Once again we found ourselves playing tourist at a museum we had had nearly two decades to explore when we lived locally, but never found the time.
On our swing through Connecticut we finally visited The Carousel Museum in Bristol.
Much like the carousel exhibit we saw at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, seeing the pieces of a carousel separated and displayed turned them into art.
The 1914 Bushnell Park Carousel.
The museum was established in 1990 with a focus on preserving this vanishing piece of Americana. Besides the several rooms of carousel displays, they also have an active restoration program, both for pieces intended for their museum, and work for carousels elsewhere.
Additionally, the museum has an education program, and also hosts parties and weddings.
There is a functioning historic carousel (the 1914 Bushnell Park Carousel) in the museum, but it operates now for “children only,” and being a “child at heart” doesn’t make the cut.
This is the “romance side” of the horse – the outer side that the crowd will see, richly decorated to attract customers. The master carver worked this side.
This is the “inner” side of the same horse, not nearly as ornate, but you need to be standing on the carousel in order to see that. Apprentices were assigned to work on this side.
Any animal other than a horse is simply “the menagerie.” This lovely heron can be seen today on the carousel on the Boston Greenway, which includes no horses, only animals native to Massachusetts.
There were two additional “museums” included with the ticket price, though they were less “museum-y.” The Museum of Fire History is a small gallery with a very large collection of fire-related items on display, but few labels or educational interpretation. The collection was assembled by a local businessman who had an interest in firefighter paraphernalia.
There was also a Museum of Greek and Hellenic History set in a “Parthenon room” with elaborate ancient Greek façade and interior. There were a few displays of small-scale ancient Greek works in this room.
From the Museum of Fire History.
The Fire Museum and Parthenon room aside, we both enjoyed the many elaborately decorated menagerie of animals.
I crossed the gypsy’s (mechanical) palm with two pieces of silver and after technical support intervened I received my fortune.
My “lucky fortune” was very specific and a little alarming (though Doug says there is the tiniest grain of truth to it!).
This gorgeous falcon is one of only a handful of extras that were made for a modern carousel created for the Boston Greenway.
Carousel horses with all four feet off the ground are only used for the horses that move up and down.
Check out the bird formed out of the saddle! Also notice the tail is not carved but real strands of horsehair.
There are three styles of carousel horses: Coney Island, Philadelphia and North Tonowanda (also called Country Fair). Coney Island horses are known for being very flashy, with lots of jewels; Philadelphia style horses are very naturalistic; and Country Fair horses are more simple and designed to be easily moved from fair to fair.
Notice the fine details and muscling that show the care and effort that went into carving this horse. This is an example of a “lead horse,” a horse that is much larger and more distinctive than any other on the carousel, allowing the operator to easily count the number of rotations so each ride is the same length!
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