Originally, this episode was going to be an easing back into The Abandoned Carousel after an extended period of time off to attend to family matters during the covid19 quarantine. 

However, I’m sure you can see the state of the world around you. As I was researching my proposed next topic, a group of rides which moved together through three different theme parks, all now defunct, I couldn’t get past the reasons for the downfall of the original park. And of course, it’s July of 2020 – the world is awash in pandemic, police brutality, black lives matter, and the desperate need for people to confront their inner biases.

So instead of doing a light-hearted chat, I’m going to talk about some reading I’ve been doing to educate myself. What I’ve learned is a lot about how racism is responsible for quite a few of the urban theme park closures that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. My episode today will draw heavily from the excellent book “Racism, Riots, and Roller Coasters” by Victoria Wolcott. This book can be found for free online through Project Muse at Johns Hopkins University: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/17151 

I am still learning. So let’s learn together about this topic. It might be uncomfortable and that’s okay. And I will probably make some mistakes and that’s okay too.

In the past on this show, I’m sure I’ve mentioned how a number of parks seemed to close in the late 60s and early 70s. Well, the unspoken reason, in many cases, was: because racism. I’m going to talk about this in the context of one park in particular, but racism was a factor in the decline and closure of many urban theme parks. 

A Brief Discussion of Civil Rights

We begin towards the beginning.

Early amusement parks at the turn of the century were often trumpeted by owners as being spaces for cleanliness and order, but they accomplished this by putting in place the exclusion of Blacks. 

It’s perhaps a thesis-level work to try and condense this into a small format. However, we do need to have a few landmarks. You may or may not remember landmark cases from your US history class. Here’s a few relevant points:

• America was built on racialized slavery, from the very beginning. For more than you learned in school and less than you should know, please listen to or read the Pulitzer-prize winning 1619 Project. 
• Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, just after the Civil War, in 1865. This was only 155 years ago. (To really place this in context for the podcast, Charles Looff’s first carousel was built only 11 years later, in 1876, and his contemporary Charles Dare built a carousel around the same time that still operates to this day.)
• The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a federal law calling for equal rights for all people, particularly access to accommodations, transportation, and theaters, regardless of race. 
• A group of Supreme Court cases collectively called Civil Rights Cases of 1883 dismantled the 1875 act, ruling that Congress could not outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals. 
• As a result, Southern states began passing laws now called Jim Crow laws, codifying racial discrimination in public amenities.
• 1896 saw a landmark Supreme Court case, legally establishing the principle of “separate but equal” in Plessy v. Ferguson. This applied to all public facilities.
• As a result, individual states passed civil rights laws to ban racial discrimination in these public amusements and amenities. In the South, Jim Crow laws remained in place.
• 1954 saw the desegregation of education (Brown v Board of Education).
• 1964 and 1965 saw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which broadly outlawed discrimination based on “color, religion, sex, or national origin”. 
• Despite this, today in 2020, racial discrimination is still rampant in hiring practices, housing, healthcare, and police brutality, among every other aspect of life. 

Given this context, let’s focus on one urban amusement park in particular as we move to look at how racial discrimination affected urban amusements over the last century.  

Euclid Beach Park in Cleveland, OH

Our park is Euclid Beach Park, located on the shores of Lake Erie, in the Cleveland, OH area. Euclid Beach Park opened its doors for the first time in 1895. A group of businessmen wanted to capitalize on the booming popularity of Coney Island, so they purchased land outside of Cleveland, OH and opened an amusement park.

In the late 1800s, amusement parks and carnival midways were still often seen as hotbeds of sin and salaciousness, crime and immorality. The sexes were allowed to freely intermingle, to experience freedom from crowded housing conditions in devastating summer heat, and they were a place for the working class to experience leisure activities for the first time. 

For Black people, it appears Cleveland was a good place to be, socially and economically, for most of the 19th century. By this, the subtext is: it was better here than most places, but probably still not as good as it should have been. Cleveland was a center for abolitionism prior to the Civil War, and local Black leaders in the community fought for integration rather than segregated, separate Black institutions. 

