colours, colours and carousels

↟ carousel appreciation blog ↟ | sideblog | please read pinned post |

[paintedhorses]

↟ welcome to paintedhorses! ↟

my name is cascade! | 25 | she/her | main is @divasprings

my childhood hometown carousel inspired me to create this blog

this account appreciates all things carousel related!

- craftsmanship and restoration

- history behind the horses

- carousel paintings and artworks

- figurines and other merchandise

basically carousel horses wherever i might see them!

let’s talk navigation! i do my best to keep organized

- #neigh? | inbox questions

- #from the saddle | carousel history

- #prized ponies | personal favorites!

- #original | unrestored

- #restoration | touch up!

- #lost carousels | auctioned, fire, etc

looking for a specific carousel carver? try these hashtags

- #herschell | #muller | #dentzel | #carmel

- #philadelphia toboggan | #stein & goldstein

- #looff | #illions | #parker | #heyn | #ed roth

this blog is a safe space to enjoy carousel horses; DNI nazis, terfs, pedos, zionists, anyone hateful and harmful

some carousel horses show carvings of people with occasional nudity, you can block the hashtag #artistic nudity if you do not wish to see

i do my best to credit my sources but if something is missing, please message me privately

thank you for reading! please enjoy!

[paintedhorses]

Unrestored Looff Prancer | Marjorie & Howard Drubner Collection

[paintedhorses]

Hair Day

most carousel companies had their own individual style when it came to their horses manes but some shared common labels

today we’ll be talking about the different kinds of manes used on carousel horses

Windswept

also known as wind blown manes, carousel horse carvings were all about showing a horse in motion! this was the perfect mane to do the job

Peekaboo Mane

just as it sounds, this mane has a gap that you can look through!

peekaboo manes were an incredible flex in the carousel world, it proved that a company could carve thin pieces of wood without the risk of it snapping

Trojan Mane

also known as roached or chopped manes, this style of hair was given its name for its trojan-helmet resemblance

allan hershell is my personal favorite when it comes to trojan manes. sometimes they blend the trojan mane & peekaboo mane as seen in the first photo below

Side Swept

these manes bring a softer/elegant side in contrast to their energetic counterparts

it also brought great emphasis to the romance side, the side of a carousel horse that always faces the crowd

Flying Mane

similar to the windswept mane but with more volume and exaggeration

sometimes carvers such as parker would combine the peekaboo mane with the flying mane as shown below to the right

Top Knot

this mane is styled as if the bangs are floating or curled into a knot on top of the horses head, giving an energetic appearance

introduced in the 1920s, this style was used by the dentzel/muller company the most

remember that many carousel companies differ from eachother! some may share terms while others do not, thank you for reading!

[paintedhorses]

Carmel Outside Row Jumper | Prospect Park Carousel

[paintedhorses]

“ Margaret “ Dentzel Lead Mare Stander | Please Touch Museum

[paintedhorses]

Carousel Horses ?? At Red Robin’s ??

when i was growing up, the red robin’s in my hometown once had carousel menagerie

there were two white horses, one of which was a unicorn. they were both located towards the back of the restaurant with table booths in front and large windows behind them. closer to the kitchen entrance, there was even a tiger

while i was the horse lover of the family, my older sister really liked tigers so it was fun to visit a place with carousel decor of what we both loved, it was even better when there was an available booth near these figures

but as years passed, one day we showed up and they were no longer there

while it’s been virtually impossible to find any information on the carousel horses and tiger from my hometown, i did find some scarce carousel content from other locations

according to research, red robin’s frequently modeled their carousel horse reproductions off of looff carved horses

these horses were almost always white with similar trappings to early 20th century carousel horses, the only difference being that they added their logo upon the chest

as for their menagerie tiger? most likely a reproduction too, it did have the same exact pose of most golden age tigers

it’s hard to tell when red robin’s started decorating their restaurants with carousel menagerie or why they stopped, where did they end up? part of me doesn’t want to know 😬

i’m very curious if any followers from the united states saw carousel horses & menagerie at red robin’s too, thank you for reading!

[paintedhorses]

Decorative Carousel Birdcage | Early 1900s

[paintedhorses]

1915 Ornate Rose Parker | The Carousel Musuem

[paintedhorses]

Herschell Jumping Horses | Carousel or Smiles

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Do you have a favorite carousel horse that isn't a horse? Like a giraffe or a fish or something..

as of recently? whatever is going on here

[paintedhorses]

Trojan Outside Row Stander | The Hampton Carousel

[paintedhorses]

Cahut Carousel Horse | 19th Century Fredrich Heyn

[paintedhorses]

This blog is satisfying a niche interest I didn't even know I had until now. Thanks! 🎠❤️

always happy to hear people taking an interest in carousel content!

the art of carousel carvings were on track for becoming a lost art until its revival period in the 1980s

thank you to everyone who supports this blog! you are keeping carousel history alive ♥︎

[paintedhorses]

Dentzel Outside Row Standers | Children’s Museum of Memphis | Photos by John Caruso

[paintedhorses]

♥︎ Happy Valentine’s Day ♥︎

Outside Row Jumper | 1915 Carmel

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Feathered Looff Jumper | Restoration by Lise Liepman

[paintedhorses]

Jeweled Standers | Early 1900s Carmel Borelli