Editing Carousel (section)

==History==
===Early carousels===
[[File:Carrousel-LouisXIV-1662.jpg|thumb|left|A carrousel tournament organized in the Tuileries Palace courtyard by Louis XIV in 1662 to celebrate the birth of his son and heir. This event and others like it inspired the creation of the carousel amusement ride.]]
In 17th-century Europe, [[list of equestrian sports|equestrian]] royal tournaments known as "carrousels" (French for ''little battle'') began to be held.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|pp=17–18}}.</ref> The most famous carrousel of this kind was held by [[Louis XIV]] in June 1662, in the courtyard of the [[Tuileries Palace]], to celebrate the birth of his [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|son]] and [[heir apparent]]. The site of the event, next to the [[Louvre]], is still known as the "[[Place du Carrousel]]."<ref>Jacquin, Emmanuel, "Les Tuileries Du Louvre a la Concorde", (2000), pp. 14-15</ref> One of the skill tests performed during these events was ring jousting, a practice originally developed by 10th-century [[Arabs|Arabian]] and [[Moors|Moorish]] horsemen in which rings suspended from posts or trees would be speared by a [[lance]], sometimes at full gallop.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/> The noblemen participating in these tournaments often overworked their horses while practicing, so an early device was developed in the late 17th century to allow participants to practice ring jousting without the need for [[riding horse]]s.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/> It consisted of wooden horses suspended from a wheel mounted on a central pole, which was spun by a [[draft horse|work horse]] walking around the contraption's perimeter.<ref name="Hinds1990pp17–18"/>

{{Quote box|width=32em|align=right|quote=Among the attractions of the [Wilhelmsbad] entertainment venue during my boyhood years was, above all, the carousel. What a delight to be driven around in a tight circle on life-size wooden horses, or in graceful open carriages, drawn by wooden white and black horses. The knight's games were fun to watch. With childlike seriousness, indeed with an almost solemn air, people played ring jousting and dart throwing, slashed Turks' heads as they drove or rode past, and hurled balls into a Moor's wide-open mouth.|source=—[[Karl Cäsar von Leonhard]], recalling late-18th century childhood memories in what is now Germany, 1854<ref name="Leonhard1854p11">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b296733&seq=37 Leonhard, p. 11.]</ref>|salign=right}}
Devices like these became popular among commoners by the early 18th century, and carousels (as they came to be known) were being built and operated at various fairs and gatherings in [[Central Europe]]. Animal figures and mechanisms would be crafted during the winter months and the family and workers who made them would go touring in wagon trains, operating their carousels at various venues. These early carousels had no platforms; the animals would hang from chains and fly out from the [[centrifugal force]] of the spinning mechanism. They were often powered by animals walking in a circle or people pulling a rope or cranking.

The usage of carousels eventually spread to other parts of the world. Primitive carousels in North America were present since at least the late 18th century; in 1784, the [[New York City Council|New York City Common Council]] passed a law forbidding their use due to being unsafe.<ref name="Hinds1990p40">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|p=40}}.</ref>

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===19th century===
By the mid-19th century, the platform carousel was developed; ridable animal figures and chariots were fixed to a circular floor that would rotate around a central pole. These carousels were called dobbies and were operated manually by the operator or by ponies. Viewed from above, and from the riders' point of view, carousels in the United Kingdom, where they are also known as "gallopers," usually turn from right to left, or [[clockwise]]; while those in North America and [[Continental Europe|Mainland Europe]] typically turn from left to right, or [[counterclockwise]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.americanaantiques.net/index.php?p=page&page_id=Introduction-to-carousel-art|title=Introduction To Carousel Art: American Antiques &#124; American folk art &#124; carousel horse|website=www.americanaantiques.net}}</ref>

