The Carousel

Yes, there’s a carousel on The Commons and it has been there since the last years of the Depression—the story behind that claim and the Ruffini Brothers Circus is elsewhere—and it was restored for the city’s 150th birthday, operated by volunteers every Friday and Saturday night. In style, ours is somewhere between these two examples, both of them anonymous; it’s certainly humbler than the “…Mitchell’s Electric Racing…” model. [I paid a bundle for that card, which obligates me to use it somehow.]

David Rock designed a braced-frame shelter for Agincourt’s carousel but I destroyed the model, when the wind took it from my grip on the way to the first exhibit in 2007. I wonder if he’s forgiven me. David’s solution was far more nuanced and elegant than the basic polygon shown at the top, and it has been my goal to reconstruct it from memory.