Charles I. D. Looff
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| Charles I. D. Looff | |
| Born | May 24, 1852 Bramstedt, Schleswig Holstein, Denmark |
|---|---|
| Died | July 1, 1918 (aged 66) Long Beach, California |
| Spouse | Anna Dolle |
| Children | Anna (1875-1896), Helen (1877-1956), Emma (1879-1938), Charles (1881-1924), William (1883-1945), Arthur (1888-1970) |
Charles I. D. Looff was a master builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides in America. Looff built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. During his lifetime, he manufactured some forty carousels, several roller coasters and Ferris wheels, and built California's famous Santa Monica Pier. He became famous for creating the unique Coney Island style of carousel carving.
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[edit] From Denmark to Brooklyn
Charles Looff was born in Bramstedt, Schleswig Holstein, Germany on May 24, 1852 as Carl Jurgen Detlef Looff. He learned the art of woodcarving and immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City on August 14, 1870. Settling on Leonard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, he found work as a carver at a furniture factory. Working part-time as a ballroom dance instructor, Looff met and married Anna Dolle in 1874. After working in the furniture factory all day, he took scraps of wood home to his apartment and began carving them into carousel animals. Young Looff assembled his wooden horses and animals onto a circular platform and created his first amusement ride. He installed his ride at Balmer's Bathing Pavilion at West Sixth Street and Surf Avenue. This was Coney Island's first carousel.
Charles Looff opened a factory at 30 Bedford Avenue and built two more carousels, doing all the carving himself. He located one at Feltman's Beer Garden on Surf Avenue, Coney Island, and the other at Young's Million dollar Pier at Atlantic City, New Jersey. Impressed with this new kind of amusement ride, Mr. Young bought it from the ecstatic carver. Looff began to hire expert carvers such as John Zalar, Marcus Charles Illions, John Mueller and Charles Carmel to help with his expanding business.
Charles and Anna produced six children: Anna (1875-1896), Helen (1877-1956), Emma (1879-1938), Charles (1881-1924), William (1883-1945), Arthur (1888-1970). All except Anna, who died at age 21, would work with their father in the carousel business. When the City of New York took his property under Eminent Domain to build a park, Looff moved his family to the Crescent Amusement Park, in Riverside, Rhode Island.
[edit] Rhode Island
Colonel George Boyden built Crescent Park in 1886 on 50 acres overlooking beautiful Narragansett Bay. Boyden commissioned Looff to build a large carousel at the head of a 400-foot pier that received throngs of people from the steamboats that cruised up and down the Bay. Crescent Park became known as "the Coney Island of the East" during this time. Charles I. D. Looff built another carousel a short distance away, which housed his small workshop. He used this ride as a showpiece for prospective buyers to choose the types of horses, etc for their machines. Looff's daughter, Helen, and her husband, Charles Simmons bought the ride from Looff's widow, Anna in 1930. This carousel is still operating, has been renovated, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In 1985, the Rhode Island General Assembly proclaimed the Carousel as the "State Jewel of American Folk Art". In 1987, the United States Department of Interior, National Park Service, designated the Carousel as a National Historic Landmark.
Charles Looff, Jr. worked in the shop carving saddles and chariots for his father. In 1920, Charles, Jr. purchased Crescent Park. He remodeled the huge Alhambra Ballroom by adding large roof trusses and removing the many columns, thereby opening the whole floor into one big space for ballroom dancing. Charles, Jr. also built an excursion boat, which he named the “Miss Looff” after his sister Anna, which plied the waters of Narragansett Bay bringing customers from Providence and Newport, Rhode Island to Crescent Park. Charles, Jr. married the sister of Charles Simmons, Emma Simmons. In 1909, Charles I. D. Looff built a beautiful carousel with 54 horses and gave it to his daughter, Emma, as a wedding present, when she married Louis Vogel, who owned Natatorium Park in Spokane, Washington.
[edit] California
Charles I. D., meanwhile, had become enchanted with the possibilities for amusement parks on the West coast and in August 1910 moved the rest of his family to Long Beach, California, leaving Helen and Charles Simmons, Charles, Jr. and Emma Looff in Riverside. Looff settled in Long Beach and built a factory on West Sixth Street. He purchased property at the Pike, an amusement area on the Long Beach’s waterfront, and built a large merry-go-round there. The family lived in an apartment above the ride. In addition to the carousel, Looff operated an amusement game called Lite-a-line. In 1943, the carousel was destroyed by fire.
In 1916, Looff with his son, Arthur, designed and built Looff's Santa Monica Pier along the south-side of the city’s long, narrow, municipal pier. They constructed a large Byzantine-Moorish style "Hippodrome" building to house one of their ornate carousels, now known as the Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome. The Looff‘s also erected the Blue Streak Racer wooden roller coaster on their new pleasure pier, along with The Whip and the Aeroscope thrill ride.