====United Kingdom====
[[File:Carousel.gif|thumb|left|A traditional steam-powered gallopers in [[Blists Hill Victorian Town]] in the UK, built by Thomas Walker in 1911. Note its clockwise rotation.]]
By 1803, [[John Joseph Merlin]] had a carousel in his Mechanical Museum in [[London]], where gentry and nobility liked to gather on winter evenings. The horses "floated free over a pole." It was connected to a "big musical instrument that played a fully orchestrated concerto" and from the first note, the carousel would start turning while each horse would make a galloping movement with a visitor riding on its back. Merlin did not patent his inventions and engineers were allowed to come to create their own models of his creations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPgOAAAAQAAJ&q=phantasmagorie&pg=PA131|title=England, Wales, Irland und Schottland: Erinnerungen an Natur und Kunst aus einer Reise in den Jahren 1802 und 1803|first=Christian August Gottlieb|last=Goede|date=10 April 1804|publisher=Arnold|via=Google Books}}</ref> By the mid-19th century, the carousel became a popular fixture at English [[fair]]s. The first steam-powered mechanical roundabout, invented by Thomas Bradshaw, appeared at the Pot Market fair in [[Bolton]] in about 1861. It was described by a ''[[Johnston Press|Halifax Courier]]'' journalist as "a roundabout of huge proportions, driven by a steam engine which whirled around with such impetuosity, that the wonder is the daring riders are not shot off like cannonball, and driven half into the middle of next month."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html |title=Fairground Rides – A Chronological Development |publisher=University of Sheffield |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811021142/https://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html |archive-date=11 August 2011}}</ref>

Soon afterwards, English engineer Frederick Savage began to branch out of agricultural machinery production into the construction of fairground machines, swiftly becoming the chief innovator in the field. Savage's fairground machinery was exported all over the world.<ref name="Savage">[https://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/-/media/museums/downloads/learning/kings-lynn/a-history-of-savages.pdf?la=en "Frederick Savage, Victorian fairground manufacturer of King's Lynn"]. Norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2018</ref> By 1870, he was manufacturing amusement rides similar to carousels with [[velocipede]]s (an early type of bicycle), and he soon began experimenting with other possibilities, including a roundabout with boats that would pitch and roll on cranks with a circular motion, a ride he called 'Sea-on-Land'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fairground-heritage.org.uk/learning/swings-and-roundabouts/|title=Swings and Roundabouts|first=Ken|last=McMonigle}}</ref> In 1880, Savage applied a similar innovation to the more traditional mount of the carousel horse; he installed gears and offset cranks on the platform carousels, thus giving the animals their well-known up-and-down motion as they traveled around the central pole – the galloping horse.<ref name="Savage"/><ref name="Hinds1990p31">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|p=31}}.</ref><ref name="Hinds1990p40">{{Harvp|Hinds|1990|p=40}}.</ref> The platform served as a position guide for the bottom of the pole and as a place for people to walk or other stationary animals or chariots to be placed. He called this ride the 'Platform Gallopers'. He also developed the 'platform-slide' which allowed the mounts to swing out concentrically as the carousel built up speed. [[Fairground organ]]s (band organs) were often present (if not built-in) when these machines operated. Eventually, electric motors and lights were installed, giving the carousel its classic look. These mechanical innovations came at a crucial time when increased prosperity meant that more people had time for [[leisure]] and had spare money to spend on entertainment. It was in this historical context that the modern fairground ride was born, with Savage supplying this new market demand. In his 1902 Catalogue for Roundabouts, he claimed to have "...&nbsp;patented and placed upon the market all the principal novelties that have delighted the many thousands of pleasure seekers at home and abroad."<ref>{{cite web|title=Frederick Savage, Victorian Fairground Manufacturer of King's Lynn|url=http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/view/NCC095974|access-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213000441/http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/view/NCC095974|archive-date=13 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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====United States====
The first known individual carousel with surviving historical records in the US was opened in the 1840s by Franz Wiesenoffer in [[Hessville, Ohio]].<ref name="RoodepoortRecord">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=July 25, 2017|title=National Merry-Go-Round Day|url=https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/news-headlines/2017/07/25/national-merry-go-round-day/|work=The Roodepoort Record|access-date=April 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406174331/https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/news-headlines/2017/07/25/national-merry-go-round-day/|archive-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref> On July 25, 1871, William Schneider of [[Davenport, Iowa]], was issued the first American patent for a carousel.<ref name="SmithsonianMagazine">{{Cite web|last=Blitz|first=Matt|date=July 24, 2015|title=Take a Spin on the Most Beautiful, Hand-Crafted Carousels in the Nation|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/take-spin-national-carousel-day-180955977/|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]|access-date=April 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230113622/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/take-spin-national-carousel-day-180955977/|archive-date=December 30, 2024}}</ref> To commemorate this milestone, July 25 was declared ''National Merry-Go-Round Day'' (a.k.a: ''National Carousel Day'') in 2014 by the National Carousel Association (NCA), an organization focused on preserving historic carousels primarily in the United States and Canada.<ref name="RoodepoortRecord"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=July 25, 2022|title=July 25: It's Carousel Day! (Or Merry-Go-Round Day, If You Prefer).|url=https://random-times.com/2023/07/25/july-25-its-carousel-day-or-merry-go-round-day-if-you-prefer/|work=Random Times|access-date=April 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927193901/https://random-times.com/2023/07/25/july-25-its-carousel-day-or-merry-go-round-day-if-you-prefer/|archive-date=September 27, 2023}}</ref><ref name="TimesHerald">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=July 18, 2015|title=Take a Trip This National Carousel Day|url=https://www.timesherald.com/2015/07/18/take-a-trip-this-national-carousel-day/|work=[[The Times Herald (Norristown, Pennsylvania)|The Times Herald]]|access-date=April 6, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806112031/https://www.timesherald.com/2015/07/18/take-a-trip-this-national-carousel-day/|archive-date=August 6, 2024}}</ref>

