A fairground organ is a musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music to accompany rides and attractions, mostly merry-go-rounds. Unlike organs for indoor use, they are designed to produce a large volume of sound to be heard above the noises of crowds and fairground machinery.
Ruth Fairground organ
The Frati & Co. Band Organ at the Lakeside Park Carousel in Port Dalhousie, ON.
The roll-playing mechanism on the Wurlitzer 146 band organ at the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum in North Tonawanda, NY. 150 Scale.
Duplex roll mechanism of a Wurlitzer 153 band organ
A carousel or carrousel, merry-go-round (international), Galloper (international) or roundabout is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gears to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music.
A French old-fashioned carousel with stairs in La Rochelle
Carousel feast at the Grand-Place in Brussels in 1565 to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma
The Carousel organised in the courtyard of the Tuileries Palace by Louis XIV in June 1662 to celebrate the birth of his son and heir apparent
Pictured in Margate, England in the 1880s, Savage's amusement ride, Sea-On-Land, where the riders would pitch up and down as if they were on the sea. His "galloping horse" innovation is seen on carousels today.
