Print Size: 24" x 30" (Frame Size: 24" x 30")
Glen Echo carousel is one of some 135 antique merry-go-rounds still in operation in the United States, and one of the very few in its original building (a 12-sided canopy) in its original location. (Most vintage carousels were dismantled in the 1960s and sold piecemeal to collectors). It was manufactured in 1921 by one of the foremost carousel companies in the U.S., the Dentzel Carousel Company, whose young founder Gustav Dentzel left his carousel-building family in Germany to establish his own company in Philadelphia in 1860. The carousel’s elaborately hand-carved and painted animals are a Dentzel trademark. Populating the 3 concentric rings of this so-called “menagerie carousel” are 40 horses intermixed with rabbits, ostriches, giraffe, deer, lions, tigers, 2 highly decorated circus chariots, oil paintings, more than 1,000 lights, and mirrored panels galore. Glen Echo carousel was bought by local citizens in 1970 and donated to the National Park Service. A 20-year restoration program was completed in 2003.
