Perkasie Carousel Perkasie, PA – Only Open 1 Sunday a Month- Get There!

I discovered the Perkasie (PER, ka SEE) Carousel a few months ago when I was killing time in the area while Retro Roadhusband had a sound check at a venue just down the street. I was positively fascinated to find this reminder of the good old times tucked away in a local park in this quiet community.  While the carousel wasn't open then, I didn't realize I'd have to coordinate my calendar to visit there, as they are open only the first Sunday of every month.

I was glad to make it to the area in time to see plenty of families gathering in the park for a Kiwanis chicken barbeque and heading over to where there has been a carousel since 1895.

The carousel that is currently housed there (and run by volunteers of the Perkasie Anniversary and Historical Society)  has been there since 1951 (replacing the original that was moved off-site) and is an interesting, portable-design merry-go-round, made by the Herschell company.

It was made to be easily broken down and assembled in a short amount of time for touring carnivals, and that is why it looks somewhat different from the ornately carved ones you may be used to. There is no loss in charm however, as each one of these 36 cast aluminum horses have been lovingly painted by local artists.

Did I even mention what an affordable treat a ride is on this historic carousel is? Since the Historical Society took over operation in 1970 the ticket prices have only been raised a whopping 20cents. That's right, you can ride on the carousel for only 35 CENTS! I frankly don't know much else you can do with 35c nowadays, and this ride is worth 4x as much, trust me.

While waiting for my turn to ride I could not help but notice a different yet familiar sort of horse on display in front of the band organ.

Upon closer inspection I could see why it looked familiar, as it was a Philadelphia Toboggan Company horse, similar to those on ol' PTC #85 down in Nantasket Beach MA. I was curious to see why this horse was singled out, and I could not read past "On a summer day in 1946, 16 year old Rose met a dashing young U.S. Air Force Veteran..." without getting all choked up, despite the happy surroundings.

(A memorial to Perkasie native Rose Ann Diehl who met her husband here at Menlo Park)

Trying to ignore my teary eyes, I turned towards the carousel and waited with the grandparents and younguns until it was our turn to ride. I climbed aboard the carousel and cheered myself by seeing the reactions of the little kids around me. One adorable blonde-haired little girl was positively bouncing in her saddle, giddy with the fact that she'd be giddy-upping in just a moment. I don't think she was taking in the nice paintwork of the art deco styled interior of the carousel, but that sure made me smile.

With a few words from the operator the music began and the carousel began to whirl, and all of our horses started to up and down. I could not help but break into a smile, much like the little girl in front of me, as we circled around, up and down with the band organ music blaring. I loved the fact that the operator kept note of the time of the rides with an egg timer, and was impressed that the music was able to be muted quickly when it was time to speak to the riders.

I had seen the punched paper music rolls behind the band organ, but burst out laughing when the kindly ticket taker gave me the insider skinny and noted that the interior of the band organ been retrofitted with a computer so they could mute it from a distance. Ah, the modern world creeps in everywhere. (updated 11/2010 to note that Anglerfly Productions commented on the youTube video of the Perkasie carousel " its a stinson band organ. it used to be an old one called the merri org." = love it when people can add pieces to the puzzle- thanks Anglerfly!

So from choked up tears to silly grins to cracked up laughter, all of that was had for the price of a 35 cent ticket. I gave a few more dollars donation at the volunteer-run snack bar, bought a heap of postcards from the nice ladies at the volunteer run gift table, chatted with some of the locals and had a lovely day. FOR THIRTY FIVE CENTS!

This coming Sunday is one of the last that the carousel will be open for the season, so get to Perkasie and get your money's worth!