These pages are about modern collectible miniature carousel animals. As you look at the figurines, you have to realize that you are really looking at someone's interpretation of another artist's creation. You are looking at the creation of a 1900 carver as viewed through the eyes and mind of a modern day artist.

Therefore, before we can discuss anything about modern day collections, we must know the history of the carvers who created the originals. The carvers can be gathered into three groups: Coney Island, Philadelphia and the traveling carousels.

When you think of Coney Island, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the glitter and glamor of the boardwalk.

The Philadelphia carvers were mostly emigrees from Germany and their horses demonstrated the large strong animals you would expect from that area.

The third group, the traveling carousels were of a special design. These were the traveling merry-go-rounds that visited all the fairs and events of rural america. These horses were small and/or could be disassembled and packed away for traveling.

Contents:
Carmel, Charles (1865 - 1931)
Cernigliaro, Salvatore "Cherni" (1880 - 19??)
Dare, Charles (18?? - 1900)
Dentzel, Gustav (1840 - 1909)
Herschell, Allan (1851 - 1927)
Illions, Marcus Charles (MC) (1865 - 1949)
Looff, Charles (1852 - 1918)
Muller, Daniel (1872 - 1951)
Parker, Charles W. (1864 - 1932)
Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Robb, Samuel A. (1851-1928)
Stein & Goldstein

Charles Carmel was born in Russia in 1865. He emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1883 and settled in Brooklyn with his wife. A talented wood carver, he started his career carving horses for carousel manufacturers like Charles Looff. Carmel, who lived on Ocean Parkway, often visited Prospect Park's stables and used those horses as inspiration for his carvings. Carmel's horses were very true to life and considered the most representative of the Coney Island style.

In 1911 Charles invested most of his money in a newly constructed carousel that he intended to operate at the Dreamland Park on Coney Island. On the night of May 27, 1911, the night before the park was to open, a fire totally destroyed the amusement park along with the uninsured carousel. This was a devastating financial blow to the Carmel family and Charles would never try to run his own carousel again.

He continued in the carousel business selling his work to all of the major carousel manufacturers of the time including Borelli and Mangels. Carmel detested the use of jewels on the carousel horses, but Borelli, a major consumer, bedecked Carmel’s horses with jewels, sometimes totally obliterating the carved intricacies of the horse with hundreds of the artificial jewels.

A diabetic plagued with arthritis the last ten years of his life, Charles died of cancer in 1931.

Salvatore Cernigliaro was born in Sicily in 1880 where he learned the wood carving trade. The furniture carver first apprenticed creating carousel figures in the shop of E. Joy Morris.

In 1903 Cherni was hired as a carver at the Dentzel factory. "Cherni" reorganized the factory's method of carving pre-set patterns. But his biggest contribution was to introduce a series of menagerie animals, notably the Dentzel cat, pig and rabbit.

Cernigliaro's playful animals are still highly regarded today. The addition of these animals opened the door for more experimentation and variety of fresh subjects for the artists in the Dentzel factory.

The Dentzel horse gained more elaborate embellishments such as fancy harnesses, garlands and drapery. The horses "Cherni" carved became a part of the Dentzel heritage.

The first carousel company in the United States, the American Carousel Company, was founded by Charles Dare in New York City in 1870. He was a toy manufacturer who produced carved rocking horses. I have also found reference to New York Carosal Manufacturing as being his company.

It is believed that Samuel Robb got his start in the carousel horse carving with Dare. The horses on Dare's carousels were very simple. They were copied by Charlie Parker and the Armitage Herschell Company making Dare and/or Robb the founder of the country fair style.

With the death of Charles Dare in 1900, The American Carousel Company closed its doors.

Gustav Dentzel was born in Germany in 1840. He learned about carousels and wood carving from his father. At the age of 20, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia. He opened a cabinet shop but his interest in carousels didn't die. He opened G.A. Dentzel, Steam and Horsepower Caroussell Builder in 1867.

Gustav had been traveling with a small portable carousel doing his "Market Research" and found that people loved the carousel. He experimented with different designs using horse power at the start and switching to steam power around 1880.

The Dentzel factory was a pioneer in the development of the carousel and a training ground for many of the noted carousel artisans.

Gustav Dentzel died in 1909.

Allan Herschell, born in Scotland in 1851, came to Buffalo, New York in 1970. found employment as a foundry foreman. Allan Herschell and a shop associate, James Armitage, bought out their employer's equipment and began producing steam engines. They moved their business to North Tonawanda, N.Y. in 1873, and launched the Tonawanda Engine and Machine Co. After two fires, the company was formed as the Allen Herschell Co. Then, after having been introduced to the new and popular ride, the carousel, in 1882, Herschell began the construction of steam-operated Merry-Go-Rounds, completing their first carousel in 1884.

