| Charles I. D. Looff | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 24, 1852 Bramstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
| 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 carver and 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 over 50 carousels,twelve amusements parks, 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.His carousel museum is now located at 2500 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90806.
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Charles Looff was born in Bramstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark 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 merry-go-round. In 1876, he installed his ride at Vandeveer'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, as a result of a trolley accident, would work with their father in the carousel business. When the City of New York took his property under eminent domain to build a city park, Looff moved his family to the Crescent Park Amusement Park, in Riverside, Rhode Island.
In 1886, Colonel George Boyden established an amusement park named Crescent Park in Riverside, Rhode Island on 50 acres (200,000 m2) overlooking the Providence River. Boyden commissioned Charles I. D. 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. In 1895, Charles I. D. Looff built another, larger and more elaborate carousel overlooking the midway. He used this ride as a showpiece for prospective buyers to choose the types of carved horses for their machines. Looff built his workshop adjoining the carousel. Here he would produce many merry-go-rounds for amusement parks in New England and across the United States. Looff's daughter, Helen, and her husband, Charles Simmons bought the ride from Looff's widow's estate in 1930. This carousel has been restored, is still operating, 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's son, Charles, worked in the shop carving saddles and chariots for his father. In 1920, young Charles purchased Crescent Park. He built many of the popular rides of the time, including the Rivers of Venice, and the Shoot the Chutes. 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. Son Charles 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. Son Charles married Emma Simmons, the sister of Charles Simmons, who had married Helen Looff. 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. The ride was installed at Natatorium Park in Spokane, Washington.
Charles I. D., meanwhile, had become enchanted with the possibilities for amusement parks on the West coast and in August 1910 moved to California, leaving Helen and Charles Simmons, son Charles and Emma Looff in Riverside. Charles I. D. Looff settled in Long Beach and built a factory on West Sixth Street. He purchased property at The Pike, an amusement area on Long Beach’s waterfront, and built a magnificent merry-go-round there. The family lived in an apartment above the ride. Son, Arthur, also operated Lite-a-line, a type of Fascination (game) at the Pike. In 1943, the carousel was destroyed by fire and replaced with another Looff merry-go-round.
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, Washington, Oklahoma, and Texas. 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.
| 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 (the inventor of the hot dog) bought a second carousel from 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 | Providence, 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 |
| c. 1890 | Midland Beach Carousel | Midland Beach, Staten Island, NY | operated 1890 to 1905, 3 abreast, menagerie |
| 1890 to 1897 | South Beach Carousel | Staten Island, NY | |
| 1891 | Rocky Point Amusement Park Carousel | Warwick, RI | |
| 1890 to 1897 | Narragansett Pier Carousel | Narragansett, RI | |
| 1895 | Lincoln Park Carousel | Dartmouth, MA | |
| 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; Ruth & Sons organ; listed on National Register of Historic Places |
| 1898 | Canobie Lake Park Carousel | Salem, NH | moved to present location in 1906 |
| 1909 | Sherman's Carousel | Caroga Lake, NY | Looff/Murphy carousel platform and mechanism populated with 50 metal animals by (Theel mfg.), in original 12-sided Looff carousel building w/ stained glass windows. Original hand-carved Looff animals were sold in late 1970s to private collecters. Carousel is owned privately and available only for private functions at this time. *Note: This carousel is almost identical to the one operated at Lake Compounce in CT. |
| 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; Ruth & Sons organ; National Historic Landmark |
| 1909 | Whalom Park Carousel[1] | Lunenburg, MA | Moved to Whalom Park in 1912, Featured 2 Looff Sea Dragons,[1][2] Broken up at auction April 15, 2000[2] |
| 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 figures underway[3] |
| 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 |
| 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 September 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 |