And experts estimate that there are only a dozen left that could be restored to their full glory. Now, there are only 150 of these antique carousels in operation. At the height of the Golden Age of Carousels (1890s-1920s), somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 hand-carved, hand-painted merry-go-rounds were spinning around the United States. Today, the original antique carousels are endangered beasts. A handful of companies, such as The Carousel Works, are bringing the art of the hand-carved wooden merry-go-round back, but their unique artworks are outnumbered by the mold-made fiberglass carousels, which are cheaper and quicker to produce. And, like most things, over time new merry-go-rounds became standardized factory products.

In a certain window of time, carousels were intricate, breathtaking works of kinetic art. You probably can’t recall the specific details, which is why you might not realize that some carousels are more magical than others. “The carousel carvers really let their chisels go wild here.” Do you remember what the horse you rode looked like, how well its musculature was delineated, or what was carved behind the saddle? Can you visualize the art on the structure itself, such as gargoyles and paintings of landscapes?

Try to call up a childhood memory of riding the merry-go-round: the lights, the mirrors, the band organ playing circus tunes.

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