Fantasy Island's Carousel

Represented on Our Carousel
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Gustav Dentzel
(circa 1905)

Gustav Dentzel pioneered the modern carousel in America. Talented men followed his lead, including Marcus Illions, Charles Looff, Charles Carmel, and the carvers of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and the Spillman Engineering Company. Their creations became the centerpiece of hundreds of amusement parks and trolley company resorts across the United States and Canada.

Dentzel arrived in America in 1860 at age 20, settling in Philadelphia where he opened a cabinet shop. Carousels were not unknown to Gustav, for his father, Michael, had carved and assembled one of his own in Germany in 1837. Michael travelled with it from town to town making a modest living selling tickets to the ride. It was not surprising that his son's plans were to follow the same path. After building his first machine, Gustav Dentzel took it to several towns making money from its operation. This venture proved so successful that he changed the name of this company to "G. A. Dentzel, Steam and Horsepower Caroussell Builder --- 1867". Despite the name he continued to operate the horse driven machines for most of his income. It was nod until 1880, when steam power caught on, that the popularity of the rides began to increase. By this time, a competitor had entered the market, Charles I. D. Looff.

Charles I. D. Looff
(circa 1911)

Charles I. D. Looff 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's creations, like Dentzel's, were reminiscent of the German style of carving. Both the Looff and Dentzel companies paralleled each other in design and production until the mid-1880's when the newly developed electric trolley had a profound effect on the amusement industry.

As with many manufacturers, the seeds of competition are nurtured within the parent company, and so it was with the carousel industry, particularly with Looff. As business increased in the 1890's, his staff of carpenters, carvers, and painters also increased. Among the forty talented craftsmen were four young carvers who where to later form their own companies: Carmel, Illions, Stein and Goldstein.

Charles Looff created horses in a simpler but more elegant style. The legs of Looff's jumping horses were slender and graceful and were always portrayed with a great deal of motion. In order to depict a greater sense of realism, several carvers, including Looff, designed manes with cut through openings. Although such manes produced dramatic effects, the difficulty and length of time involved in the carving process limited their use.

About 1905 Looff started making saddles that resembled a scoop. This design left a good sized space beneath the cantle which Looff filled with a variety of gargoyles, flowers, cherub heads, and other miscellaneous carvings.

The production of Looff's horses ceased when he died in 1918.

Marcus C. Illions
(circa 1923)

Within five years of his arrival in New York in 1888, Illions' reputation as a master carver spread throughout greater New York. He not only carved animals for Looff but created sculptures in both wood and stone for churches and other office buildings. He also created highly ornate facades for circuses and carnivals.

In 1900 Illions was offered the job of refurbishing a fire-damaged Looff carousel at Coney Island. The enthusiasm he had for the job is apparent as this machine had the fanciest and most spirited animals yet produced in the industry. This flamboyant interpretation characterized Illions' style throughout the life of his company.

Many companies were switching to simpler animals and carving machines, but Illions' creative talents and belief in the traditional methods drove him to produce even more ornate horses than before. Throughout the life of the company, Illions maintained strict control over quality and design. The carving of faces and manes he reserved for himself, therefore, the head was almost always the focal point of the horse.

Charles Carmel
(circa 1914)

When Charles Carmel first opened his own factory, he borrowed freely from the distinctive features of the animals of Illions, Looff, and Stein and Goldstein. Some examples are the feathers, fish scale blanket, bedroll, and tassels. Then, with some ideas of his own, he captured the essence of a carousel horse in the expression, proportions and flow of the mane. He went on to create what many consider to be the classic Coney Island style horse.

Of all the Coney Island carvers, Carmel's creations were the most realistic. This may be due to the proximity of Carmel's shop to the stables of Prospect Park which offered a wide assortment of horses for models.

Unlike most of his competitors, Carmel disliked the use of glass jewels, but ironically, many of his animals fell into the hands of M. D. Borelli. Borelli was a frame maker who bought animals from Carmel, then studded each animal with hundreds of jewels, sometimes obliterating the carving.

The unusual batwing saddle, seen on some of Carmel's creations, is a typical example of the creativity that this artisan was capable of achieving.

Carmel created horses exclusively for frame makers who would construct whole machines and put their name on the finished product. As far as is known, Carmel's name has never appeared on a carousel, nor is there a signature horse (a horse carved with the initials or name of the maker) existing.

Spillman Engineering
(circa 1924)
Carousel's Lead Horse!

Formerly in a partnership with the Herschell-Spillman Company, Alfred and E. 0. Spillman reorganized in 1920, under the title of The Spillman Engineering Corporation. They relied on many of the old Herschell-Spillman Company designs. They created primarily simple traveling rides, designing their animals to be easily lifted and transported, but they also built several carousels designed with a permanent location in mind. One of these was at Lincoln Park in Los Angeles, California where it burned in 1976. Fortunately, they removed one of the animals before the fire consumed the rest of carousel. Fantasy Island's lead horse (the fanciest horse on the outside row) is a faithful reproduction of that horse.

Philadelphia
Toboggan Company

The Philadelphia Toboggan Company was originally formed in 1900 by Henry Auchy and Chester Albright for the purpose of manufacturing amusement rides. Mr. Auchy's desire to include carousels in their new product line drove him to search out and hire some of the best carvers available. After producing several experimental carousels, Auchy and his partners decided to go into full scale production. The earlier rather plain horses with sweet expressions were transformed into larger, fancier creatures by 1910; and by 1914 they had developed into more muscular, compact animals bearing ornate trappings. Their last carousel, #89, was produced in 1934. Within several years all the other companies had either gone out of business or were producing simplistic, machine-carved animals.
Stein & Goldstein (circa 1912) - Fantasy Island's Logo

When Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein formed their partnership they had a clear idea of the style they wanted to create. It was defined by Long bodies with wide saddles, huge buckles, and deep relief flowers. But probably the most distinctive traits are the Roman nose and the almost Asian eyes that grace these beautiful animals. As with several other contemporaries, Stein and Goldstein used fish scale blankets, and lots of fringe.

Stein and Goldstein were among the few carvers to own and operate most of the machines they produced. Because of this, their production was limited to only 15 carousels between 1912 and 1925, when they turned solely to operating. Full Stein and Goldstein machines are rare today. Among those in operation, is the one in New York's Central Park which contains some of the largest horses ever carved.

Fantasy Island's logo horse is typical of the craftsmanship for which these two gentlemen were noted.