In addition to Santa Monica and the Pike, Looff built and operated amusement parks and carousels at Ocean Park, Redondo Beach, Venice Beach, Santa Cruz (still in operation), and San Francisco, California. Other merry-go-rounds were located in Oregon and Washington. Charles I. D. Looff died on July 1, 1918 in Long Beach, California. After his death, Arthur Looff continued to manage the family's West coast operation, including building the Giant Dipper roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome and the Santa Cruz Looff Carousel and Roller Coaster were both designated National Historic Landmarks in 1987.
[edit] Works
[edit] Looff carousels
| Year | Name | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1876 | Vandeveer's Bathing Pavilion Carousel | Coney Island, NY | Name changed to Balmer's Bathing Pavilion menagerie, no jumpers, the first of over 25 carousels at Coney Island, burned in the Dreamland fire of 1911 |
| 1877 | Feltman's Carousel | Feltman's Beer Garden, Coney Island, NY | menagerie, no jumpers, built, partially burned in the West Brighton fire of 1899, or possibly earlier because Feltman bought a second carousel by Looff in the 1890s. http://www.64nywf65.20m.com |
| 1880 | Coney Island Carousel | Coney Island, NY | |
| 1880 | Young's Million Dollar Pier Carousel | Young's Million Dollar Pier, Atlantic City, NJ | |
| 1884 | Roger Williams Park's Carousel | Warwick, RI | |
| 1886 | Half Moon Beach Carousel | Crescent, NY | |
| 1890 | Broadway Flying Horses Carousel | Coney Island, NY | Located at Coney Island until 1905. At Salisbury Beach, MA. from 1914-1976. Moved to Seaport Village, San Diego, California in 1980 and operated there until its sale in 2004 [1] |
| c. 1890 | Midland Beach Carousel | Midland Beach, Staten Island, NY | operated 1890 to 1905, 3 abreast, menagerie |
| 1890? | Crescent Park Pier Carousel | Riverside, RI | Still in use.[citation needed] |
| 1890 to 1897 | South Beach Carousel | Staten Island, NY | |
| 1891 | Rocky Point Park Carousel | Warwick, RI | |
| 1890 to 1897 | Narragansett Pier Carousel | Narragansett, RI | |
| 1895 | Lincoln Park Carousel | Dartmouth, MA | I am almost certain the Lincoln Park Carousel was moved to Battleship Cove in Fall River MA where it sits today. |
| 1896 | Lake Compounce Carousel | Lake Compounce, Bristol, CT | originally located at Savin Rock, West Haven, Connecticut, moved to present location in 1911 |
| c. 1893 | Roger Williams Park Carousel | Providence, RI | replaced in 1937 with PTC #44 |
| 1894 | The Looff Carousel at Slater Park | Slater Memorial Park, Pawtucket, RI | originally located at Lee Funland in New York, moved to present location in 1910; fastest Looff carousel made; listed on National Register of Historic Places |
| 1895 | Fair Park Carousel | Dallas, TX | 1958 to 1967: Pacific Ocean Park, Santa Monica, CA; 1967 to 1982: Spanaway, WA; 1982 to 1992: Willamette Center, Portland, OR; 1992 to 1997: AmeriFlora '92, Columbus, OH; 1997 to present: Media City Center Mall, Burbank, CA, told to move 2004 to Present: Seaport Village, San Diego, CA |
| 1895 | Crescent Park Carousel | Crescent Park, East Providence, RI | used by Looff as showcase for his work, all animals different; operational brass rings; listed on National Register of Historic Places |
| 1898 | Canobie Lake Park Carousel | Salem, NH | moved to present location in 1906 |
| 1898 | Sherman's Carousel | Canoga Lake, NY | Looff carousel populated with metal animals, in original 12-sided carousel building |
| 1889 to 1907 | Salisbury Beach Carousel | Salisbury, MA | |
| 1898 to 1907 | Rosen Heights Carousel | Fort Worth, TX | |
| 1900 | Goddard Park Carousel | Goddard Park, Warwick, RI | originally located at Lakeside Park, Syracuse, New York, moved 1908 to Rocky Point Amusement Park, Rhode Island and 1930 to present location |
| 1903 | Lakeside Park Carousel | Lakeside Park, Port Dalhousie, Ontario | moved to present location in 1921 |
| 1905 | Island Park Carousel | Portsmouth, RI | survived 1938 hurricane |
| 1904 | Zeum Carousel | Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA | built in 1904 for San Francisco, sent to instead Seattle's Luna Park due to 1906 earthquake, returned to Playland-At-The-Beach, San Francisco in 1914 until 1972; 1972 to 1984: In storage at Roswell, NM for restoration; 1984 to 1998: Shoreline Village, CA; 1998: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA |
| 1909 | Lakeside Carousel | International Market World, Auburndale, FL | originally located in Harvey Lake, Pennsylvania, moved to Florida in 1986 and present location in 1996 |
| 1909 | Riverfront Park Carousel | Riverfront Park, Spokane, WA | a wedding gift for Looff's daughter Emma Vogel and her husband Louis Vogel, who owned Natatorium Park; moved to present location in 1975; operational brass rings; National Historic Landmark |
| 1909 | Whalom Park Carousel[2] | Lunenburg, MA | Moved to Whalom Park in 1912, Featured 2 Looff Sea Dragons,[2][3] Broken up at auction April 15, 2000[3] |
| 1909 | Oklahoma State Fair Carousel | Oklahoma City, OK | with a figure 8 coaster |
| 1910 | Carousel of Happiness | Nederland, Colorado | originally located at Saltair Park, Salt Lake City, Utah, moved to American Fork, Utah in 1959 and sold for parts in 1986; building for Looff frame with new carved horses underway[4] |
| c. 1910 | Dr. Floyd L. Moreland Carousel | Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, NJ | moved in 1932 from Burlington Park, New Jersey; bearings and gears by Looff, figures by Dentzel, Looff, Carmel, and Illions |
| 1911 | The Pike Carousel | Long Beach, CA | burned down in 1943 |
| 1911 | Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Carousel | Santa Cruz, CA | National Historic Landmark, brass rings, still in use at original location, installed with Giant Dipper Coaster |
| 1911 | Fantasy Fair Carousel | Fantasy Fair, Toronto, Ontario | moved to present location in 1988; Looff platform, fiberglass animals |
| c. 1911 | Lighthouse Point Park Carousel | New Haven, CT | original location unknown, moved to present location in 1916 |
| 1911 | Fraser's Million Dollar Pier Carousel | Santa Monica, CA | Burned down in
9/1912 |
| 1911 | Venice Pier Carousel | Venice, CA | |
| 1911 | Heritage Museum Carousel | Heritage Museums and Gardens, Sandwich, MA | original location Crescent Park,Riverside, RI, moved to Fall River, MA, then to Provincetown, MA, then to present location in 1969 |
| c. 1912 | Grand Carousel | Knoebels, Elysburg, PA | moved to present location in 1941 from Riverview Park in Rahway, New Jersey; Looff frame, Carmel horses; operational brass rings |
| 1914 | Pan Pacific International Exposition Carousel | San Francisco, CA | |
| 1914 | RAB Amusements Carousel | Keansburg, NJ | |
| 1916 | Santa Monica Pier Carousel | Santa Monica, CA | replaced in 1947 with PTC #62; Looff Hippodrome carousel building is a National Historic Landmark |
| 1925 | Redondo Beach Carousel | Redondo Beach, CA | |
| 1926 | Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round | Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA | Spillman/Looff mix |
| 1928 | Van Andel Museum Carousel | Grand Rapids, MI | original location Lakewood Park, Barnesville, PA, moved to present location in 1982 |
[edit] References
- ^ Powell, Ronald W. (2004-04-25). Carousel's run comes to an end. The San Diego Union-Tribune.
- ^ a b "Great Old Amusement Parks", WQED (Pittsburgh, PA), 1999, ISBN 0-7806-2736-9
- ^ a b "Minerva - A Sea Dragon", The Carousel News & Trader, November 2004, Edna Caskey Wieier
- ^ Lawlor, Barbara (2006-12-13). Carousel of Happiness offered to Nederland, The Mountain Ear.
- A Pictorial History of the Carousel by Frederick Fried - 1964
- The Great American Carousel by Tobin Fraley - 1994
- Carousel Art - A magazine for people who love merry-go-rounds-PO Box 667, Garden Grove, California 92642
- Painted Ponies by William Manns, Peggy Shank, Marianne Stevens - 1986
- Art of the Carousel by Charlotte Dinger - 1984
- A History of the American Amusement Industry by William Mangels
- The Carousel Keepers, An Oral History of American Carousels by Carrie Papa - 1998
- Rhode Island Amusement Parks by Rob Lewis and Ryan Young - 1998
- Early American Wood Carving by Erwin O. Christensen - 1952
- Lincoln Park Remembered 1894-1987 edited by Thomas, McCabe and Furtado - 1999
- Coney Island: The People's Playground by Michael Immerso - 2002
- Fairground Art by Geoff Weedon - 2003
- History of Revere Beach Peter McCauley, City Hall, Revere, Mass. - 1980
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Looff, Charles I.D. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Amusement park pioneer and carousel maker. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 24, 1852 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schleswig |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 1, 1918 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Long Beach, California |