To really put a pin in it: slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, just after the Civil War, in 1865. This was only 155 years ago. (As I stated earlier, there are carousels contemporaneous to the abolition of slavery that still operate today in 2020.) On the surface of glossy history textbooks, things seemed to go swimmingly. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a federal law calling for equal rights for all people, particularly access to accommodations, transportation, and theaters, regardless of race. We of course all should know the undercurrents yet to come.

Euclid Beach Park: the Early Years

In its initial years of operation, managers William R. Ryan and Lee Holtzman modeled Euclid Beach after the best in the business at the time. The beach was obviously a large draw, along with other typical period amusements: vaudeville, sideshows, concerts, gambling, beer. High walls surrounded the property, blocking views of the rowdiness, and an entrance fee was charged. There were even some rides, like one of LaMarcus A. Thompson’s groundbreaking Switchback Railways (the tldr version – he’s called the Father of the American Rollercoaster, and Euclid Beach Park’s Switchback Railway was the sixth of his design ever). 

Unfortunately, despite the draws of the opposite sex, pleasures, and beer, the park didn’t do well in those early years – it was seen as a skeevy, sleezy place to be. And the city, formerly seen as well-integrated for most of the 19th century, had become more segregated. The Civil Rights Cases of 1883, ruling that Congress could not outlaw against discrimination by private individuals, and the 1896 Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson, meant that separate but equal was now legal, heralded from the highest court in the land. This applied to all facilities open to the public, including Euclid Beach Park, and meant that individual businesses could chose to exercise racial discrimination.  

It’s said that the earliest discrimination suits at Euclid Beach Park can be traced back to around this time. 

By late 1899, Euclid Beach Park had been open for a handful of years, but was reported in the newspapers as a failure, said to be losing over $20,000 a season (over half a million dollars a season in 2020 money). Investors were facing the loss of over half their investment funds if they sold the land for development, but they saw no other choice. In 1901, they put the land up for sale.

Euclid Beach Park’s Glory Days

In 1896, a year after Euclid Beach Park opened, a man named Dudley S. Humphrey II opened a popcorn stand at Euclid Beach Park. He’d built a name and a living for himself, having been popping popcorn in the greater Cleveland area since 1891, having patented a type of popcorn popper which seasoned the popcorn as it was popped (this sentence is a tongue twister). For three years, he and his family operated a stand at Euclid Beach Park, popping corn amidst the drunkenness and debauchery of the early park. In 1899, however, he closed his stand, unhappy with the atmosphere and park management.

However, in 1901, when the park went up for sale, Humphrey and six other members of his family got the funds together and purchased the park. They had in mind a new direction.

Immediately, changes were made. Gone were the high walls, gone was the admission fee. Money was charged at the attractions, with the goal of allowing anyone who wanted to visit the park, free of charge. 

Gone too was the rowdy behaviour. Humphrey wanted a family-friendly park and a family-friendly atmosphere. Gone was the beer garden, and patrons were strictly prohibited from entering the park if they consumed any alcohol, as well. Bathing garments had to be modest, and “definitely not gaudy in color”. 

This type of attitude was a contrast to the majority of amusement parks at the time, known for being rowdy, raucous places. But it was a strategy that worked for Humphrey. The slogan was “one fare, free gate and no beer”, since the average person only needed to pay a single streetcar fare to get to the park. 

It was a place suddenly very accessible to youths of all colors. Unfortunately, the park’s long history with banning Black admittance on certain days or on certain attractions is said to have begun around this time. This was done in direct violation of the standing 1894 Ohio state law barring discrimination in public facilites. 

The quote from the park’s leadership was that everything at Euclid Beach Park should be “of a highly moral and elevating character”. And as many sources describe, advertising for the park at one time included promises that Euclid Beach Park would “present nothing that would demoralize or depress,” and that visitors would “never be exposed to undesirable people”. Saying the quiet part out loud, the management, in a not uncommon opinion at the time, wanted to keep Black people out. 

