Los Gatos Weekly-Times File photograph by George Sakkestad The W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel enjoyed a colorful history before making its home in Oak Meadow Park. Oak Meadow Park's carousel originated in England in 1910 John S. Baggerly The Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad station and what has become known as the W. E. "Bill" Mason Carousel are tucked away together in the northeast corner of Los Gatos' Oak Meadow Park. The railroad once ran through Jones' family orchard on N. Santa Cruz Avenue; the carousel came by ship around Cape Horn. A grand opening of the carousel, newly installed inside its own building, was held at on July 4, 1991. John Estruth, then president of the BJWR, provided information for this week's column. The carousel was manufactured around 1910 by Savage, a company in England, and today is just a few steps from the railroad station. The roundabout turns clockwise, which is the custom in Europe. In the United States merry-go-rounds usually move counter-clockwise. The carousel was manufactured for use at the Pan-Pacific Exposition, which was held in San Francisco in 1915. The machine was shipped around the Horn before the Panama Canal opened. Off-loaded at Los Angeles, it moved via rail to San Francisco in time for the Expo. After the Exposition, the roundabout became part of an unknown traveling circus. In the early 1930s, Foley & Burk Shows purchased the machine. It was then called a "merry-go-round" because it was part of an American traveling carnival show. Foley & Burk Shows retired the machine to a warehouse in 1967. The BJWR purchased the roundabout in late 1980 and now calls it a carousel because of its stationary installation. Restoration began in 1981, starting with the horses. There are 29 hand-carved wooden horses and two chariots. The machine has positions for 30 horses. A mold was made of one of the center row horses, and a fiberglass-resin replica was fabricated in the mold to complete the 30-horse carousel. When Savage had many roundabout orders to fill and found its own horse inventory too low, horses were purchased from G. & J. Lines, C. J. Spooner (English toy manufacturers) and the German carousel industry. The German imports had double faceted jewels, some of which were installed with mirrors behind them. English roundabout manufacturers never mounted jewels in their horse carvings. The inside row of horses was manufactured by G. & J. Lines. The outside row was manufactured by an unknown German manufacturer. Foley & Burk Shows replaced the complete middle row of horses due to irreparable deterioration. The row is now composed of five C. W. Parkers, two Dare and two Armitage-Herschel horses. Originally, the machine was hung from the top of a tall steel center pole that had to be hoisted upright by many men and an elephant. An A-frame structure first had to be constructed and then, through the use of block and tackle, the center post could be hoisted up on end. Four outriggers were attached to the post above mid-point and extended out parallel with the ground from the base of a center pole. Due to handling problems--including assembly and disassembly--of a heavy one-piece center post, the post was later converted to a hinged post mounted on a GMC circus wagon. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.