Issue 10.pdf

Carousel Organ, Issue No. 10 — January, 2002

ost folks who are really “crazy” about carousels and

band organs got that way because of a “hands on”

experience working in a park. Anyway, thats what

happened to me. Back in the 1950s I had the good fortune to be

employed as a summer employee while going to school in the

winters. Having had experience running a cash register in a

supermarket, I was hired as cashier in a food stand. In the

evenings when things quieted down a bit, you could hear the

sound of the band organ on the carousel drifting through the

park. I was enchanted! I spent a lot of my “break time” at the

carousel watching and listening. The following summer I asked

to work on the carousel. Ever had a job that you just couldn’t

wait to go to work? I had one!

Hershey

Park opened

in 1907 as a

baseball field

and band

shell where

the Hershey

Band per-

formed.

Picnic groves

allowed local

residents a

place to gath-

er and relax. As time went on, rides were added and visitors to

the park were greeted by a beautiful garden area at the park

entrance. They could walk to the amusement ride areas or they

could take a ride on a wonderful electric miniature railway

down to the center of the park.

The carousel (they called theirs “carrousel”) was located

along Spring Creek which ran through the park. This area of

the park was known as the “hollow” (a low area by the creek).

The carousel was housed in the usual round building which also

included a small refreshment stand. I worked in the park from

1955 to 1964. In those days the park was in the “traditional

amusement park” configuration. The park was not fenced in

and there was no charge to enter the park. Patrons paid for each

ride according to what they wanted to ride. Each ride had its

own ticket booth, cashier and ride operators. Since I lived close

by the park and was available to work right from the start of the

park season till the end, I was fortunate to have the chance to

operate many of the different rider until the regular summer

operators arrived. My principal place to work was on the

carousel.

The Hershey Park Carrousel was manufactured by the

Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1917. Assigned the num-

ber “47” by the PTC, the ride was one of their larger machines.

It was a four abreast machine. There is one larger PTC machine

in existence today, a five abreast machine owned by Disney.

No. “47” was originally purchased by Liberty Heights Park in

Baltimore, MD and later moved to Auburn, NY. In 1944, this

magnificent carousel was brought to Hershey Park and installed

in the “hollow” by Spring Creek. The carousel features 42

jumpers, 24 stationary horses, two chariots and 1,788 light

bulbs. The ride diameter is 50 feet and it revolves at six rpm.

The carousel building had a porch on the front and the

refreshment stand on one side as mentioned above. The usual

crew was composed of an operator, two ticket takers and a

cashier. Sometimes on busy holiday weekends we had addi-

tional ticket takers. Generally, we swept the ride and floor the

night before. The building had large folding doors which

opened up to expose the complete circumference of the ride.

Before running, the oil cup for the top bearing would be

checked for oil for the day’s operation and the horse cranks

were wiped down to prevent excess grease from dropping down

on the riders.

Tickets were sold in a booth on the porch of the building.

The cost of a ride was five cents in those days. Upon entering

the building, the public had access to the carousel on all sides.

We had no control as to the number of persons boarding the

ride. The carousel was a popular ride and on a busy day there

was a real scramble to get a horse. In fact, you would need to

have two tickets to get a horse. One ticket to “stand by” the

horse of your choice in hopes the rider would get off after their

ride and you could then get on your horse. All riders required

a ticket, riding or standing. The ride had a seating capacity of

about 74 persons. Since many riders were small children, they

were often accompanied by an adult to make sure they didn’t

fall off. This of course increased the number of riders also. On

a busy day, this often produced a load of close to 200 people on

the ride. It was even worse when it rained as our ride was one

of the few which had a roof over it and people flocked in to get

out of the rain.

In those days the carousel used a friction drive known as an

“Auchy Drive” patented by the inventor Henry B. Auchy. This

The HERSHEYPARK Carrousel and Its Band Organ

Bill Black

Figure 1. HERSHEYPARK as it appears today, locat-

ed at Hershey, PA.

(Figure 2). The “Wild Mouse” roller Coaster had a good view of the

main portion of the park.