An immigrant from Scotland, Allen Herschell operated in a similar manner to C. W. Parker in Kansas. He produced portable machines and traveled throughout the country bringing entertainment and amusement to folks in small towns and the countryside. Herschell is recognized at the developer of the Tonawanda carousel center in New York. Some of the following names were given to the portable carousels that Herschell produced: "Flying Dutchman", "Riding Gallaries", "Flying Horses", "Hobby Horses", and "Flying Jennys".

The Armitage Herschell Company produced several hundred carousels that were sold around the world. Primarily responsible for providing power for their carousel with the steam engine. The carving style for the Herschell horses was boxy and stiff. Many resembled Looff's horses. The roached mane was the recognized style of Herschell horses.

Allen Herschell married Ida Spillman, thus leading to the formation of the Herschell-Spillman Carousel Company. Herschell died at the age of 76 in 1927.

Marcus, son of a horse trader left his native Lithuania and traveled through Germany to England where he was a wood carver for the renowned carousel and amusement manufacturer, Frederick Savage. In 1888, he emigrated to the United States and in 1890, started carving for Charles Looff.

"Fabulous Feltman" - MC teamed up with William Mangels to restore the Feltman carousel on Coney Island which had been partially destroyed in a fire. (The Feltman carousel was made by Looff in 1880.) Mangles installed an overhead crank device which gave the horses vertical motion for the first time. MC then had the opportunity to design horses with a jumping action - Yes, Illions created the carousel jumper! The resulting carousel is said to be one of the finest ever built.

In 1909 MC brought his four sons into the business by forming M.C. Illions and Sons. They produced carousel animals for many clients including William Mangles carousels. They also produced their own carousels which included some of the most magnificent carousels ever produced.

With the advent of the 1929 depression and the devastating effect it had on the amusement business, M.C. Illions and Sons' business failed. Marcus Illions died in 1955 having left a legacy of creating and guiding the 'Coney Island Style.'

Charles was born May 24, 1852, in Schleswig-Holstein and immigrated to the United States in 1870. He joined the carousel industry with his first machine in 1875, carving a menagerie of animals from scrap wood gathered from the furniture company where he worked. He opened a shop in Brooklyn and soon turned out his second carousel, much more refined than the first, and installed it at Coney Island. Looff was the earliest and most successful of the Coney Island carousel builders. He then moved his factory to Crescent Park in East Providence, Rhode Island, where his showpiece carousel still operates. In 1910 Looff moved his family and factory to Long Beach, California, where he remained until his death in 1918.

Daniel and his family arrived in America from Germany in 1881. His father was an intimate friend of Gustav Dentzel and after the death of his father in 1890, Daniel and his brother Alfred were taken in by the Dentzels. They were given jobs in the carving shop and treated like family. Daniel studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1902, when the brothers left to find work elsewhere, Gustav Dentzel never forgave them for this perceived disloyalty. Only after Gustav's death were they welcomed back by William Dentzel.

Daniel Muller and his brother Alfred operated their own carousel company from 1903 to 1917, building approximately 12 to 16 carousels. Daniel was a true artist. He was intrigued by the military and his creations were unbelievable accurate. He chose to make powerful horses and they were lifelike. He later liked to adorn his horses' manes with flowers and ribbons. Most unique was the presentation of sensitive and expressive eyes on his horses.

There seems to be a unanimous opinion that Daniel was the most artistic of all the carousel carvers.

Charles Wallace Parker was born in Griggsville, Illinois in 1864. He moved with his parents to Abilene, Kansas in 1869 and never thought of himself as being from Illinois. Charlie became interested in the amusement business at an early age, but, as the story goes, it was the tenacity of his young daughter, Gertrude, that got him into the carousel business.

Being in the 'Wild West', Colonel Parker knew that the 'Carry-Us-All' as he called his carousels would have to be able to travel from site to site - the 'Country Fair Style' so at the start he copied the Armitage/Herschell style. His horses were usually in a stretched out jumping pose and many were looking upward. This pose made it easier to pack up the horses to be transported to the next show. Colonel Parker bragged that the Carry-Us-All could be on the road in an hour! Notable things about the Parker horses are their wide nostrils. His wooden horses all wore metal horseshoes with the Parker name.

C.W. Parker ran out of space in his Abilene location so he moved to Leavenworth in 1911. In 1925 the C.W. Parker factory began phasing out the wooden carved horses and began creating the aluminum cast figures.

