King Arthur's Carrousel, May 1981
Sunday! It should be FUNday, but not when you're looking at GDB. It's the place where you'll probably find slide scans that only a mother could love.
From 1981, we have two shots of King Arthur's Carrousel. The horsies are all white, and I believe that the steed to the right is named "Jingles". It's not a great name, but it makes sense, since the horse is festooned with rows of gilded bells. This was supposedly Walt's favorite horse, though I always take stories like that with a large spoonful of salt. Better horse name: "Stormy". Or maybe "Buttermilk" (Dale Evans' horse, you know). I'm always partial to "Stinky", too.
Doing a bit of research, I learn that Jingles underwent a "luxurious makeover" in 2008, which involved adding tributes to Mary Poppins and Julie Andrews. I'm all for honoring Mary and Julie, but yikes, the decoration is tacky as heck, IMO.
Why take one photo of the Carrousel when you can take two? Or even three? Use a whole roll of film, you nut!
25 comments:
“Wildfire,” I’ll be riding “Wildfire.”
Fun pics, fantastic year! Thanks, Major.
Major-
Sorry, all of you indecisive guests... all white horses are sooooooo boring. And besides - they're too bright; they hurt my eyes.
I'm going back to bed, now. Thanks, Major.
I think I'll settle for one of the less spirited horsies- giddyap "Gluepot"!
The all-white horses do have a certain sophistication and elegance to them. Also sameness and uncreativity.
In the second pic, the lady closest to us is wearing open-toed high heels. Her beau, beside her, is wearing an open shirt, nearly down to his navel. They were made for each other!
Behind them is another woman (?) who is either wearing a really large, dark hoodie or she has hair like Roseanne Roseannadanna.
Looking at a carousel always makes me feel good inside. Thanks Major.
- Juicy Bird (sorta did this one before, but not quite)
How about "Flicka"?
Tacky? Oh, no....not Disney! I had seen the Mary Poppins makeover in person, but I just Googled it to refresh my memory. Why are Jingles hooves now painted gold? And it isn't just the bottom of the hoof (in order to simulate a horseshoe), it's the entire hoof. And now, having said that, it looks like the horse directly behind Jingles, in that 1981 shot, also has gold hooves. What's up with that?
Juicy B., that man and woman didn't know each other, until they rode the Carousel that day. It was love at first sight!
- Tokyo Meringue!
I was always kinda partial to “Cyril.” A wild ride, for sure.
I recently learned that carousels in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise in an effort to counteract the Coriolis Effect, which tends to pull things to the right north of the Equator. This intentional direction of movement prevents excessive centrifugal force from making the carousel spin out of control, which could cause the ring gear to melt right down through the bottom of the Park—theoretically to China, but of course, as soon as it hits ground water, it would blast into the atmosphere and send out clouds of radioactivity. The number of people killed would depend on which way the wind was blowing, rendering an area the size of Pennsylvania permanently uninhabitable. And nobody wants that; the loss of Pennsylvania’s otherworldly density of amusement parks would be a cultural catastrophe nearly as great as the introduction of orange shag carpet. Back me up here, Ken and Andrew.
This is the first time hearing the Jingles story...I'm interested to see where it started from...will do some digging on that front. I hope in 50 years from now, that the future Gorillas will have stories like this to pull from, but perhaps they will be about how Bob Iger had his favorite piece of plaster in the Star Wars thingy...somehow, I don't think so. It would somehow...in my opinion...behoove (sorry for the horsey pun) the company to start new story legacies that come from emotional connection, rather than a commercial IP factor. When I googled the Jingles, many stories/articles came up...so guys:...start creating tomorrows stories now, because they actually CAN be of commercial gain for the future. Walt was not just emotional about antique horses. He knew that they would persevere for decades. Just my .02. I remember that Fantasyland Ops Costume in the photo. The suspenders were sewn into the shirt. Even belts were supplied by the company, and that black one was the generic leather black belt and I wore probably 99.9 percent of the time. When you found one that fit perfect, and was in relatively good condition, you didn't trade it for another. Then the time would come that you had to trade it for a Bear Country costume with it's own brown belt. I'm sorry Disneyland costuming. I kept my black belt, and kept the window employee in conversation so that they wouldn't know my black belt wasn't there. I DID turn everything in at the end though. Disneyland belts were not sacred. The shots are pre "New Fantasyland". Lots of sheet metal...which now I kind of prefer. I always liked the paintings from Sleeping Beauty next to those mirrors in the center of the Carrousel. I remember them being very detailed. We were coached to never call the Carrousel a "Merry Go Round"...the distinction is that Merry Go Rounds have other animals besides horses, and Carrousels only have horses. That is the legend story...what is actually the truth, who knows. Carrousel has many different spellings, interpretations, etc. In England it was a round-a-bout. And there was the best stop animation show called Magic Round-a-bout, which of course I was obsessed with. If you google "Carrousel", you will most definitely fall into a rabbit hole of no return...so I stopped. Thanks for the photos and now I have pulled myself out of the bunny hole.
"Why take one photo of the Carrousel when you can take two? Or even three? Use a whole roll of film, you nut!"
