time from the prehistoric era to the present era of space travel.”

Scenes from Time Town

The park’s sculptures and attractions were created in conjunction with Gene Mundell, through a company called “Special Effects”. “I got the call to create and install works for a new theme park in upstate New York,” Mundell recalls. “I’d seen mass-produced things. I wanted to make one piece at a time, each specific to its location.” The most commonly-referenced sculpture is the 17-foot statues of a “Neanderthal caveman”, known as “The Giant”. Mundell didn’t make the sculpture himself (that was International Fiberglass). However, Mundell did paint and add details. (A cousin to this giant still lives in Grants Pass, OR.) In photos of the park, children posing by the statue are no taller than his knees or his fiberglass axe.

Dyna Domes and Costumed Folks

As noted in the 1971 ad copy, the park’s buildings were all geodesic domes, the “space age Dyna Domes”. They were certainly unique for the time: a former worker of the park stated: “Almost all the buildings were geodesic domes. That was a far-out thing for the Adirondacks. It had no relationship to anything else.”

Photos from the park’s heyday show a number of costumed characters (“critters of the Adirondacks”, “Adirondack Animal Revue”, and “zany Costumed Characters” per the 1976 ad copy) and indicate that elementary-aged children and younger were the primary audience for the park. Critters included rabbit, bear, moose, fox, and raccoon.

Rides at Time Town

One of the most popular attractions at Time Town was a “Flying Saucer” trip into the “Space Age future”, a collaboration between Yund and Mundell. From a 1973 article about the park: “Visitors enter a ‘teleportation’ room where they are prepared for their planetary trip. After that, it’s on to the planet where eerie landscapes, lighting and weird audio effects accompany such sights as a fallen spaceship still emitting its last flickering light. Strange space creatures, called ‘pre-historic’ by Mundell, abound: space amoeba, jester gassing trees, hypnotic rocks, monsters, space prairie dogs, hooded spider mice and many others. Visitors leave through the Saucer’s ‘Star Exit’ which is a long, three-dimensional tunnel that Mundel claims is a spellbinder.”

Visitors certainly did find it memorable, remembering: “You entered the park by going inside a “spaceship” (a room that moved and had flashing lights to simulate space travel). Then you went through a tunnel or underground room that would take you to another planet.”

Slides and Trains, Oh My

The 9-lane blue and yellow “Meteor Slide” was another new addition in 1973. It was popular with visitors as the 165-ft slide could hold up to 9 children at once.

The park featured a train ride through the surrounded woods: up to 40 people at once could ride the wilderness train through forest, tunnels, and ravine bridges over the half-mile trail. The train was a classic C. P. Huntington crafted by Chance Rides, and was a gleaming cherry red with a shiny black steam engine in front. The train was called the “Pioneer Valley Scenic Railroad”.

“Astronauts” Sculpture

In the second year of the park’s tenure, Mundell and Yund added a new sculpture: “Astronauts”, which was dedicated by Wernher von Braun. von Braun had apparently been enticed to the area under somewhat false pretenses, having been under the impression the sculpture was going to reside in a public park. Mundell said: “He thought the statue was in a public park and that it was a tribute to the astronauts and space exploration. He didn’t know we were a tourist attraction.” A crowd of about 500 showed up for the dedication, less than expected, but von Braun reportedly still gave a rousing speech on the topic of US-Soviet relations. The sculpture was stunning – over 20-ft tall, showing two Apollo-era astronauts floating in zero-gravity. The fiberglass sculpture was beautifully painted and showed incredible details.

Other Time Town Attractions

Other park features included a helicopter attraction that could move up and down. Imported antique cars were available for guests to drive over roughly-paved “highways”. The park also feature a carousel, space-themed bumper cars, magic shows from the “Amazing Monticup”, a movie theater, and ventriloquist acts. The 1973 article describes walking trails that featured animated and lighted “creatures” designed by Mundell. One of the Dyna Domes apparently functioned as an exhibit hall, showing dioramas with models of the first steamboat, the De Witt Clinton Railway, the “Indian Pony Drag” and more, all originally from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

The park is widely remembered for being fun to visit and fun to work at. Every summer some 60 college and high-school students worked at Time Town, including most of Yund’s children. “From the day school closed to when it reopened, we spent our entire summers there, from morning to night,” says the Yunds’ daughter Margaret Demeter. At the end of the working day everyone would head for the beach. “The kids who worked at the park became part of our family, and our friends for life.”