The Parker Amusements was devastated by the depression starting in 1929 which brought to an end the Golden Era of the Carousel. C.W. became ill in 1931 and his son, Paul, took over the business. Charles Wallace Parker died in 1932 at the age of 68.

Bibliography:
Charles W. Parker
History of C.W. Parker

Dare's figures have a charming naive quality and it is believed that the horses were designed and carved by Samuel Robb. Robb stayed until Dare's death in 1900. It is believed he then joined Looff and then M.C.Illions as a carver.


One poignant moment in the long list of interesting facets of carousel history deserves to be mentioned. Floral designs have long been a part of the decorations that the carvers utilized to beautify their creations.

The first usage of the American Beauty Rose as a decorative item seems to have been originated by Samuel A. Robb. A Brooklyn carver, originally famous for his cigar store Indian carvings, took up carousel horse carving as a logical expansion of his craft. When his young wife died, he placed a single red American Beauty Rose on some of his creations as a memorial to their love.

Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein emigrated to New York from Russia. They formed the Stein and Goldstein Artistic Carousel Company but unlike many of their contemporary carvers, their apparent goal was to make and operate their own carousels. They only built a dozen or so carousels, but the ones they built were unique. Evidently, they did their market research and found that children didn't like to ride chickens and pigs. Children wanted to ride horses, so horses is what they gave them - Only horses on their carousels. Not only horses, but the biggest carousel horses ever carved in the United States! Their horses were not only big, their heads were awesome! Flared nostrils, no fore locks, large teeth, dramatic wide eyes and tongues hanging out of their mouths. The rest of the horses body was adorned with large buckles, fish scale armor and trappings. Ah! The excitement to be in command of such a steed! And to temper the horses aggresive expression, floral trappings were added. The both showed the influence of Looff, Illions and other prominent carvers.

Not only were their horses large, but they built some of the largest carousels. Several 5 row carousels were built and even a six row carousel is reportedly operated. Harry Goldstein, 15 years older that Solomon Stein, survived Solomon and continued to operate a carousel until he died in 1945.

Henry B. Auchy was a businessman, not a wood carver. What was he doing in the carousel business? Well, Henry had done his market research. He knew of the success amusement parks located at the end of trolley lines were having. in 1898, he purchased a large parcel of farmland called Chestnut Hill Park, just north of Philadelphia. Yes, it was at the end of a trolley line.

Now that he owned the land and had the trolley line coming there, he needed amusements and one of the most successful attractions being installed at the end-of-the-line amusement parks was the Carousel. Surprise of surprises! In 1899, Henry formed The Philadelphia Carousel Company with partner, band organ 'King' Louis Berni. Their first carousel was installed at Chestnut Hill Park.

Based on the success of the Chestnut Hill Park, he decided that the next major attraction should be a roller coaster ride! The Philadelphia Toboggan Company was founded in 1903 in Germantown, Pennsylvania by Henry Auchy and Chester E. Albright. (toboggan referring to coaster cars of the day)

As an aside, Auchy was right about the location for his amusement park except the residents of the area didn't care for the working class people coming into their upper class neighborhood. A wealthy group of residents bought out Auchy in 1912 and closed the park, selling off all its assets. Henry Auchy was the president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company until his death on September 28, 1922. He was 61.

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Philadelphia Toboggan Company began numbering the center poles of their carousels in about 1907. This feature has made PTC Carousels the easiest to trace. The PTC archives list 90 carousels, however it is thought that about 83 were PTC originals. The remaining number appear to represent machines which were redesigned, rebuilt or redesigned and rebuilt with a sequenced PTC number. Their last carousel was manufactured in 1934.

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E. Joy Morris
1914 to 1918 - the muller brothers
1907 t0 1912 - Head carver unknown
1912 to 1921 - Charles Carmel carved for PTC - remained in Coney Island
1912 Frank Carretta hired
1915 to 1920 - John Zalar
1920 to 1923 - John Zalar (Living in California)
after 1925, only had Carretta
As the head carvers or lead carvers changed, so did the appearance and sales of the PTC Carousels. One of the first carvers to work for PTC was E. Joy Morris. Salvatore "Cherni" Cernigliaro began his apprenticeship with PTC Daniel and Alfred Muller were freelance carvers for PTC prior to forming their own company Leo Zoller, the first master carver for PTC John Zalar, who tutored under Charles Looff, designed and carved fairly ordinary horses for PTC 1915 to 1929 Frank Caretta Charles Carmel?