page_title: Holyoke Merry-Go-Round
section_title: Acquisition
hierarchical_section_title: Holyoke Merry-Go-Round / History / Acquisition
caption_attribution_description: Holyoke Merry-Go Round carousel 05
context_page_description: The Holyoke Merry-Go-Round is a historic carousel in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Previously a ride in the city's now-defunct Mountain Park, it was purchased and restored by a volunteer fundraising campaign following the park's closure in 1987, and opened at a new building based its original pavilion in Holyoke Heritage State Park in 1993. The carousel is one of about 30 remaining carousels built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.
context_section_description: One of the new rides he purchased for the park expansion was a roller coaster from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in Pennsylvania.  At the time, to sweeten the deal and get a park to buy one of their coasters, PTC would often "throw in" one of their merry-go-rounds.  This was the case at Mountain Park.
  The Philadelphia Toboggan Company employed German and Italian craftsmen to create their wood carousels.  Daniel Muller, Frank Carretta and John Zalar were some of the men who worked on the Mountain Park ride.  By that point in PTC's history, they were not actively making merry-go-rounds.  They focused their business more and more on roller coasters.  The company had a carving jig.  The master carver could make a single horse head, and an assistant could then produce exact replicas with the jig.  So by 1929, PTC had a stockpile of carousel horses.
  The merry-go-round destined for Mountain Park was most likely fabricated in 1927.  It was sold to a different park initially, but for some reason was never shipped.  So instead it was shipped to Pellissier.  First, Pellissier asked for more time before it was sent, because he was getting the pavilion ready.  What he was doing was converting one of the oldest structures in the park (at the time being used as an arcade) and modifying it for the merry-go-round.  Pellissier couldn't have chosen a better structure.  The pavilion—originally a dance hall—was built with timber trusses a foot-and-a-half on a side and forty feet long.  Steel trusses supported the wood.  The building was sheathed in wood clapboards and survived two hurricanes.  Giant concrete footers were poured to accommodate the merry-go-round's centerpost and buttresses.
  The ride, PTC #80, was installed and operational for the 1929 season. It replaced a small carousel that for years ran at the north end of the park.  The many whimsical scenery panels and rounding boards depicted everything from Swiss castles to sea battles, from cowboys to cars.  Most of them were probably painted by Carretta.  The ride had 48 horses.  Sixteen of them on the outside edge of the 48-foot-diameter (15 m) wood platform were "standers," rigidly fixed to the ride.  They were the "show" horses, the largest and most elaborately carved.  The two inner rows had progressively smaller "jumpers" that were not as intricately carved.  There were also two stock PTC "chariots," basically two-tiered benches.  Opposite each chariot at the inside edge of the platform were two small standers.
  Pellissier also purchased a band organ with the merry-go-round.  It was manufactured by Artizan Factories of North Tonawanda, New York. The organ model is an Artizan C-2. Using paper rolls like a player piano, the organ played merry songs that could be heard throughout the park. The rolls were eventually converted to Wurlitzer 150 rolls.
  The Collins family bought the park from Pellissier in 1953. The merry-go-round remained the anchor of the park.  A microphone was placed inside the band organ and the music was broadcast over speakers all along the midway.  The sound of the organ signaled the beginning of the day and its silence meant the park was closing for the night.
caption: Armored lead horse at Holyoke
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