Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 7/19/2006 1:37:28 AM
Figured I would post this. Wondering if anyone (adriahna) knew anything about this.
"The Kit Carson County Carousel is the only antique carousel in America that still has the original paint on the scenery and on the animals. The deer have real antlers and some of the horses have real horse tails. A fully restored 1912 Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ plays while the carousel goes around. It, and the drive machinery are enclosed in the center of the carousel by 45 Victorian oil paintings. The carousel was originally made in 1905 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company for Elitch Gardens. It was the sixth of the 74 carousels made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and is also known as PTC No. 6. The carousel was sold to Kit Carson County in 1928 and has served the people of this county and its visitors since, except for a few years during the depression. In 1981 burglars from a midwestern theft ring broke in and stole four of the animals. Luckily the animals were recovered a few months later. In 1979 the carousel was designated a National Historic Site, and in 1987 it was awarded the status of National Landmark. For 25 cents you will get a tour and a ride."
I plan to visit this next sunday. Expect a TR soon.
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
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Skooter Junkie
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7/19/2006 9:05:26 PM
Scott, PLEASE do post a TR. That carousel is to be nothing short of a pilgrimage point in my life - it's the one that made me fall madly in love with carousels, and subsequently, amusement park history, thanks to its story being told on an edition of National Geographic (a special on restoration). It is nothing short of an American treasure in every way.
Be sure to check out the menagerie animals on board - the St. Bernard, lion and giraffes are great. However, the real crown jewel of the machine is the hippocampus - a cross between a horse and fish. It's amazingly beautiful - very few of them exist. And the band organ is unbelievable - incredibly rare, as well.
Gads, the whole thing is like a living dream for me... I know I'll make it out to Kit Carson County to see it one of these years. In the meantime, I admire it, profoundly, from afar. Amazing carousel.
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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7/19/2006 11:27:51 PM
I don't know how I hadn't heard about this. Especially since it's so close to me. I'm also very impressed with it's price. 25 cents for a ride and tour. Can't beat that! I have 2 or 3 amazing carousels right near me. Colorado isn't so bad after all...
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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8/2/2006 4:42:54 PM
Adriahna, you would be thrilled to know that the Carousel is in great condition. I took a ride on the hippocampus just for you. As you stated, the band organ is unbelievable, and in great condition. I was surprised at how well maintaned this was. The locals seem to support the carousel, as there was always a bit of a line. I know that you would love this carousel.
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
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Skooter Junkie
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8/2/2006 5:38:20 PM
Thanks for checking in, Scott - that was so thoughtful of you to take a ride on the hippocampus. It's a very unique machine, and yes, the organ is amazing. Glad you had a good time.
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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8/2/2006 5:52:02 PM
i was imagining one of the carousel figures being in the strange shape of part of the limbic system in the brain holding our memories.
http://www.undergrad.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~vmucci/hippocampus.html
but then i realized it was also a fancy word for a "seahorse".
that would be an interesting carousel, though, huh? little kids bopping around on giant replicas of our vital organs?
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adriahna
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8/2/2006 5:59:35 PM
Well, yes, hrry, that would be interesting. I had a feeling, when first bringing up the hip, that the human version would come up... I should have known it would have been you to do it...
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 8/2/2006 6:29:16 PM
Quote:
adriahna said:
Well, yes, hrry, that would be interesting. I had a feeling, when first bringing up the hip, that the human version would come up... I should have known it would have been you to do it... |
ok, srry to go off here, but this thread put me on a tangent. i remembered in france that they referred to a racetrack as a "hippodrome". so i immediately took the word "hippo" to mean horse and did some googling. apparently the sea creature's "fancy" name comes from ancient greek. my searches of ancient greek dictionaries yeilded that "hippo" is ancient greek for horse (so what is the deal with a "hippopotomus"?), and "drome" means "running", hence a racetrack.
but the strange one is "campus." it means "field", hence the origin of the term referring to a college grounds. but why is a seahorse a "horse field"?
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there are approximately 10,000,000,000,000,000 ants alive right now. the combined bio-mass of ants on earth roughly equals the combined biomass of humans.
Message updated 8/2/2006 6:32:07 PM by hrrytraver
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
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8/2/2006 11:14:42 PM
Quote:
hrrytraver said:
(so what is the deal with a "hippopotomus"?) |
Dunno. All's I can say is that I have heard them referred to, on many occasions, as "river horses". But that's just my experience.
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"Fabulous and beyond conceiving, ineffably beautiful, is this fiery scintillation."
- Maxim Gorky, 1907, on Coney Island
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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8/2/2006 11:27:35 PM
^you're right, wikipedia says it means "river horses."
Message updated 8/2/2006 11:28:17 PM by hrrytraver
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adriahna
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8/3/2006 9:06:16 AM
Another bit of relatively useless, random, and yet distinctly accurate, information occupies the abyss that is adriahna's brain...
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