Carousel: A History Trivia Quiz

Answer: spinner

Carousels are also known as merry-go-rounds, jumpers, and flying horses. The majority of the seats in carousels look like horses. However, there are also some using pigs, zebras, tigers, and even mythological creatures, to name a few. Some also have bench seats that are not animals.

Answer: jousting

Jousting has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a martial arts game played on horseback or on foot. It is played with a lance, but other short swords can be used as well. Originally, it was a game, but also a duel, and very dangerous. By the late Middle Ages, it was more controlled and had rules. With the code of chivalry, it became dishonorable to take advantage of the other person when they were at a disadvantage.

Warmblood chargers and destriers were the main horses used for jousting.

Answer: 17th

In the 17th century, knights would ride in circles, throwing glass balls filled with perfume at each other. If the ball broke, they would smell like perfume, which put them to shame. This game was called "carusella" in Spanish, which is where we got the name "carousel".

When the men practiced the jousting, the horses would become exhausted. In the 17th century, a carousel of wooden horses was invented so the real horses could rest. The carousel worked with one real horse walking around.

Soon, they were being made for others to enjoy, including children. The first ones relied on horses or other people to pull them to make them turn.

Answer: fairs

The carousels were now found in England and central Europe. They just had seats hanging from a chain for the people to sit on. They would not start using horses until the 19th century.

In the 18th century, the carousels were still pulled by humans or horses.

Answer: He invented the first steam-powered mechanical carousel.

Thomas Bradshaw invented the first steam-powered carousel around 1861. It first appeared at the Aylsham Fair. The "Halifax Courier" described it like this, "A roundabout of huge proportions, driven by a steam engine which whirled around with such impetuousity [sic], that the wonder is the daring riders are not shot off like cannonballs, and driven into the middle of next month."

Answer: a mechanism to make the horses go up and down

Frederick Savage was born on March 3, 1828, in Hevingham, Norfolk, England. He was a businessman, engineer, and inventor. In the 1870s, he made carousels with velocipedes (man-powered wheeled land vehicles - such as the bicycle).

He continued to work on carousels and came up with one using boats called "Sea-on-Land."

He then added gears to the horses of the traditional carousels. These gears made the horses move up and down as the carousel went around. This made it more like riding a real horse.

Answer: Ohio

Franz Wiesenoffer opened the first carousel in the United States in Hessville, Ohio. The "Golden Age of the Carousel" was from 1880 until the Great Depression. During this time, the US worked on making bigger and more elaborate carousels than were seen in Europe. Meanwhile, immigrants who came to the United States tried to preserve European traditions.

Answer: Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902. In May 1927, he flew from New York City to Paris, France, making the first successful solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Before taking off, he went to Coney Island and rode the carousel. This relaxed him, and he was calmly able to take flight after the ride.

Answer: aluminum and fiberglass

In the 1920s, the Allen Herschell Company was a company specializing in amusement park rides. They started making the legs of the horses out of aluminum as it proved more durable than the wooden legs.

Not only is it more durable to use materials other than metal, but it also allows the designers to be more detailed when designing the horses (or other seats).

Answer: Yes

There are multiple carousel museums. The first carousel museum was where the old Herschell Carrousel Factory was in Tonawanda, NY. It is the only carousel museum made in an original carousel-producing factory.

Some other places with museums are Bristol, Connecticut, USA, and Paris, France.