Spokane's Looff Carousel

A couple of years ago we visited a friend in Spokane, on our way home from a road trip to Moab. Kathy lives on Spokane's south hill, in a great 1950's brick house with wonderful wood floors and millwork. She took us to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, and after dinner she gave us a tour of downtown Spokane and Riverfront Park. I never realized how spectacular the falls were. Right in the middle of town, beautiful terraced falls. The sound is amazing, and there are two bridges over the falls that you can lean over and get a great look at the river. There's also a restored carousel here, and we got the last ride of the day.

Once we got home, I did some research.  The carousel was originally built in 1909 by Charles I. D. Looff, a gift for his daughter Emma Vogel and her husband, who owned Natatorium Park. It remained at the park until 1968, then was relocated to Riverfront Park in 1975, where it's operated ever since.

Looff was a master carver and builder of carousels and amusement rides in America. In 1876, he built the first carousel at Coney Island. During his lifetime, he manufactured over 50 carousels, twelve amusements parks, several roller coasters and Ferris wheels, and built California’s famous Santa Monica Pier.  He became famous for creating the unique Coney Island style of carousel carving. His carousel museum is now located in Long Beach, California.

The Looff carousel has 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, and 2 chariots, all hand carved by Looff himself. It also has a brass ring dispenser that allows the outside riders to grab a ring during each pass and then toss the ring at a clown with a hole for his mouth. If the rider is successful in capturing the brass ring, he or she can turn it in to win a free ride on the carousel. I managed to grab a ring on most of the 12 revolutions during the ride, and got one into the funnel for a free ride!

Especially fascinating was the practice of carving carousel figures with two distinct sides. The outside of each carved figure (it's the right side on this carousel because it travels counterclockwise) is known as the Romance Side:  because it faces out toward the crowd, this side is lavishly carved and decorated. The inside of a carousel figure is known as the Money Side—once you pay your money to ride the carousel, you'd mount from this side, which doesn't need to be as ornate. These photos show the Jewel side and the Money side of Oliver's Pride, one of the horses on the carousel.