Racial Discrimination in Theme Parks Before World War II

Commercial recreation (theme parks, swimming pools, etc; distinguished from non-commercial recreation such as public parks and picnic grounds) arose at the same time as the Jim Crow laws, which codified racial discrimination in public places both before and after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. While the South saw “whites only” signs and policies quickly enacted, the Northern states, such as Ohio, were slower to enact any sweeping measure prior to World War II. However, there was little public taste for “mixing” in the shiny new arena of a theme park. 

Forrester B. Washington, a Black social worker and activist, is quoted as saying that the young Black migrants “found the wholesome agencies of recreation either closed or closing to him”. Between Northern states and Southern states, the difference was one of degree. While a Southern swimming pool might be whites only, exclusively, a swimming pool in the North might have Blacks allowed only on a single day, with a more subtle “Members Only” policy. 

Theme parks did the same thing. Wolcott’s book lists the policies off: Lakewood Park and Idora Park allowed Blacks in only at the beginning or end of the season – once a year. Bob-Lo Island in Detroit allowed Blacks every other week.

And by 1915, Euclid Beach Park followed suit, as did local competition Luna Park: Blacks were only admitted on certain days of the week, and were strictly prohibited from interacting with white people while they were at the park. On the other days, the park’s private police force ensured that no Black person was admitted. 

More to the point, it’s noted in Wolcott’s book that once admitted to the park, a Black patron was not allowed to enter the restaurants, the bathhouse, the dance hall, or the roller rink except in rare circumstances. Again, it was all about keeping that family-friendly image. Popular culture had wrongly painted Blacks as harbingers of disease and violence, so in the eyes of management, the park was perfectly justified in admitting only people who would uphold that “high moral character”. 

Again, this was a common tactic for many theme parks in the early 20th century: racial discrimination was their way of establishing their business as a safe space, a twisted marketing tactic. Over in nearby Cincinnatti’s Coney Island, and in Youngstown’s Idora Park, similar policies were in place. Blacks were admitted on very few days, and private park police were used to eject anyone management deemed inappropriate. And even on the days Idora Park was open to Blacks, days when the popular Homestead Grays Negro League baseball team played there, many of the park’s more popular attractions were inexplicably closed or under repairs.

Resistance to Recreational Discrimination

Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote the lone dissent in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case, apparently quite often quoted. In his opinion, segregation “can have no other result than to render permanent peace impossible, and to keep alive a conflict of races, the continuance of which must do harm to all concerned.”

Harlan’s view was that segregation caused violence, not that violence required segregation. Again and again throughout history, we have seen this born out. 

In the arena of public amusements, this violence was most often seen at the swimming pool. With women and children present, the specter of not only males and females gathered in less clothing than usual, but also miscegenation, interracial relations. It was seen as taboo and often illegal. With emotions of one sort already high, it’s unsurprising that emotions of another sort also exploded. 

The early 20th century is littered with violence and murder tied to racial discrimination at swimming pools and beaches. Spontaneous protests regularly arose in small groups, given the increasing segregation of public recreation. Public policy, especially in large urban cities like Chicago, was that racial segregation would lead to racial peace. However, this was not the case – from minor antagonism like angry words, to unsafe recreation conditions, to actual bloodshed, violence, and death – there was no peace.

Back to Euclid Beach Park

Back at Euclid Beach Park, similar policies were still in effect. The park banned Black schoolchildren from using the dance hall in the 1930s. After pushing from the NAACP, the Cleveland School Board resolved that no schools would visit the park until all children were “accorded the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations”.

However, the private park police force and the constant threats of violence were wielded most commonly against Black patrons whose only “crime” was to attempt to enjoy the recreations. 

