tL's phOTOGRAPH_oF_tHE_dAY #2003 - Primitive Carousel. circa 1850-1860. This may be the oldest operating wooden carousel in the world. It is believed to have been made before the Civil War and was last operated in a city park in Baltimore Maryland in 1920.
No one knows who built this carousel. The horse bodies are made from logs and you can see the growth rings on the rump and chest. Each horse is made from 8 pieces of wood and there if there were carving details, they were painted on. All metal is hand-forged.
Two men turned the mechanism by hand cranks and the carousel turns on a single ball bearing. Because of the fragility, no one is allowed to ride although museum volunteers demonstrate the machine.
This primitive carousel is on permanent loan to the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth Kansas from the National Carousel Association in Sands Point, Long Island, New York.
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