This is long, but please bear with me. First before anything else, I want to say this: I'm a carousel operator. I'm one of several people who help operate a beautifully restored antique merry-go-round that became a community project and is now one of my city's greatest assets. In addition to operating it, we also gather annually to do a complete cleaning and any maintenance work to keep it like new. All of us love what we do and take great pride in what it has become for the community and the happiness it brings. Our carousel has been visited by people from all over the world as has gotten very positive reviews from nearly everyone. It's not just for children (although of course kids love it!) but every and all ages. Retirement homes, schools, various companies and church groups have all had "field trips" to our carousel. Besides the kids, I think seniors really enjoy it too for the nostalgia. In fact, one of our workers is in his 90's and actually rode our carousel many decades ago when it was in an amusement park in another state, clear across the country!
It is, of course, housed in a secure building with a convention room/dining hall that can be rented out. Individuals and groups have rented the room and/or carousel for weddings, school proms, birthday parties, company meetings, and there is even a local church that holds its services there every Sunday, as they don't have their own building. The staff here are like a big family and we are very professional in our appearance and conduct.
Recently I happened upon this page:
theopenscroll.com/olympicSymbo… Most of what it's talking about here is irrelevant to me as I have no interest in the Olympics and have never watched them. But if you scroll down to near the bottom of this very long article, whoever wrote this goes on to attack carnivals, carnival/carousel music, and finally, carousels specifically. According to this, a carousel is basically a representation of a pageant of the Antichrist; a symbol of the Devil's armies whirling in endless circles in preparation to go to war against the heavenly armies. (Wait...what?!) So by that logic, anyone who participates in a carousel (rides it, operates it, etc.) is participating in this sinister dance of the devil. Again...what?
I wont get into all the reasons they give to demonize carousels and carousel music (which is actually band organ music, not calliope music, but similar enough) but it seems to me they are really reaching to support their view. I personally think most of what they're saying in this article is a bit ridiculous and completely misunderstood. For example, to help demonize "carnival music" they point out that Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, had a background with carnivals and carousel/calliope music. (Although this background was disputed by journalist Lawrence Wright who found no evidence to support it.) But what if he'd played the piano, or loved to eat pizza? Would that make those things bad? Assuming he drove a car, would that mean that Christians shouldn't drive? Guilt by association is a slippery slope.
But after all that, the question remains. I've long been interested in carousels and carousel art (by 'carousel art' I'm meaning the individual parts and pieces that make up a working carousel: the animals, chariots, the paintings and panels, scrollwork, etc.). I think much of the artwork of carousels is beautiful, and I've studied it for many years and have gained a lot of knowledge of the carvers and designers. But admittedly there are many examples of (antique mostly) carousel art that is questionable. Not every carousel has these things, but there are plenty of examples of gargoyles, demonic figures, monsters, mythical beasts and other creepy or bizarre carvings made as rideable figures or designed into the trappings of the horses (or other animals) or incorporated elsewhere into the design or artwork of a carousel. Some examples that come to mind are an antique horse with a "billikin" carved behind the saddle (which I had to look up, as I didn't know the word); an antique dog with what looks like the devil peering out from behind the saddle with pitchfork aimed at the rider's backside; a horse with its head held high and what looks like Dracula's face and bat wings behind the saddle; and a carousel carver in England who was fond of creating horses with grotesque, demonic faces emerging from their chests (an example can be seen here:
antiquecarousels.com/product/c…).
Dragons are also very common on carousels, both old ones and new. Although I don't think that every depiction of a dragon is meant to be sinister (after all they are popular in fairy tales and pop culture in general). On my carousel the chariot benches are in the form of dragons. Other common themes come from Greek and Roman mythology, which I really am not fond of.
So please, tell me what you think. If you get a chance, please take a look at the first link I included and go down to where they discuss carousels and related things. To me it seems to be someone's personal opinion, which is their right.
