After writing my blog post on the brass ring from the carousel I decided I wanted to get more into detail about where this carousel has been and how much it has traveled. While I was home this weekend I decided to go to Nunley’s Carousel and ask my boss about the details behind the ring machine and carousel which have always traveled together.

The ring machine, the rings and its accompanying carousel were created by the Artistic Carrousel Company in Brooklyn, New York under the ownership of Stein and Goldstein, German immigrants in 1912. The ring machine and carousel first saw operation in Golden City Park in Canarsie, Brooklyn.

Following a devastating fire in 1912 to the center of the park. The carousel building was built in the center of the park next to the roller coaster where the fire had destroyed the previous rides. This carousel was in continual operation until 1939. At that point Robert Moses devised an extensive plans of roads and parks, one of which, the belt parkway was designed to run right through Golden City Park. The park closed in 1939 for the construction of the Belt Parkway.

William Nunley brought his beloved carousel east to Long Island. He traveled down sunrise highway looking for a new home to start a small amusement park. He settled on a strip of land in Baldwin, opposite the Long Island Rail Road. There he opened a park, he erected a building he dismantled and took from golden city park that housed a different carousel. This carousel he brought to the 1939 World’s Fair in NYC. He placed the 1912 carousel in this building and opened it to the public. The carousel became the centerpiece of a new park called Nunley’s Amusements. The park eventually changed hands and was run by three brothers known as the Larcari brothers. The brothers ran Nunley’s Amusements including the carousel which became known astorages “Nunley’s Carousel. In 1995 the brothers retired and put the carousel and other amusement rides on the auction block. Public outcry over the thought of the carousel being sold in piecemeal caused nassau county to condemn the carousel for the “greater good of the people.” This was a landmark decision since an amusement drive has never been condemned for this purpose.

The carousel was dismantled and stored in a hanger adjacent to the Cradle of Aviation Museum. It remained in storage in 2008 when Nassau County agreed to build a new building for the carousel and have it restored on Museum Row 100 feet from the storage facility. This restoration project was fueled by grassroots fundraising effort by a second grade student called “Pennies for Ponies.” In 2008 the dismantled carousel was loaded onto trucks for its journey to Mansfield, Ohio to Carousel Works, the only carousel restoration facility in America. Located directly behind the Mansfield State Penitentiary featured in the movie “Shawshank Redemption.”

In 2009 the fully restored Carousel and ring machine returned to Long Island for its grand opening in May 2009. For the past 10 years rings such as mine have been loaded daily into the ring machine to the delight of tens of thousands of visitors. This 107 year old masterpiece continues to turn. Today, visitors still continue to grab the rings in hopes that they grab the coveted brass ring for a free carousel ride as visitors have done for the past century.