Rides of Euclid Beach Park

Here we’ll take a quick diversion, for what wonderful recreations they were. My original discussion about Euclid Beach Park, before I learned more about it, was going to be about the enduring rides, a group of which passed from Euclid Beach Park to Shady Lakes Park to Old Indiana Theme Park over several decades. There were some really fantastic rides. Groundbreaking coasters:  1913’s Derby Racer, aka Racing Coaster, a John Miller-designed moebius style coaster which gave the effect of  racing cars when multiple trains ran on the track. 1924’s Thriller coaster, at the time the tallest and fastest coaster in the world, designed by Philadelphia Toboggan Company and Herbert Paul Schmeck. (If you’re a long time The Abandoned Carousel listener/reader, you might remember him as the designer of Joyland’s iconic Roller Coaster, as well as Little Amerricka’s classic Meteor coaster.) 

1930 saw a unique one, the Flying Turns, a trackless coaster, more like a wooden bobsled course than a traditional “coaster”. Designed in partnership between (yet again) John Miller and British WWI ace John Norman Bartlett, Euclid Beach Park’s Flying Turns was the second ever built, and the tallest. Two-person sleds, designed to look like airplanes, were chained together in three-car trains, winched up to the top, and then let go, much like a waterless waterslide. There are some videos of this ride on YouTube, and it looks very fun indeed. In fact, the Flying Turns made it into a Beach Boys song. Euclid Beach Park is one out of five parks mentioned in Amusement Parks USA: “At Euclid Beach on the Flying Turns I’ll bet you can’t keep her smilin’” the lyrics go.

And of course, the carousels: 1904 saw the installation of Philadelphia Toboggan Company #9. This carousel was a work of art, a three-row menagerie with a magnificent lion, dancing horses, a giraffe with a snake draped around its neck, and my favorite, a proud golden retriever. In 1909, the original PTC carousel #9 was sold to Laurel Springs Amusement Park in Hartford, CT. The next year, 1910, PTC installed a new carousel at Euclid Beach Park: PTC #19, a 58 horse carousel with two chariots. The horses were replicas of famous horses ridden by characters such as Sitting Bull and Lady Godiva. Along with the carousel came an beautiful band organ from North Tonawanda Musical Instruments, all to the tune of $7,734. 

There were dozens of other popular rides and attractions. Things like the Rocket Ship stood out. Designed and built by the park’s welder, this classic swinging car ride was built with classic futuristic Buck Rogers-style lines. Riders boarded the cars at the platform, and were swung high enough to touch the trees when the ride was at its peak. The shiny silver steel cars were some of the park’s most memorable, even made into a two-rider Kiddie version at one point. Of course, the ride was the subject of urban legend. Rumors say that one car broke off its cables and landed in Lake Erie. (This is not physically possible and never happened. Rumors, however, persist.)

The iconic arched entryway was built in 1921. With stone pillars on either side of the roadway, beautifully styled letters spell out “Euclid Beach Park” to entice patrons in. 

Only the right kind of patrons, of course.

Racial Conflicts at Euclid Beach Park

As discussed, recreation riots were a huge part of the early 20th century. Constant activism began to pay dividends by the 1930s. Also in effect was the Great Depression – with nothing but time on their hands, there was plenty of additional time for leisure and protesting. 

(In a time before our modern era of June 2020, this fact was probably counterintuitive. Now, I think it is probably quite clear how even in lean financial times, a lack of work means time can be spent on recreational and leisure activities.)

Government-sanctioned segregation, including New Deal-era segregated housing and hundreds of segregated swimming pools, led to a rising tide of anger. Black youth continued to protest racist policies at local swimming pools across the United States. White people, in turn, fought the rightful access of Black people to recreational spaces, among others, at every turn. “Mild” violence, including hateful words and harmful pranks, up to life-threatening violence, including rocks, fists, and more, were what faced Black people trying to access the theme park or swimming pool in their neighborhoods, paid for by their own taxpayer dollars in many cases. 

Demanding access to recreation was seen as central to an assertion of citizenship and consumer rights, so the fight went on. 

In the 1940s, race relations was increasingly a hot topic in a way it hadn’t been since post-Civil War Reconstruction era. Before and after the war, discrimination in housing and employment were huge areas of focus, and so was recreation. Recreation segregation was a huge focus if only because it was so visible, whereas discrimination in jobs and housing could be hidden away. Activists began to focus on nonviolent protests in recreational spaces. A 1944 book of essays by Roy Wilkins entitled “What the Negro Wants” laid it out, stating that what Blacks wanted was “to be able to go to parks, playgrounds, beaches, pools, theatres, restaurants, hotels, taverns, tourist camps, and other places of public amusement and accommodation without proscription and insult.” Seems perfectly reasonable, but we’re still fighting this fight here in 2020, so…?