Closure of Time Town

The park closed after the 1980 summer season. “When we got it going, we were hit by the gas shortage. The heavy influx of visitors dried up. Everything died,” says Mundell.

Causes for the parks demise are many, with many attributing the main reason to low park attendance. Why did the crowds never come? Too far from the beaten path, away from the main tourist attractions in the area. Yund remembers it, saying:  “My big problem was the location. The Town of Bolton wouldn’t allow me to put up a sign on the road between Lake George and Bolton Landing—that certainly would have helped.” The 1979 gas crisis likely played a part, as Mundell said, with families staying even closer to home and avoiding travel. In 2004 communications with a fan site, Yund also attributed the closure to the high cost of insurance for the property.

Yund and others also attributed the closure to the death of Yund’s son, Michael, at the age of 25, after a long struggle with leukemia. The park’s famous telescope, Yund’s prize Celestron was also stolen around the same time (1978-1979), and never replaced. All told, it was an emotionally draining time for the family and their family theme park business.

Remnants of Time Town

The park officially closed in 1981. Dustin at the now defunct Remembering Time Town website visited the park with his brother in 1989 or 1990. They described the property as “untouched”, with brochures scattered on the floors of the buildings they entered. Dustin also described the park as seeming much smaller than he’d remembered, likely due to the new perspective of viewing the park as an adult.

Sometime in the early 90s, the former Time Town property was sold to a developer, and the 44-acre lot was subdivided into a housing development. The development was the first of its kind in the Lake George area.

Yund died in 2007 at the age of 86, and Mundell died in 2016 at the age of 85.

In the woods behind the Bolton Landing housing development, there reportedly stands a 15-foot tall fiberglass bear, one of the few remaining pieces of the park in the area.

Time Town at the Magic Forest

The “Astronauts” sculpture and many of the rides were moved to the nearby “Magic Forest” park (which we’ll cover later). Other sculptures from Mundell can be found at the current Six Flags Great Escape Park, as well as the local Goony Golf park^, .

In 2018, Gene Mundell’s “Astronauts” sculpture from Time Town was put up for sale as part of the sale of Magic Forest paraphernalia. It sold for $4,000.

Vintage ad copy once read: “Time Town, where tomorrow greets you and yesterday is just around the bend.”

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

I’ve included a complete list of references used while researching this topic. It’s hidden under the link for brevity.

The post Time Town appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

Prefer audio? Listen to this article.

David Adickes and the Idea for Presidents Park

David Adickes has big ideas. Literally. He’s created some of the largest sculptures in America, such as the 67-foot tall “Tribute to Courage” statue of Sam Adams, currently standing in Huntsville, Texas. But he’s also known for projects on a, shall we say, more presidential scale.

Inspiration came to Adickes when he stopped at Mount Rushmore during a road trip in the early 90s. “I was overwhelmed by the majesty of it,” he told the Washington Post in 2011. “But I was disappointed that I couldn’t get up close to them, and look them in the eye.”

“[…]the idea occurred to me to do a park with all the presidents, big enough to get in front of and look in the eyes, rather than from a quarter-mile away.”  

“I’m a Texan. Big is impressive.”

Finding Presidents Park

Adickes searched for partners and investors for this new idea he called “Presidents Park”. He wanted to locate the sculptures in DC, but had a hard time finding buyers. He finally found someone, with Williamsburg entrepreneur, Everette Haley Newman. Along with Newman and other investors, over $10 million dollars were secured for the park.

Even with the necessary capital coming in, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the new park. Public opposition arose after the park was first proposed in the late 90s. The initial plans called for a full set of presidents, including a 75-foot statue of George Washington. Officials (from Colonial Williamsburg, the National Park Service, and the York County Board of Supervisors), historians, and even the local papers didn’t like the idea.

