Educational Media Reviews Online

This short film examines carousels from long ago until today. There is a renewed interest in carousels as communities realize they are antiques to be treasured as part of the local heritage. The film features the Herschell Carousel Museum in North Tonawanda, New York and the Dentzel Menagerie Carousel in Rochester, New York.

The viewer sees the mechanics of how carousels are assembled when they are transported to fairgrounds or other parks. The painting of the animals requires a great deal of skill, particularly fine detail. Both rough and fine carving is done using varying sizes of tools. Carousels were originally made using duplicator machines. Mortise and tenon technique is used to piece the animals together. Another technique is to use dowels. There are three types of carousel animals: Philadelphia style depicts animals true to life, Coney Island style is very flamboyant and uses lots of gold leaf and jewels for adornment, and County Fair style is very simple with little ornamentation or embellishment.

The last part of the film is an interview with a miniature carousel collector. She shows several from her collection and describes how she came to be such an enthusiast. Showing a particular English teacup carousel she mentions an interesting fact about carousels: English carousels always spin in a clockwise direction while American carousels always spin in a counterclockwise direction.

This film is recommended for libraries with American studies collections.