Life Is A Carousel - Cafesjian's Carousel, To Be Exact

A quick post today since I'm off to the swimming pool in 45 minutes. That's now my life operates - I look at my day and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have less time to put a blog together than on other days. Of course, I like writing under pressure - I like the one-day challenges, the word number challenges, and the thematic challenges. I don't always soar with each type of challenge - some types of tales are very difficult for me. But in the main, I'm pretty good at grabbing for that brass ring. 

You might never have been on a carousel, but 
the idea of reaching for the brass or gold ring 
has made it to standard phrases, whether you 
recognize its' origin or not. 

Did you ever try to do that when you were a kid? Grabbing for the brass ring? I doubt that many carousels have that any more, but when my parents were growing up and when I was a small child, that was an option. Carousels would have their wonderful exotic animals and chariots, and off to the side, as you passed, circling by again and again, was a bright brass ring, just out of reach. If a rider could reach out and grab that ring while they were riding, they would get a free ride. 

Sharon and I first rode the carousel when it was 
housed at the State Fair. It was crowded into a rather 
small and dingy building, but the carousel itself was 
beautiful and magnificent. It had a few really rough 
years until Mr Cafesjian came up with the funds to 
rescue it and build a building for it at Como Park, 
but it's been restored now, and it's stunning once again. 

I remember carousels when I was young and growing up. I'd always grab a ride because I love them. The last one I rode on was the large one that had been at the State Fair. Sharon and I rode it and it was a lovely, big, highly decorated carousel with wild horses and stable chariots for those unwilling to ride astride a beast. It's now named Cafesjian's Carousel and has a permanent home down the road from the Fairgrounds in Como Park, but it had quite the journey getting there. 

Getting the carousel restored and brought into the 
current age took a lot of time and money. The hand 
carved horses were in bad shape, the paint had 
faded, cracks had developed. It was a labor of 
years to get the horses back and some of them 
had large parts that had to be re-carved by 
master craftsmen in Europe. Just look at them now, 
though. Proud once again, and wearing golden 
raiment. 

It's a large carousel - 68 hand-carved horses and two chariots, dating from 1914. It's original organ burned in a fire in 1939, so it now has a rebuilt Wurlitzer 153 band organ for it's music. It features horses in rows of four (that gives you an idea of the size of this carousel) and has 18 hand-painted scenic pictures that are reproductions. 

Now this old carousel, one of the oldest still in operation, 
accommodated hundreds of riders during the warm 
months. Tickets are only $3 each, and it's well worth 
it to sit astride a fiery steed and hear that organ sound 
while fantasies of riding across a world of your own 
making move through your mind. Cafesjian's Carousel 
is a treasure, honored by carousel lovers throughout 
the world. 

It now resides in Como Park, as I said, in a permanent structure. It's open during the summer months and tickets are $3. It has been slightly modified to allow a single wheelchair per ride, that person seated in the "front seat" of a chariot. It's a fantastic work of art and like many others, I'm grateful that Gerard L Cafesjian put up the bulk of the money to rescue the carousel from obscurity and bring it to the park. It's a highlight of many generations of children young and old, and will be so for many more years. There's even an "adopt a pony" program where you can help out with maintenance costs, or if you wanted to, you could train as a volunteer worker and be assigned 2-4 shifts per month during the summer. It's a piece of history that still lives today, and a chance to celebrate a magical time of childhood.