Some called it “just plain garish”, feeling that it didn’t fit the colonial emphasis of Williamsburg. The town easily mixes the colonial past with its more modern side, but this was a step too far – they thought it was just a cheap roadside attraction.

The 75-foot-statue idea was canned, but York County officials still required expensive special-use zoning permits for the park site. Adickes and Newman took the county to court over the zoning permits.

Court Battle in Williamsburg

During this time, sculptures started arriving (as early as 2000). They lingered on trailers around town and country while Adickes and Newman were still battling with the locals over permits. Some even ended up temporarily at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Now, while this was stuck in the courts, Adickes was so enamored with the idea that he began work on a second Presidents Park in Lead, South Dakota. Due to the legal battle in Williamsburg, the South Dakota park actually opened first, in 2002, just 40 miles from the inspiration, Mount Rushmore, on the property in the Black Hills owned by Adickes himself. The park covered two acres of a sloping hillside, and visitors were often surrounded by wild turkeys as they perused the sculptures.

Finally, after four years, Adickes and Newman won their legal battle. Eventually the site qualified for museum status in York County, and the park was allowed to open.

Presidents Park in Williamsburg, VA

In February 2004, the Williamsburg location of the Presidents Park finally opened, adjacent to I-64 and convenient to other Williamsburg retail. Cost was $9.75 for adults, $6.50 for children 6-17, and $8.75 for seniors and veterans. The site offered self-guided tours as a part of the admissions fee, including signs for “14 Defining Moments in American History”.  Visitors could stroll along the winding paths over the ten acre sculpture park, taking in trivia about each of the presidents while looking the 42 statues in the eye. For additional fe es, guided tours and educational materials were available. There was, of course, a gift shop.

Official response to the park was tepid. “We are a nation that is sorely in need of more aggressive enlightenment on our own nation’s history, and to the extent Presidents Park helps do that, we certainly commend them for it,” said Tim Andrews, spokesman for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Walter C. Zaremba, a member of the York County Board of Supervisors, simply said: “There is resigned acceptance of it.”

But visitors enjoyed the park, with exit surveys being “over 90% glowing”.

Sculpting the Presidents Busts

Each sculpture was made from a mold. Busts were first sculpted out of clay (18-20 ft tall), from which molds were created. Concrete filled the molds to create the final sculptures, supported with steel rebar. Each took six weeks to complete, and the whole set took over five years; each sculpture was appraised at $100,000.

Some presidents were more of a challenge than others, with Gerald Ford’s features and Bill Clinton’s hair reportedly being difficult to recreate. George HW Bush was reportedly Adickes’ favorite, and posed for the sculpture.

Downfall of Presidents Park

Despite the impressive sculptures and the positive responses from visitors, the park quickly started suffering. The location was convenient to major areas, but was masked by the woods and a hotel, standing essentially invisible from the rest of the Williamsburg tourist traffic. The economy at the time was sluggish, and the site just couldn’t draw the people away from the rest of historical Williamsburg. The investor group bankrolling the park was changing, with one of the members wanting their cash out.

After only three years, in 2007, Newman had listed the site for sale, busts included, for an asking price of $4.5 million.

After one year, there had been no buyers.

Busts began to fall into despair. Sun, wind, rain, birds…they all took their toll. A lightning strike hit Ronald Regan, marring his concrete visage.

The park continued to lose money. Newman and Adickes couldn’t afford to create a new bust for President Obama, estimated at $600,000 at the time, and the recession had hit tourism hard.

Finally, the park closed in September 2010, after six years and 350 thousand visitors.

The park sat abandoned for two years. (Here’s a video of the abandoned Williamsburg park in 2011.)

The loan was defaulted on, and the bank foreclosed on the property. An auction was set for April 2012, but was canceled for undisclosed reasons; a second auction in September 2012 again failed to attract notice. Officials grumbled, with Walt Zaremba, the early voice of opposition, saying “it’s sad that so much energy and investment dollars went into that” and “Lord know what’s next”.

A New Home for Presidents

Enter Howard Hankins.

Howard Hankins

Hankins was a local builder, owner of the several businesses, including a local concrete recycler. Hankins had assisted in the construction of Presidents Park back in the early 2000s.

