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The Bizarre History of the Carousel
Pretty much all of us have ridden a carousel at some point. In Britain, carousels are more commonly called “gallopers,” and a number of the steam driven Victorian examples survive. Most have been converted to run on electricity, but a few steam ones still exist.
They’re quite different from American carousels, by the way. One difference (alas the photo I have of a carousel had too many children in it to post) is that the horses run clockwise, not anti-clockwise (btw, no, this is not an accident. Carousels in countries that drive on the right go anti-clockwise and in countries that drive on the left…). Also, each horse is unique and has a name, while American carousels tend towards standard models. They’re also faster.
The Victorian galloper was designed to entertain not just children but ordinary working class adults who couldn’t afford to ride horses.
Another fun thing about these carousels was that the waste steam from the engine was routed through an automatically played organ. When the carousel started up, so did the music.
It’s my opinion that the Victorian galloper is the height of the carousel…although I’m sure many would agree with me.
So, how did carousels start in the first place?