You could fill a whole slide carousel!
One of my mother's childhood dogs was named Jingles. She doesn't know why they called him that, though; he didn't wear a bell on his collar or anything. One of those great mysteries nobody ever wondered about.
Just noticed that some of the horsies are wearing golden horseshoes.
@Chuck, it blew my mind hen I first learned that European carousels turn the other way. It's a madhouse. A madhouse!
I'm in shock, Chuck. Give me some time to process and I'll get back to you. ;-)
It's sad that they had to modify the legs of these Dentzel standers to make them "jumpers," though I don't think they look too bad. The Dentzel Co. never put jumping figures on the outside row of its carousels.
Form looking at the pictures, it appears that the Carousel spins counter-clockwise?
And then European ones go opposite or clockwise? I have never noticed this before?
Could this be related to the old superstition of walking “widdershins” (counterclockwise) around a church (or maybe anywhere) was bad luck? If walking that direction caused problems, imagine what spinning at a fairly high rate could do…
Lots of good info, and bad taste in steed design here, thanks Major and everyone.
JG
The Carousel is a treasure to be sure, and full of trivia. Carousels, traditionally, have one horse that's markedly different (Usually white or some other marking), this is the Lead horse, the reason is that it's the horse the ride operator uses to count how many times the ride went around. I've read that Jingles (who wasn't always white) has unique harnesses, making it the Lead horse. But CMs noticed that children gravitated to the white horses (the hero always rides the white horse) so they were ALL repainted white during a refurb.
There is a website that has the official name of all the horses, and their markings, so you can identify them.
Lou and Sue, “Wildfire” is good too, and it’s a classic cheesy song from the ‘70s!
Nanook, I don’t hate the all-white horses, but I agree, they are a little boring. But… no more fights over who gets to ride a certain horse!
JB, “Gluepot” is good, or maybe “Sparkplug”. As Nanook hinted, the all-white horses are all so alike that nobody will hope to ride their favorite black horse or butterscotch-colored horse. Faster loading! I like to wear my shirts open to the navel, and my pants hiked up to my chest. It’s a look. Is this the first mention of Roseanne Roseannadanna on GDB? Possibly!
TokyoMagic!, “Flicka” always makes me think that somebody is going to flick my ear with their fingers. And then I’ll cry. I sort of get why they painted some things gold for Disneyland’s 50th (even though it didn’t really look good), but now it’s just tacky. However, if the hooves on Jingles had been bedazzled, or covered in glitter, I would be happy. It’s always nice to see true love, the woman couldn’t resist that fellow’s fashion sense.
Chuck, that darn Coriolis Effect, it’s the reason I got bad grades in school. I tried to explain it to my teachers, but none of them listened. I never considered what the Coriolis Effect would do to carousels, but upon reading your comment, I will never go on one again. Though I think I did see a Merry-Go-Round start to melt down once; I would have paid more attention, but I was eating a giant dill pickle. It’s odd that the radioactivity would not only ruin an area the size of Pennsylvania, but that it would only affect the Keystone State. Did I ever mention that my school took a tour of Three Mile Island just before it went operational? Some fun! We all got free plutonium.
Bu, I guess I find it hard to believe that Walt ever said, “You know what, fellas? This horse is my favorite!”. But it’s not impossible, I suppose. Admiral Joe Fowler probably learned to never ride Jingles if Walt was around for fear of incurring his wrath. Bob Iger does like plaster, so your story checks out. I like the idea of suspenders being sewn into a shirt. How about underwear sewn into pants? Nobody steal this idea, I’m going to make millions. I had no idea that good belts were so coveted, but now I know. I’ve been told that a merry-go-round only spun, but didn’t have leaping animals. Not sure if that is accurate, in fact I’d bet money that it isn’t. I’ve heard of Magic Roundabout, it sounds so British.
Melissa, just my luck, I would probably wind up acquiring a whole slide carousel of Carrousel photos. “Jingles” might have been a tribute to the character on the TV show “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok” (played by Andy Devine). Or not! Yes, TokyoMagic! pointed out the golden horseshoes, I thought that didn’t happen until Disneyland’s 50th.
Andrew, I wonder if any of the horses are original carved wooden versions, or if they’ve all been cast in fiberglass and resin? One of the other parks has a “Jingles” that looks identical to Disneyland’s (though the paint is different).
JG, “widdershins”, that’s a new one to me! What a good name for a pet salamander. I think I will walk counter-clockwise around everything today, in honor of your comment.
MRaymond, now that you mention it, I think I’ve read about the term “lead horse” in reference to the Carrousel. When I was a kid it was fun to ride one of the old carousels, the “Flying Horses” on Martha’s Vineyard. You could actually try to get the brass ring (I never got it)! Speedy riders could sometimes snatch 4 or 5 rings from the gizmo as they went past. I’ve read the story about how the hero always rides the white horse, and maybe it’s true that kids wanted to ride the white horses the most, but every time I read a story like that about Disneyland, I immediately assume that it is baloney!
@ Chuck-
(And I thought the main reason most carousels rotated counter-clockwise had to do with the fact most folks are right-handed (apologies southpaws), allowing easier access for "grabbing the brass ring").