With the property finally sold to an undisclosed buyer, NOT including the busts, Newman reached out to Hankins in fall of 2012, for help disposing of the presidential sculptures. Hankins balked at the idea. He reminisced in a 2015 interview, saying “They called me and wanted to know if I would come down there and crush [the heads] and haul them away,” “I said ‘heck no, can I have ‘em?’ I’m going to preserve them.” “I just feel it was very educational,” Hankins said of Presidents Park, speaking to the Daily Press. “To destroy that stuff didn’t look right to me.”

Moving the Presidents

It wasn’t an easy prospect. The sculptures are made out of concrete, remember, and each weighed between 15 and 20 thousand pounds. The sculptures sat on platforms, from which they had to be lifted. Holes were smashed in each of the president’s heads and necks in order to expose the interior steel rebar, and then excavators, forklifts, and cranes helped move the sculptures onto flatbed trucks. The sculptures had to be rocked to remove them from the pedestals, and this caused damage at the necks.

Height was a problem too, as the sculptures had been delivered as separate head and neck pieces. Overpasses on the ten miles between the site and Hankins’ farm had to be carefully measured.

The first sculptures to be moved suffered the most damage, unsurprisingly, with the Hankins’ team’s inexperience. There are broken noses. Some sculptures have entire backs exposed. Abraham Lincoln’s sculpture is missing most of the back of its head, eerily calling back his manner of death.

The entire move took the better part of a week, and is said to have cost around $50 thousand, which Hankins paid himself.

At Home with the Presidents

The sculptures were driven to Hankins’ property in Croaker, VA. George Washington was set to the side in a place of honor, overlooking the rest of the group; Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln among the handful of others arrayed near him. The rest were placed in no apparent order into a handful of lines,making for strange pairings: JFK next to Reagan, Dubya (now with a large chip taken out of his cheek) sits next to Teddy Roosevelt.

And then they sat.

And sat.

And sat.

Decay

Nature began to take its course, with the heavy sculptures sinking into the mud. Weeds grew up around their bases, and the natural elements continued to mar the surfaces of each president’s bust.

Explorers and interviewers described the sculptures as weighty and beautiful, a modern Easter Island. Faux tears have formed on faces from the discoloration of the rainwater.

Hornets and other insects have made nests in the presidents’ nostrils.

Paint has peeled and cracked from the surfaces of the busts due to the constant moisture and condensation.

Some of the sculptures look horrified, as if by the state of the world or perhaps by their own personal state of disarray.

Small trees and shrubs have begun to grow in front of Teddy Roosevelt.

Where the interior structure of the sculptures is visible through broken and cracked concrete is now rusted and ruinous.

Media Attention

Hankins originally had hoped to allow visitors to his property, now under the name Hampton Roads Materials LLC. However, it became an expensive proposition, requiring him to carry hefty liability insurance. Trespassers regularly visited, despite fencing and other security measures on his private property.

In 2015 or 2016, photos began to be posted on social media, renewing interest in the location. Media came in droves for interviews and photos. Many of the interviews and articles online are from this time period, including an 8 minute National Geographic special.

The sculptures can even be seen by satellite using Google Maps.

Where in the World are the Presidential Busts?

What about the South Dakota park that opened in 2003, a year before the Virginia park? Adickes said after the fact that the location was a mistake, with too much snow in the area, making the park’s open time too short. Although the park was featured on the cover of the final LIFE magazine (April 20, 2007: “21 places you’ve got to see to believe”), the park closed in 2010. Reviews were mixed, with reports of it being both “interesting” and “an eyesore”.   

Adickes reportedly still owns the property but has begun to sell off the sculptures there to relevant communities. For instance, Andrew Jackson’s bust is now in Jackson, MS; Eisenhower is in Dennison, TX (explain why). Others are more generically placed, at least as of 2015: JFK, Reagan, and Dubya at the Southern Hills RV Park in Hermosa, SD; Lincoln at the Lincoln RV Park near Williston, ND; and Teddy Roosevelt at the Roosevelt Inn in Watford City, ND.

