“Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round...”—Holden Caulfield in “The Catcher in the Rye”

When it first opened in 1857, Central Park didn’t boast the wide assortment of children’s amusements that it does today. Designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux did, however, consider the southern portion of the park to be a playground of sorts for families (seeing as it was the most accessible area for those venturing-on-up from downtown).

The “Children’s District,” as they labeled it, boasted open fields as well as swings and seesaws. There was also a large rock, which they called the Kinderberg (“children’s mountain”)—mid-park at 64th Street; the present-day Chess & Checkers House (a visitors’ center—where people like to play board games on the surrounding, covered walkway/sitting area) currently stands in its place… “checkmate kids…checkmate indeed,” said the wily chess players.

This was all fine and dandy, but there was a decided lack of a merry-go-round. The image of carved animals affixed by poles to a rotating floor may seem like a bit of vintage Americana in this day and age—but in the mid-1800s, it was all quite new and exciting. The familiar platform design started cropping up across the pond, at many an English fair, often accompanied by fairground organs which provided a relaxing soundtrack.

It’s Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

If keeping up with the Brits meant having a carousel as well, then so be it – or so be’d it?...or so bed it? If anyone has a clue on the past tense of “so be it,” – please email us at info@toastingthetown.com.

By 1871, Central Park’s first such attraction was installed—with brightly colored wooden steeds aboard. It was powered by a hand crank (if you thought hand-crank car windows were a hassle, try hand-cranking a whole carousel!). A commercial venture, the carousel was initially objected to by some—especially on the grounds of its ticket price (10 cents; or, approximately $2 by today’s standards). But she was just so gosh-darn charming that she soon secured her permanent status near the Kinderberg.

Two years of hand cranking, however, was enough—and by 1873, horses and mules had taken over the duty. Two animals, hitched to a central pole underneath the carousel, would power the platform’s rotation by running on a treadmill-style device. Another boon came in 1877 when the,...