In the 1940s, organized “nonviolent direct action” was the innovation, defined by Greg Houser as “group action against injustice by challenging directly the right of that discrimination to exist” in contrast to the reliance on states or courts. There were two movements that came out of this: A. Philip Randolph’s March on Washington Movement (MOWM), which led to the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).  

CORE’s first use of the nonviolent direction action came in response to an Illinois skating rink in 1946 that used a fictitious “club” to keep Blacks out and circumvent the Illinois civil rights laws. Physical pickets blocked and slowed access to the club, and picketers touted their military veteran status, with signs reading “The draft boards did not exclude Negroes”. Larger crowds joined the picket each weekend, and from January to March, the aptly named “White City” skating rink lost 50% of their business. Ultimately, White City began allowing Blacks entrance to the skating rink, else they go out of business entirely. A local paper wrote “The fight against White City is considered to be the opening gun in a campaign to smash discrimination in all skating rinks and amusement centers in Chicago.”

The fight for equality was then taken to further North to other so called “civil rights states”, where there were discrimination statutes on the books that were not enforced. Ohio was one of these states, and the place most heavily-targeted by activists was Euclid Beach Park. 

The Euclid Beach Park “Riots”

By this time, Euclid Beach Park was solidly established as a popular, family-friendly amusement park with many exciting rides, roller coasters, shows, and of course, the beach and pier. All of these were still only open to white visitors; Blacks could visit only on the designated days, and were kept under tight watch from the park’s private police force. 

In 1946, a young woman named Juanita Morrow established a new chapter of CORE. She began spearheading nonviolent protests to challenge Euclid Beach Park’s discriminatory policies. July 21, 1946 saw a protest where a young group of activists were harassed by the park police and then roughly evicted from the park when they tried to enter the dance hall. The activists subsequently filed lawsuits and began picketing the park. 

A month later on August 23, 1946, twelve activists again visited the park to nonviolently protest by playing Skeeball in an integrated group. Park police didn’t allow the activists to attempt rollerskating or dancing, and roughly evicted them from the park. Albert T. Luster was separated from the group and violently beaten. 

The summer of activism at Euclid Beach Park was not over, however. The dance pavilion was the most carefully guarded (read: discriminatory) space at the park. Two off-duty Black police officers escorted two couples to the pavilion, one white and one Black. When the Black couple were prevented from entering by park guards, the police officers attempted to arrest the guards for violating state civil rights laws. The resulting brawl caused an accidental gun misfire, with an officer badly injured as a result.

Subsequently, the mayor shut down the dance hall a week earlier than the season closure. Activists pushed in city council meetings for a change to public accommodation laws in include antidiscrimination language. After months of debate, the mayor publicly expressed his unease but signed the law. 

Unfortunately, his unease paved the way out for Euclid Beach Park.

The 1947 season opened with the dance hall, skating rink, and bathhouse closed. They would later reopen under private management as “private clubs”, no longer part of the park and therefore circumventing the public licensing laws. 

And Euclid Beach Park wasn’t alone. Wolcott’s book cites at least two more incidents of theme parks closing in order to avoid desegregation. Nonviolent protesting worked, though, as the 1949 Freeman Civil Rights Act in New Jersey proved – laws surrounding all commercial amusements were rewritten following increased public support for desegregation after highly visible nonviolent protests at places like Palisades Park. This was the first civil rights statute for public accommodations since 1931. Public actions by CORE forced Palisades Park to desegregate officially by 1952, although discriminatory policies were reportedly upheld throughout the 1960s. 

Closure of Euclid Beach Park

While officially, Euclid Beach Park was required to comply with public anidiscrimination laws after the 1947 season, “private clubs” for the bathhouse, dance hall, and skating rink were used to skirt that law, and discriminatory policies continued.

