Guelph Antique Carousel

Last year I was still chasing down old carousels, the wooden ones, that were within day trip striking distance of Toronto. I had already done some research and found out that I had missed one of what I thought of as a 'major' installation, although a minor one (that's supposed to be a joke) nearby.

I had also just financed a new used car and wanted to take it out on a road trip. My son Elliot came along for the ride.

It was a beautiful summer day for a drive. We hit the road and headed in the direction of Guelph, Ontario. I had some printed directions and knew a bit about the layout of the city and so with only a little bit of head scratching and paper consulting (no GPS here, GPS is for sissies) managed to locate the carousel and, at the same location, a small replica train that gives rides around the park.

So the carousel is one manufactured by the Allan Herschell Company (you can tell by the features of many of the animals) and was likely constructed around 1919, at least that's the year painted on the outside wall of the pavilion. There's a bit more information that can be gleaned on-line about where the city of Guelph got it and so on.

The funny thing, at least to me, is that I used to live here, in Guelph, way back when (talking the 70's here), around the time the carousel was purchased.

The carousel is in fairly good shape, considering it's age and the fact that it is still very much a working carousel. I'm sure there are those who would like to see a little bit more funding for the care and restoration of the horses except we seem to be living in the time of the bean counter, where art and culture are often pitted against the bottom lines of city budgets.

 Still it was nice to see. There was one thing that was a bit of a distraction for me and an indicator of possible funding and maintenance issues. Some of the horses once had actual horse hair tails but that day I visited all that was left were threadbare (more like 'hairbare' but I don't think it's a word) butt plugs.

To be honest I don't really know if it was caused by a lack of restoration funds, the lack of horse hair on the market, age, vandalism, or, as is likely, a combination of all the above factors.

 And thereby ends a tail.