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The First 100 Years In 1903 Allan Herschell and his brother-in-law, Edward Spillman, bought out the Armitage Hershall Company renaming it the Herschell-Spillman Company. The Carousel in The Park located in Gage Park, Topeka, Kansas was constructed around 1908 by The Herschell-Spillman Company of North Towanda, New York and celebrates its 100th birthday in 2008. Topeka’s Carousel in the Park is a portable carousel and was meant to be dismantled and reconstructed as it was taken from town to town. It left New York and traveled across the United States fi nally fi nding a stopping place in The Philadelphia City Park. In 1945 the Carousel was sold to an amusement park in Longview, Texas. Charles Boyles, owner of Boyles Joyland, bought the carousel in 1957 and brought it home to Topeka. A short move from Boyles Joyland to ownership by the City of Topeka in 1986 brought the carousel to its present home in Gage Park. Will Morton of Denver, Colorado performed expert restorations on the animals in the late 1980’s. |
There is a mix of menagerie animals and horses on this carousel. Among the menagerie animals are two zebras, two camels, two dogs, two chickens, two rabbits, two boars, a reindeer and a billy goat. Horse figures include the wonderful Kansas horse with its wheat sheaf and unique medallion K seal, two horses with carved wolf-like hides instead of traditional saddles and a girl’s choice horse decked out with a delicately carved yellow rose on the bridle and a matching yellow ribbon on the tail. The Carousel in the Park is enjoyed by Topeka’s citizens seven days a week during the year from a late March-early April opening to its public use season closure at the end of October. The remainder of the year, the Carousel is in demand when the Carousel Room, attached to the Carousel building, is rented out for birthdays, baby & bridal showers, reunions, wedding anniversaries …all types of celebrations! The Carousel in the Park truly is a Topeka treasure which is enjoyed year 'round! |
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The Carousel 100th Birthday Program May 31, 2008 9:45 a.m. Music.......Sunflower Harmony Chorus Welcome.......Morey Sullivan Flag Ceremony.......We Ta Se, American Legion Post 410 Song.......National Anthem Proclamation.......Norton Bonaparte, Topeka City Manager Remarks.......Robert Kecheisen, Director, Kansas Museum of History National Carousel Association Centennial Plaque Presentation Other Brief Remarks Song.......Happy Birthday Ceremonial Rides.......Dignitaries Birthday cupcakes, Pepsi, Carousel rides, Songs by Kyler Carpenter, "The Balloon Lady" & Sunshine the clown, "Henry the Juggler," Children's crafts & Face painter Dawnelle Frye, Old-fashioned candy by Potwin Drug Store/Old Prairie Town/Ward-Meade Historic Site, Hupmobile display/an automobile built from 1908-41 by the Hupp Motor Co. of Detroit |
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All photos © 2008 by Carol Yoho
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