The park ultimately closed 22 years later, in 1969.

Discrimination persisted for the rest of Euclid Park’s operation, despite nominal desegregation. Chroniclers of the park’s history cite “racial tensions” and “gangs and undesirables” that were attracted to the park because of the open-gate policies, thereby “[scaring] off the patrons with money to spend.” Other descriptions of the park from different sources, however, tell a different story, with facilities were continually being closed to Black people in the years prior to the park’s 1969 closure. A native Clevelander wrote of the park’s closure, saying that society “treat[s] the park’s financial failure in 1969 as an unfathomable mystery. It’s no secret in this town that it was due, in large measure, to racial bigotry.” 

Taxes continued to increase on the park’s land, making the land almost more profitable than the business. At the same time, profits began to decrease; a familiar theme park story, now with additional context. 

1963 saw the city cutting public transportation, with bus routes no longer running to Euclid Beach Park. In 1964, the park began to operate in the red, losing money. 

Reportedly, management began to abandon the park little by little, apparently a common practice for small urban parks in this time period. One author writes “The vacant, darkened spaces on the countenance of Euclid Beach Park were like teeth absent from an aging face.” Rides were shuttered and sold off, exhibits were closed. Rides were demolished, like the Aero Dips coaster which was destroyed in 1964 or 1965. 

The guests who could, largely the middle-class white patrons, went in increasing numbers to Cedar Point (an hour west) or the Geauga Lake (40 minutes south). Mass suburbanization meant both were increasingly accessible from the highway, by car. Cedar Point, indeed, implemented a massive improvements campaign beginning in 1959, billing itself as the Disneyland of the Midwest, with single-price admission instituted on certain days beginning in 1964. This policy kept out lower-class patrons who visited to bring their own picnics, gather and people watch, and otherwise spend little money, riding few rides. Reality or perception, the idea that urban parks were “dangerous” and suburban/remote parks were safer was an idea, rooted in racism, that ultimately spelled the downfall for many central urban amusement parks.

Finally, in 1969, Euclid Beach Park was an unprofitable shadow of herself, and closed.

Remnants of Euclid Beach Park

I originally chose this park because I was fascinated by its rides. A large bulk of the Euclid Beach Park rides moved to the Humphrey family’s second take on Euclid Beach, called Shady Lake Park down in Streetsboro OH. This short-lived park operated for only a few years, from 1978-1982. After Shady Lake Park, the same bulk of rides moved to Old Indiana Fun Park, down in Thorntown, IN. The rides operated there until 1996, when two guests were killed after the miniature train derailed. The park quickly shuttered and the rides were liquidated; additionally, the incident forced changes in the state safety and inspection laws for amusement park rides. 

From here, rides were quite dispersed – the Giant wheel is notable for heading to Geauga Lake, where it had to be completely rebuilt. (Most of the rides were said to be in quite poor shape at this point.) Still operating today are the Turnpike Cars, which operate at Idlewild Park today. These are notable for being the same limited-run model as Disneyland’s first Autopia, and there’s an excellent article about them. The Great American Racing Derby, sold early from Euclid Beach Park in 1967 to Cedar Point, where it still operates today as the Cedar Downs. 

After the closure of Old Indiana, Six Flags parent company Premier Parks purchased the property, storing several dismantled coasters onsite as late as 2006 (for images of these coasters, visit the park page at the incredible RCDB). No new theme park ever operated there, and today the land is a hops farm.

Shady Lake Park had an entrance modeled after Euclid Beach Park’s, which remained until 2004. Today, the area is apartments and a bank.

And Euclid Beach Park? The famous arched gateway was made a Cleveland landmark, and still stands. Apartment buildings occupy much of the former amusement park site. The remainder is park land, including the Euclid Beach Park Pier, which was recently rebuilt and rededicated. You can still purchase Humphrey family popcorn today. 