The American carousel industry was developed by European immigrants, notably Danish immigrant [[Charles I. D. Looff]], German immigrant [[Gustav Dentzel]], and Scottish immigrant [[Allan Herschell Company|Allan Herschell]]. During the late 19th century, several carousel construction centers formed in the United States, each with their own style:
*[[Coney Island]] style – characterized by elaborate and sometimes faux-jeweled saddles,<ref name="Antiques Roadshow 2007">''[[Antiques Roadshow (U.S.)|Antiques Roadshow]]'', Spokane, Washington, broadcast 4 August 2007.</ref> as well as mirrors to catch and reflect lights.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://carousels.org/Carvers_Builders.html|title=Major Carousel Builders and Carvers (Page 1 of 3) - The Coney Island Style|last=Morgan|first=Brian|date=2001|website=Carousels.org|publisher=National Carousel Association|access-date=January 21, 2023}}</ref> This style was pioneered by Looff in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City]].
*[[Philadelphia]] style – known for more realistically painted saddles, this style was pioneered by Dentzel and the [[Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters|Philadelphia Toboggan Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://carousels.org/Carvers_Builders2.html|title=Major Carousel Builders and Carvers (Page 2 of 3) - Philadelphia Style|last=Morgan|first=Brian|date=2001|website=Carousels.org|publisher=National Carousel Association|access-date=January 21, 2023}}</ref>
*Country Fair style – often with no saddles at all, this style was pioneered by Allan Herschell and Edward Spillman of [[North Tonawanda, New York]] (near [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]), and [[C. W. Parker|Charles W. Parker]] of Kansas.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Coney Illions 004.JPG|1909 carousel horse by [[Marcus Illions]], a Looff protégé, in the Coney Island style
File:Pullen Park Carousel 18.JPG|1900 carousel horse by Salvatore Cernigliaro for Dentzel in the Philadelphia style
File:Carousel horse, Herschell Carousel Factory Museum.jpg|Carousel horse by the Allan Herschell Company in the Country Fair style
</gallery>

===20th century===
During the [[Great Depression]], the production of wooden carousel figures was phased out and were replaced by more durable, mass-produced aluminum castings.<ref name="NRHP–100001399">{{Cite web|last=Julin|first=Suzanne|date=May 2016|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – C.W. Parker Carousel No. 825|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/d13d1825-1214-4092-9e96-5813a2288fa1|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=March 22, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322003353/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/d13d1825-1214-4092-9e96-5813a2288fa1|archive-date=March 22, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|16}} These were in turn discontinued in favor of cheaper and lighter fiberglass castings later in the 20th century.<ref name="LosAngelesTimes">{{Cite web|last=Rauzi|first=Robin|date=May 18, 1997|title=Spin Doctors|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-18-me-60020-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 1, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401024301/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-18-me-60020-story.html|archive-date=April 1, 2025}}</ref>