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0 Rating Posted by: Cyclonic on 7/30/2002 10:02:00 PM

This is just a fantastic old carousel. A must ride at Knoebels. As stated, this is one of the few carousels that still has a brass ring catch, so be sure to get an outside horse.

Can you keep the brass rings you get?

Ya you just pocket it before getign off the ride.

It makes a great souvenir.

it dose. pluse the parks expect it to hapon. so your not exactly wrong with doign it.

No, you should not keep the rings. The rings are actually quite expensive to make, and that is why most carousels do not have ring catches. Show some appreciation for the small parks that still offer this treat and throw the rings into the bin when asked to.

Mrceagle, why does the park expect it to happen? If they knew people were stealing them, they wouldnt have them.

I dont onow abot this one. but two others that I know of that have then expect people tp keep them. What does the Brass Ring symbolize?

Well, in the good ole days, many carousels had a challenge for all outside row horse riders. Since most outside row horses were Standers, i.e. non-jumping horses, many people didnt want to rideem. They wanted a Jumper.

In order to get them to go to the outside row, ride operators devised a game whereby outside row riders would make attempts at stretching out and grabbing metal rings from a long armed dispenser positioned just far enough away to make it challenging. Most of the rings snatched in this way were not brass. However, every so often, a Brass Ring would be caught, usually one per ride.

The Brass Ring could be used for a free ride, or kept as a good luck charm.

I would still keep one. Its probably not the first time a ring got stolen from that ride.

All of the rings but one are steel rings, the one is brass. The ride ops set it up so that that one brass ring will be despensed on each ride, and they know who got it. On the Knoebels carousel, they go to that person to get the ring from them, give them their free ride ticket, and get the riders name to announce over the loud speakers. If I catch it, I usually give the ride ticket to some kid so they get a free ride. Like I said, those rings, be them steel or brass, are expensive to make, and expensive to replace. They dont have a problem at Knoebels, hey, we are talking about a park that doesnt even have a fence around it. But people wonder why parks are so expensive, well this is one of those reasons. Dont steal from a park, any park, it just makes it more expensive for everyone else.

Well their they do somthign to prevent it. but their are places that fallow tradition and alow then to keep them. adn if you buy a few thousand like beeded all brass rings. you can get them for about a doller a piece. if you only buy 1 htey are a littel under 6.00 a peice.

Do they sell replica ones at the souvenir shops?

I dont know abotu theparks . but I can get you a link to a Carousel shop.

Its alright, I just wanted to know if they sold it at a shop at the park.

I dont really know, they have a specific shop there geared towards carousels (along with an excellent carousel museum), Ill take a look when I go back in a few weeks.

Do any other parks have the rings on their carousels?

A few sea side parks do. many have goten rid of them not do to brass or steel ring costs but do to the liability ishou. they have had alot of people fall tryign to get the rings. especially childrin.

I think some of the older parks might have them. What about Kennywood or Waldeemer?

Kennywood is a definate no, and I think Waldeermer is a probabl no. The only parks that I know of that have them are Knoebels and Bushkill park. The issue really is cost, those rings are a spiecialized thing to make, and thus cost a lot of money to make in the quantity that is needed. Knoebels makes them in house, which greatly reduces cost, but most parks do not have the ability to do this, they dont have the staff (coincidentally, Dick Knoebel was explaining the other day to a group of us that Kennywood was thinking of trying to hire away some of his staff a while back). Bushkill is another story. They are a tiny park, just a few rides, no coaster. Even on a mid-summer Saterday they are not busy, so they dont need many rings. Also, you actually have to ask to have the ring machine deployed there, they dont always use it.

No Jersey shore carousels have a ring machine.

if you read above theri is sombady that makes them. they are expensive if you oder a single one. its $6.00 if you order them in the thousands you cet them for far less.

http://carouselstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_60&products_id=214

Yes, you can buy them, but I can garruntee the parks dont get them from some on-line store. Even so, at even a few dollars a ring, several thousand add up very quickly, particually if they are constantly replacing them.

Here is where you can find a list of operating brass ring machines:

http://www.nca-usa.org/NCAcensus.html

actually if you buy them in the thousand your looking at cents a piece. all a park woudl have to do it buy an even say 2,000. then at teh end of the year count them. for every one taken you wright of as a lose on your taxes. its leagal and everyoen it hapy.

Where do you get that figure?

Also, when you WRITE something off on you tax claim, it is only a percentage of the actual value that you get back.

Whell i talked to the Caresel story if i wought 500 they woudl sell tthe bras rings to me for only $1.20 a piece. so 2,000 would be below a doller a piece. and you start getign percnetage back after a sertain amount. if your only rightign of say 100 get tacken home. adn their .5 cnets a peice. you wright off the hole $50.00. even if you only got 25 dollers back. those people are goign totell theri friends and show off that brass ring. witch in turn gives you wellmore then 25 bucks worth of advertising.

Taking a ring from the ride would make my visit more enjoyable and might make me come back again to the park and the carousel.

so that woudl be anther say 1 doller ride ticket worth more then the ring. or entrance to the park at a few bucks. you have jet mad well more then single ring costs.

Wow - I myself am against the ring-stealing idea. Its just a little dishonest, and the idea kinda ruins the innocent joy of riding a carousel in the first place. With that in mind, Ill turn you on to a PRIMO ring-equipped carousel - the B&B Carrousel at Coney Island, on Surf Avenue. Its a beautifully run Charles Carmel (1 Illions Armored Jumper), and they run it REALLY FAST. Every time Ive been on it, theyve never failed to offer the Brass Ring game. If youre visiting to ride the Cyclone, dont overlook the B&B.

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