Page 38 - OCt-JOA-2020

Art, History, and Entertainment are on Display

at the New England Carousel Museum

By Kristen Berggren, Program Coordinator

he New England Carousel Museum has been an important Let’s Look at the History
fixture in the city of Bristol, CT since it was founded in 1990. The numerous horses, giraffes, deer, pigs, and more come off of
TAt that time the museum was a tenant in the converted hosiery long-dispersed carousels from all over North America and Europe,
factory on Riverside Avenue and had only one horse to its name. The and there is a history behind the creation of each one. Carousels as we
menagerie of wooden animals has grown substantially over the past know them started in 17th-century Europe as crude human or
thirty years—today, over one hundred antique carousel figures are on animal-powered training devices for horsemen to practice their skills
display at any given time—some figures are in our permanent for battle as well as tournaments. With the advent of more advanced
collection while others are on long term loan to us from private weaponry, these training devices became obsolete and were instead
individuals, and the factory building is now owned by the Museum. used by the nobility for entertainment. Although they were conceived
abroad, carousels would eventually reach their pinnacle of artistic
excellence here in America.
In the 1860s with the Industrial Revolution carousel production
began in a factory setting. The introduction of the steam engine and
later electricity ensured that carousels could turn faster while their
diameters increased, along with the number of horses and exotic
“menagerie” such as lions, giraffes, and camels populating each
platform. By the 1880s street trolley companies, seeking increased
ridership on the weekends would place parks or picnic groves
with carousels at the end of their lines for the growing middle class
to enjoy.

A selection of figures from across the pond are on display in the European bay.
Horses were uncommon on French carousels of the early 20th century; other
domestic animals such as cows, pigs, and donkeys were the preferred mounts.

The front section of the New England Carousel Museum gives visitors
an introduction to the three distinct styles of American carousel art:
Country Fair, Philadelphia, and Coney Island.

Craftsmen on the Move
Also around this time, an influx of skilled European woodworkers
began arriving in this country; men who were trained as cabinetmakers
and sculptors for churches and synagogues in their home countries
of Germany, Italy, Russia, and elsewhere often found employment
in the burgeoning carousel factories. Several centers of carousel
industry developed, including the Germantown neighborhood
of Philadelphia, and Coney Island in Brooklyn. Here in this new
country, these recently arrived immigrants found the freedom with
which to let their creative geniuses soar, and by the 1890s horses were
Our carving bay exhibit shows how carousel horses were constructed leaving their workshops the likes of which had never been seen in
in the early 1900s. Most people don’t realize they are hollow and Europe or anywhere else; accurately-proportioned animals frozen in
are made up of thirty or more individual pieces of wood! time at the apex of their leap, with flaring nostrils, intricate manes,

36 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles