Description

Circa 1902- ’07 Woodside Park Dentzel Menagerie

The Woodside Park Dentzel carousel traveled a long and arduous journey after the park closed in 1955. At first to Rockaway Park in New York for a couple of years, and then into storage briefly, and then to St. John Terrell’s Music Circus in Lambertville, New Jersey through 1966. In this time, pioneer carousel historian, Fred Fried would purchase the carousel. From St. John Terrell’s the ride would be donated to the Smithsonian and relegated to storage in Gilbertville, MA. Finally, in 2005, a deal was made for the carousel to be restored and opened again as part of the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, not far from where it had operated originally, at Woodside Park.

Not all of the animals on the carousel made the entire journey. A number of figures, like this goat, came off the machine after Woodside closed in 1955. Other figures would suffer other fates, poor storage and otherwise.

This goat, retaining its park paint from Woodside Park, untouched since 1955, is a very rare and special piece.