Ohio - Day 15 - Sandusky

Camp Sandusky

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

today's route

Sandusky is bigger than I thought, with 25,000+ residents.  And I was also surprised to learn it has several points of interest.  I was only interested in one of them but took the long way around to get there.

Barn Swallow

I drove along the shoreline to Battery Park Marina, where I found quite the population of Barn Swallows.  Later on I found a condominium of them, with lots of them perched outside their holes.  Pretty birds.

I assume there was once a Battery at Battery Park, though I didn't see one now.  They have several community facilities there, including a marina, which is flanked by the Sandusky Yacht Club on one side and the Sandusky Sailing Club on the other, both of which have their own marinas.  Lots of boats along there.

I could see across a little bay what looked like a very large amusement park.  From online research I'm guessing it's a place called Soak City - a sort of Schlitterbahn, maybe.

view of amusement park beyond marina

Soak City

Sandusky was ranked #1 on Forbes's 2011 list of Best Places to Live Cheaply in the US.  So there you are.

As you can see from these markers, which were all side by side at Battery Park, Sandusky was once an area of great innovation and industry.

One industry they still have is a place called Industrial Nut Corporation, which I thought sounded odd enough to look up.  It's a 111-year-old company that makes custom manufactured nuts, locknuts and machined parts.  Seems odd that it could be so specialized and yet still be hanging on after so many years, but it is.

What I was really headed for was the Merry-Go-Round Museum.

The museum is in the old post office building, which probably seemed the perfect location, given its round front.



The museum explained there are three main styles of carousel, made by different craftsmen.

I visited the Herschell-Spillman Co. in North Tonawanda, NY, and thoroughly enjoyed their carousel, made in the country fair style.  The one here at the museum was made by the Dentzel Carousel Co. and is an example of the Philadelphia style.  I think it's a Charles Looff carousel I rode in Rhode Island, an example of the Coney Island style.  And despite these detailed descriptions shown here, I haven't got a clue how to tell these styles apart.  It looks to me like they're all detailed and bejeweled and so forth.  Obviously experts can do it, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all just magical fun.  But when you look at my photos below, see if you can tell which is which.

from l-r, these horses were made in: 1912, 1912, 1905, 1903, 1912 (blue saddle, silver mane)

the dark horse with light bridle and the tan horse, both in rear, were on 1995 USPS carousel postage stamp

That tan horse is one of the largest horses ever carved and is the cover image for Art of the Carousel, by Charlotte Dinger.

During the reign of Louis XIV, there was an annual tournament to showcase equestrian talents.  A favorite game was to use a lance to snare a small dangling ring while at a full gallop.  Of course, horseriders wanted to practice before competing in the tournament and devices were made for this.

the actual lancing is behind the pole (sorry) but all the pictures show the recreational side of a carousel

The greatest of these tournaments was called Le Grande Carousel, and was held in 1662 in the area of Paris that is still called Place au Carousel.  By the mid-1800s, the craze had spread throughout Europe, and had even migrated to America (probably via immigrants).  In 1867 a cabinetmaker opened a carousel manufacturing shop in Philadelphia.

The Golden Age for carousels was 1895-1928 (ended with the Depression).  During that period more than 3,000 were made in the US; less than 100 still survive.

l-r, these deer were made in: 1905, 1907, 1907 (others in next photo)

l-r 1907, 1900, 1900, 1905

Note the painted panels above the deer: those are all in original factory paint and came from the carousel in Crystal Beach Park, Vermillion, OH.  That's some paint job, isn't it, to have survived so long.

Those with sharp eyes may have noticed the photo of Michelle Obama who, as First Lady in 2014, featured that first deer as part of the "Holidays at the White House" display, which she designed.  It's shown in the photo behind the deer.

the lion on the far L was made in 1880; the zebra is from 1895; the lion behind the zebra was made in 1900 and weathered the 1938 hurricane on the boardwalk at Long Beach, NJ; the chicken is from 1902

I was partial to this sea monster from 1905

Note that these animals are mostly older than the horses they have - I'm sure there are old horses but they don't have them in this museum.

I've never been much interested in the animals, partly because they're usually stationary and where's the fun in that.  But there were 3 men visiting the museum when I was there, and one of them wandered over to the animals when I was taking photos, and I heard the other two find him and say, of course he'd be over there, he lo-o-oves the animals.

Oddities:
A British merry-go-round operates clockwise; all others in the world go counterclockwise.  Go figure.

yes, a 1917 airplane landed on a carousel

the sign behind the horse explains