And in case you thought there weren’t enough giant presidents heads sitting around, for several years, there were also a handful of busts in Pearland, TX (at a planned development that fell through; now in storage), as well as “Mount Rush Hour”, a rotating selection of Adickes’ heads just off the I-45 in Houston, TX. He made great use of those molds.

The former grounds of the Presidents Park in Williamsburg are now an Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

A Sculptor’s Work

Long after the sculptures in Williamsburg had been moved, David Adickes found out about the relocation. A friend forwarded him a story from the media blitz in 2016. “I was totally shocked and disappointed that they had been raped,” he says. “I was pissed off and devastated and sad and all the rest. But there’s nothing I could do about it at this point.”

No one had ever thought to reach out to Adickes to inform him about the state of the sculptures or ask for advice on moving them. “I don’t even like to look at the photographs,” Adickes stated, “because I can see they’re damaged in other ways. Now they look like a graveyard of our greatest heroes, of our American presidents. That’s sad to see.”

Adickes is currently 92 years old and is still producing sculptures on a massive scale. Many are on display in Houston, TX.

Updates for the Presidents

In February 2019, journal Tom Schaad of WAVY TV teased a story about potential new sites for the busts, but no further news on the sculptures’ relocation has been made available at the time of this recording.

In early 2019, Hankins partnered with photographer John Plashal. Together, they set up ticketed events that dovetail both Hankins’ and Plashal’s interests. Plashal is an author/photographer who recently published a photo history titled “a beautifully broken virginia”. These events feature a slideshow and lecture, followed by a walking tour of the sculptures on Hankins’ property. Plashal has several tours scheduled through the rest of spring 2019 for the “Presidents Heads” as he refers to them, including twilight and evening tours for the urbex and photography enthusiasts.

The events sell out quickly.

Hankins and the Presidential Experience

Hankins saved items from the visitor’s center when he moved the busts in 2012, as well. A shipping container sits in the field by the sculptures, storing replicas of first lady dresses, a small model of the bust intended for Barack Obama, and parts from replica Air Force Ones and a presidential limousine. He plans to have a larger, more encompassing “Presidential Experience”, including a replica of the White House, and has a goal to restore the sculptures from their current state of decay. However, funding and site locations have been hard to come by. In a March 2019 article, Hankins sounded optimistic about future locations but was light on the details.

In April 2019, the small bust of President Obama was stolen from the shipping container storing the smaller items recovered from the park, but was quickly returned. Hankins was interviewed for the local paper, and said he has a deal in the works to move the presidents north. “I can’t say when and where just yet, but the guy who is running the project really wants them,” Hankins said. “We’ll make a big announcement when the deal goes through and then start fundraising to pay to get them moved up there.”

At the time of this recording, Hankins’ Gofundme for the hopeful Presidential Experience project has 0.2% funded of the half million dollar goal, though some articles put the total funds required at 1.5M.

For now, the presidents sit, slowly decaying, grouped in lines overlooking the countryside off I-64, and somewhere in the tree of the Black Hills in South Dakota, and across a handful of RV parks too.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

References

The post Presidents Park appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.

East

Abandoned places located in the East.

• Carousel #15
• A Town Called Santa Claus
• Gaslight Village
• Floyd Moreland Dentzel/Looff Carousel
• C. P. Huntington
• Magic Forest
• Time Town
• Presidents Park

Midwest

Abandoned places located in the Midwest.

• Racism, Riots, and Euclid Beach Park
• The First Ferris Wheel
• Carousel #15
• A Town Called Santa Claus
• Little Amerricka
• C. P. Huntington
• Joyland Park, Part Two
• Joyland, Part One
• Prehistoric Forest

South

Abandoned places located in the South.

• Royal Land
• Dinosaur World, or “John Agar’s Land of Kong”
• Dogpatch USA
• A Town Called Santa Claus
• Discovery Island
• C. P. Huntington
• Joyland (a condensed history)
• Rose Island Amusement Park

West

Abandoned places located in the West.

• Carousel #15
• A Town Called Santa Claus
• C. P. Huntington
• Lake Dolores Waterpark
• Skyway at Disneyland

The post United States appeared first on The Abandoned Carousel.