There are a couple of “first things” I must do when I am in a new city. If it is a city on the coast, I must make my way to the water…feet go in the water immediately weather permitting, and if the weather is not permitting, a cup of coffee on the closest pier. If it is big city, I look for the main park, look for the public art. One of the examples of public art, according to me, is the carousel. Every city has one, a merry-go-round, and I am not certain if it is the nostalgia, or the carved and painted artistic horses, or the lights and the carnival feel, but I must find them in the city. There are beautiful carousels on the Santa Monica Pier, and an incredible one on Navy Pier in Chicago.
There seems to be a history to the merry-go-round, as every one I have come across either in person or online, seems to have been built at least one hundred years ago, are there any new carousels, and if there are, are they so beautiful? I doubt it. Just as computer animation has taken over the ideas of Walt Disney, something strange may happen if designers were to start making modern carousels. There is one carousel with a history that led it to New York, took it away, and then led it back again. It was created in the city of North Tonawanda, NY by the designers at the Herschell-Spillman Company, during the years of 1912-1916. When it was completed it was installed in a park in Wellsville, New York.
The Herschell-Spillman Company was the leader in the art of the merry-go-round, many of their works still turning today on Long Island, in Central Park, Brooklyn and throughout the city. This was a time when the artistry was delicate and precise, along with the kitsch that is the neon lights and the plucky music. The Wellsville Carousel was taken to Cuba, NY and installed for many years at the Olivecrest Amusement Park. However it was returned in 1974, and now is on exhibit in the New York State Museum. When I was visiting the city last summer, I found incredible hotel accommodations at http://www.bestmanhattanhotel.com, and the young man working at the front desk told me about the museum when I mentioned my fascination with merry-go-rounds. The museum has many different exhibits, this being just one, so find your way to all there is to see at the museum, or you may just want to take a walk through one of the parks, take it from me–you will always find a merry-go-round in Manhattan.