Carousel Organ, Issue No. 10 — January, 2002

consisted of a belt drive from an electric motor to transmit the

power to the “Auchy Drive” clutch and brake mechanism. A

lever arm served to raise a large disc against brake pads to stop

the ride or lower the disc onto rollers to start and run it. This

arrangement allowed for some slippage and served as a clutch.

It worked very well as long as you were dealing with the intend-

ed normal number of riders. Now if you had 200 people on

board, the resultant weight was more than this arrangement

could stand and the ride would not start due to slippage of the

motor belts to the drive. So, the maintenance crew would arrive

and apply belt dressing to the belts for extra grip. Still on occas-

sion, the carousel crew would have to “put our shoulders to it”

to get her going. Great fun and this usually produced a cheer

from the riders awaiting their ride.

For the purpose of collecting tickets, we divided the ride

into two halves with either one or two people working each

half, depending on the number of crew members. The ride ran

under power for three minutes. We used an egg timer. An elec-

tric bell served to warn riders that the ride was about to start.

The lever to apply the brake required some experience so as not

to apply the brake too fast which would cause the drive gear to

“slip a tooth” on the ring gear. This produced a sound like a

clap of thunder so we were always very careful to avoid this. If

the ride was very busy and the crowd large, we would shorten

the running time to accommodate more rides per hour.

The carousel was also equipped with a ring machine. The

park office would decide when the

ring machine would be operated and

gave us a brass ring with instructions

not to let it get away. The arm was

loaded with steel rings with the brass

ring as the last one. After the tickets

were collected, the arm would be

swung out for riders to grab a ring.

One of us would stand by the

machine to watch who got the brass

ring. We would then immediately

hop on the ride to retrieve the ring.

The person who got the ring was

given a special ticket which they

could keep or use for a free ride. The

steel rings were collected by means of a large box with a clown

face. The idea was for the rider to see if they could throw the

ring into the clown’s mouth. This also required our close atten-

tion as sometimes riders couldn’t resist the urge to throw the

steel ring at someone. This problem eventually led to the

demise of this fine tradition due to the possibility of injury to

spectators.

Closing time was strictly under the control of the park man-

ager. The “Comet” roller coaster loading platform was high off

the ground and afforded a good view of the main portion of the

park. The park manager would arrive at this perch and survey

the amount of people present and the number of those folks who

were still riding the amusements. When he judged that it was

no longer profitable to stay open, the ride lights on the coaster

were turned off. That was the signal to close. The coaster ride

light could be seen all over the park. For those who couldn’t see

the lights, the word spread to them quickly. Time to clean up

and lock up. The money collected from the ticket sales and the

ticket cans were returned to the park office. Our day was done

and we looked forward to tomorrow. An exciting place to work.

Always something new happening . . .

In 1970, Hershey Estates changed Hershey Park from the

traditional amusement park configuration to the new concept of

amusement parks—the theme park. HERSHEYPARK was

born. The park became totally enclosed; an admission price

was charged and the carousel was relocated to a new location,

called the Carrousel Circle, which also included a cluster of

other rides.

When the carousel was moved to the new location, this pre-

sented an opportunity to completely restore the machine

(Figure 3). A new hardwood floor was constructed; the horses

were stripped, repaired and repainted. The Wurlitzer 153 band

organ was completely restored by Mike Kitner.

HERSHEYPARK’s Wurlitzer Style 153 Band Organ

When I first began working in the park in 1955, the 153

band organ was in playing condition and used daily during the

park season (Figures 4 - 6). It was being maintained by a fel-

low named William Buckley. He was located in the

Philadelphia area as I was told. Now and then I would observe

him working on the organ if I happened to arrive at work early.

His custom was to work on the organ in the mornings before the

park opened. I believe he was called

on an as-needed basis. All his work

was done on the site. I never saw him

take any parts with him although he

may have done this in the years

before I worked there. All the organ

music rolls were Tussing rolls.