Wow - armed with this information, I do believe carousels should be classified as 'thrill rides'-! I'm uncertain what this info says about Derby Racers...! LOOK HERE
Major, I learned that term in an old book on sacred wells in England, Ireland, and Scotland.
In addition to the belief that throwing a coin or something valuable in the well would bring good luck, especially if accompanied by a clockwise walking circuit, it was also widely held that curses and bad luck would be dispensed onto your enemies by the spirit of the waters if the correct formula were recited while walking counterclockwise or “widdershins” around the well or spring.
It was deemed to bring bad luck on one’s self by walking widdershins around a church, etc. Amazing how these old beliefs continue into the present day… Humans are far more conservative than they imagine.
I got a steel ring once on the carousel at Santa Cruz, is that like Charlie Brown's rock?
JG
@ JG-
You needed to throw the ring in the clown's mouth and ring the bell-!
Those (steel) rings used to be (and maybe still are) finished in a sort of black lacquer, the process referred to as 'japanning'. We used to use those rings in theatrical stage work, and would call them 'japan rings'.
Nanook, Cedar Downs is my favorite carrousel in all the Nine Realms. Thanks for that link!
Tokyo Meringue!, I hope you baked your meringue to nice golden brown peaks. Unbaked meringue is just yucky.
Soon after, the couple got married: "I now pronounce you Open Shirt and Open-Toe. You may now prance about." They lived happily for many weeks... until she met a guy who, not only had his shirt opened even lower, but also wore a two pound gold necklace.
Chuck, I can't quite remember, is "Cyril" Mr. Toad's horse? (That would explain the 'wild ride'.)
Thank the gods that Mr. Horace Carousel made his discovery in time. Oh, the lives he saved!
Melissa, I just went through a bunch of slide carousels, looking for images for Major to post, one of these days.
Andrew, thanks. I never knew that about the horses legs.
JG, "Something wicked this way comes"!
Major, I hope you still value that plutonium and keep it safe under your pillow. Pleasant dreams.
MRaymond, thanks for that carousel info, all new to me.
Nanook, pshht! That makes way too much sense to be true.
I saw the Derby Racers in action on a TV show some years back. I think it might have been "Great Old Amusement Parks".
In what way were the 'japan rings' used? I can't think of anything.
Now I’ve got the opening chorus of The Mikado stuck in my head. “If you want to know who we aaaaaaaaare, we are gentlemen of Japaaaaaaaaan!”
JB, I love "Great Old Amusement Parks!" It was a formative documentary for me and is still one of my favorites. The Derby Racer it features is at Rye Playland near NYC. Of the two left in America, it runs circles around Cedar Downs (though I have nothing against that ride).
Not only does it go almost twice as fast and have more detailed horses, its employees jump on and off the platform when it's going at the top speed of 25 mph! You can see the watch the workers jumping on and off in this clip from "Great Old Amusement Parks" for 30 seconds, but I saw it in person myself this summer. It's something that you'll never see at a Cedar Fair park.
@ JB-
I want to say those rings were used in some way with the theatrical lighting instruments, but it's been so long. We probably used them on flats, and whatnot.
@ Andrew-
I have fond memories of riding the Derby Racer at Rye Playland, watching in amazement as the employees did their 'acrobatics' while the platform was spinning around at 25mph-! Yes folks - there STILL IS a world [seemingly] without OSHA, but with plenty of common sense and skill. Hallelujah-!
In addition to "Great Old Amusement Parks," I'm assuming all the Junior Gorillas are familiar with "America Screams," hosted by roller coaster enthusiast Vincent Price.
Andrew, thanks for that link. Watching those ride operators jump on and off the moving platform is the highlight of the documentary.
Nanook, I worked backstage in high school and community theater productions; which is why I asked. Oh well. "Is a puzzlement".
Melissa, Yes! I've seen that one as well. I think I still have both of them recorded.
Major, what Bu said about Carousels having only horses and Merry-Go-Rounds having other animals, is exactly what we were told during our Knott's "new hire" orientation. But I have since seen rides labeled as a "carousel" with other animals, and vice versa, so who knows?
Jingles was painted entirely in gold, for DL's 50th anniversary.
JB, at first I thought you were going to say, "....until she met a guy who, not only had his shirt open, but also had his fly open!" Thank goodness you didn't say something so utterly tacky!
Goldpony
He’s the horse, the horse with a golden coat,
Eats golden oats.
Such a cold pony
Beckons you to jump on the carousel,
And ring his bells.
Tokyo, I can't think of any Junior Gorillas who would be so tacky.
Melissa, haha. I read your lyrics while hearing Shirley Bassey's voice.
Andrew, I’m growing weary of you giving me field trip homework assignments that I’m finding it impossible to keep up with. This class is getting expensive, and it doesn’t even count towards my major. I went to Cedar Point last summer - wasn’t that enough without you adding more items to the “you really need to see this” list?
Nanook, Melissa, JB, and Andrew, thanks for turning me on to Great Old Amusement Parks and America Screams. Things to look forward to watching.
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