Jane's Carousel

While stumbling around DUMBO last Saturday (literally, since lots of those streets down there have been allowed to revert to their original cobble-stoned surfaces) we came across this carousel, which is housed in a warehouse barely large enough to hold it. It has been restored to a pristine condition and is awaiting some kind of agreement between its owners and local government bureaucracies to install it in the park Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. It’s in beautiful condition and lovely to look at in its present locale and I’m of two minds about the plans for it. Keeping it safe and sound and pristine pleases the eye but, of course, it’s a practical entertainment device and probably should be utilized in the manner for which it was built and allowed exposure to the elements; that is, the vagaries of wind and weather and susceptible to vandals of all kinds: human, avian, insect and of course the natural erosion of its own materials when exposed to natural (east coast) elements. In other words, should it be a museum piece or should we set it into motion and allow our tiny human counterparts to throw-up on it?

It was built by The Philadelphia Toboggan Co. in 1922 and installed in Idora Park in Youngstown, OH from whence David and Jane Walentas purchased it in 1984 when the park closed and its contents auctioned off. It seemingly became Ms. Walentas obsession for many years and an on-again off-again restoration proceeded under her auspices. Now the work is done, but evidently coping with a tangle of bureaucratic red tape to get it installed in its proper spot, continues.

While we were standing behind the protective ropes admiring the carousel the attendants kindly put it in motion just for us. How cool was that? I missed the reedy thump-thump music usually associated with carousels but it was great to watch the horses glide by, some leaping angrily; snorting to break free from their shiny brass poles (yes, I sometimes wax poetic, obviously in a somewhat purple hue). Whatever happens to Jane’s Carousel, I feel privileged to have seen it in its lovingly restored perfection.