Around 1960, the organ was no

longer in playing condition. Back

then, I didn't¹t know much about how

it worked so I now don¹t recall what

the specific problem was. To provide

music for the ride, a sound system

was installed which used a reel to reel

tape machine for playback. There

Figure 3. The rebuilt “carrousel” with its restored animals and the

Wurlitzer 153 band organ.

Figure 4. The Wurlitzer 153 band organ near the center

of the “carrousel.”

Carousel Organ, Issue No. 10 — January, 2002

was no actual band organ music on these tapes. One was a tape

of hand-played organ music which didn't¹t have the flavor of the

band organ.

I quit working in the park after 1964 and was out of touch

with the organ till about mid 1970s. One of the fellows who

worked on the carousel with me in the 1960s was now

employed by the park in a management position. He was aware

that I had acquired a band organ. About that time, a major

expansion of the park was underway which included moving

the carousel from its location by the creek to a new location.

This included a new build-

ing to house the ride and a

restoration of the carousel.

Attention was again turned

to the organ. I was contact-

ed by the park and asked if

I knew anyone who could

restore the organ. I sure did

. . .Mike Kitner!

The organ was moved

to Mike’s shop and under-

went a complete restora-

tion. This was accom-

plished over the winter

months. In the spring, Mike

and I installed the organ on

the ride. I no longer

remember the year. From

then on, the carousel had

an operating band organ. Mike took care of the maintenance

from then until his death. We usually went to the park together

for service calls. Every couple of weeks during the park sea-

sons, I would visit the park, touch up the tuning and give Mike

a report on its condition. At the end of each season, Mike would

decide what needed to be done for the next season. We would

remove the parts to be worked on and take them to his shop. In

the spring we would return the parts and get the organ ready for

the season. During this period from the 70s to the present time,

the organ had been in his shop twice for restoration.

When Mike passed away last December, the repairs for the

coming season had not been done. I knew what was planned

and was able to complete it and prepare the organ for the 2001

season.

The organ’s serial number is 3839 and was built in 1926.

All photos were taken by the author.

Bill Black is a a full-time practicing dentist in Chambersburg PA from 1964 to this day. He has been a

band organ enthusiast since his employment at HERSHEYPARK. He began collecting band organs in 1972.

This article was published, in part, on the www.carousels.com

web site and is used with permission of Bruce Zubee, owner

of www.carousels.com

Figure 6. Another view of the Wurlitzer 153 band organ reveals the col-

orful lights and painted facade.

Figure 5. Enclosed in the back of the

Wurlitzer 153 are the twin roll

frames.

On Tuesday morning I call Memphis and learn they found the

original paperwork and it's in Minneapolis. Good! I call the broker

and tell her that. She responded by saying that they had already sent

the paperwork over to Customs, but now they can't find it either.

Must be “airhead work” again. By now I could have carried this

thing on my back and swam over here. I go back home again. At

1:15 in the afternoon a fax comes through to come and get the

organ, it's all cleared. Hooray! Back to the cities, load the organ,

and drive back home. Then I uncrated the organ, unloaded it and

placed it into the shed.

That evening we're ready to hear the first tune. Wrong again—

no belt. I look at the pulley and there's a place to put a crank han-

dle. Yes! I have a bolt that will fit as a crank. I hand cranked for the

first half song and thought I would have a heart attack. The next

day I went to my old work place to see if I could borrow a V-belt.

We found one, and that put me in business. But the motor was noisy

—I've had troubles before with Dayton motors, they are electrical-

ly out of balance. I took it back and exchanged it for a different

brand—one that is smmmooooth. I finally got the original belt, the

motor located, and all the other idiosyncrasies ironed out. Now I

am in heaven playing up a storm.

Yes, my middle name has always been “Wait” but the wait is

sure worth it. Anyone wanting to see and hear our new Prinsen

organ is always welcome.

This article previously printed in the May 2001 edition of the

Resonator, a newsletter of the Snow Belt chapter of the MBSI.

Since high school Ralph Schultz has always dreamed of having a repair shop. With 27 years

as a tool and die maker as background he has worked for 12 years restoring musical boxes.

. . . continued from page 20