Charles I. D. Looff Carousel
History of the Carousel
1906 Constructed in Rhode Island by renowned designer and craftsman Charles I.D. Looff. The carousel was intended to be installed in San Francisco, however it could not be due to the great 1906 earthquake and fire.
1907 Installed at Luna Park, Seattle
1913 Moved to San Francisco’s oceanside amusement park, Playland-at-the-Beach
1972 Playland-at-the-Beach closes. Carousel purchased by private collector and put into storage in New Mexico
1983 Moved to Shoreline Village, Long Beach, CA
1998 Purchased by the City of San Francisco, fully restored, and opened in its current location at Children’s Creativity Museum (formerly Zeum) in Yerba Buena Gardens
2014 Restored and renamed in honor of former SF Redevelopment Commissioner LeRoy King
The Looff Carousel reportedly had FOUR Band Organs! You can see THREE and hear TWO of them in the photo gallery.
Lets' answer the age old question! Is it a Carousel or Merry-Go-Round?
Answer: They are one in the same! They are all Carousels, which comes from the French word carrousel or Italian carosello. It doesn't matter which direction it turns; Clockwise or Counter-clock-wise. It doesn't matter whether it has animals or horses or chariots. All of Looff's rides were Carousels. The fact that it was called a Merry-Go-Round at Playland is redundant.
Sounds of the Carousel=
Artizan, model “D” band organ originally from San Francisco’s “Playland at the Beach”
Wurlitzer Style 165 Band Organ, Serial No. 3124, shipped December 28th, 1918, from the Wurlitzer factory to San Francisco, California
Take a ride on Santa Cruz Looff Carousel
Sneaky Tiger is no longer on the Looff Carousel. Marianne Stevens family kept Mr Tiger as part of the deal to sell the carousel to the CITY.
Where's Warren? Do all these horses have different identities?
Bill Smit ran the Carousel from the 20's all the way till the last day. He had other games on the Midway too...
-ROBERT SMIT
Go watch the Ride!
Go for a ride!
Looff Carousel housing....