And of course, the beautiful PTC Carousel. When Euclid Beach Park closed, the carousel went to Palace Playland in Maine, where it operated for several decades, until 1996. Subsequently, the Trust for Public Land repurchased the theme park at $715,000. A quote on the matter said, “they don’t normally bid on carousels, but they realized how important it was to Cleveland history.” By 2014, Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel #19 was fully restored, and opened to the public under the operation of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Conclusions

Although I focused on the story of Euclid Beach Park here, it’s important to remember that they were in no way unique or out of step with other theme parks at the time. While Euclid Beach Park of the past made their own decisions, similar stories can be told in both the North and the South. 

“We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights,” Martin Luther King Jr wrote in his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, speaking of racial injustice. Among them, he spoke of his daughter. “[W]hen you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children,” he wrote, “then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.”

This is a podcast about theme park history and theme park nostalgia. We also need to acknowledge the implicit perspectives we bring to the table: some bring nostalgia for glimmering childhood experiences and joys long-gone, and others remember sad longing for something that was closed for too long. The memories are as segregated as the parks were.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of The Abandoned Carousel, where I talked with you about Euclid Beach Park and the history of discrimination at urban theme parks. Much of this episode relies on the book Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters by Victoria Wolcott. You can read the entire book for free on Project Muse at Johns Hopkins University’s site: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/17151. As always, my theme music comes from Aerobatics in Slow Motion by TeknoAXE. 

I hope you all are taking covid19 precautions, and wearing a mask. A mask is not political, it is a common sense piece of science that shows respect for the people around you. Masks decrease your risk of covid by something like 5-fold. Wear a mask, stay at home. 

I’ll be back with another episode of The Abandoned Carousel as soon as time allows. In the meantime, stay safe. Remember what Lucy Maud Montgomery once said: nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.

References

The resources used when researching the topic are included below.

1. Civil Rights Cases. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. Accessed June 3, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civil_Rights_Cases&oldid=944066989
2. Plessy v. Ferguson. In: Wikipedia. ; 2020. Accessed June 7, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plessy_v._Ferguson&oldid=960997924
3. Pounce-Matics Amuse-Matics Page – Photos. Accessed May 13, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Pounce-Matics-Amuse-Matics-Page-255013401192815/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1559917020702440
4. 9 Sep 1933, Page 4 – The Evening Independent at Newspapers.com. World Collection. Accessed June 9, 2020. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/4116455/?terms=%22euclid%2Bbeach%2Bpark%22%2Briot&pqsid=bvv1_4kZIYPgii3XmHImIg%3A923000%3A531208327
5. 10 Sep 1917, Page 11 – The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com. World Collection. Accessed June 9, 2020. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/228104538/?terms=%22euclid%2Bbeach%2Bpark%22&pqsid=bvv1_4kZIYPgii3XmHImIg%3A207000%3A1285248979
6. 24 Sep 1946, 1 – Greenville Daily Advocate at Newspapers.com. World Collection. Accessed June 9, 2020. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/651346524/?terms=%22euclid%2Bbeach%2Bpark%22%2Bpolice&pqsid=bvv1_4kZIYPgii3XmHImIg%3A1379000%3A1447968642
7. 28 Jun 1939, 5 – The Paducah Sun-Democrat at Newspapers.com. World Collection. Accessed June 9, 2020. http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/502190846/?terms=%22euclid%2Bbeach%2Bpark%22%2Bpolice&pqsid=bvv1_4kZIYPgii3XmHImIg%3A1379000%3A1447968642
8. Rodrigue G, Dealer TP. A holiday treat for lovers of Cleveland history: George Rodrigue. cleveland. Published October 30, 2018. Accessed June 3, 2020. https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2018/10/a-holiday-treat-for-lovers-of-cleveland-history-george-rodrigue.html
9. African American History in Cleveland – Teaching Cleveland Digital. Accessed June 5, 2020. http://teachingcleveland.org/category/african-american-migration/african-american-history-in-cleveland/
10. africanamericanexperienceyoungstown.pdf. Accessed June 5, 2020. https://ishof.org/assets/africanamericanexperienceyoungstown.pdf
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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.

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