The carousel in Greenfield Village was built about 1913 by the Herschell-Spillman Company in North Tonawanda, NY. During the early 1900s, Herschell-Spillman made more carousels than any other American factory.
"This colorful carousel is complete with hand-carved wooden animals and a Wurlitzer band organ. Herschell-Spillman made the only carousels with giant green frogs--and they are the only carousel animals that wear human clothing. Text source and more info see: (
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"The original location of the carousel is uncertain, but it is said to have been used from 1913-1917 in California. Michael Damascus, who acquired the Herschell-Spillman carousel in 1922, indicated that he had purchased the machine from San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, an entertainment district that closed in 1917.
Damascus operated the carousel at Liberty Lake Park in Spokane, Washington from 1923 until sometime in the 1950s. In 1962, the carousel was dismantled and stored.
The Henry Ford Museum purchased the carousel in 1973. From 1974-1997, the carousel operated in Greenfield Village’s Suwanee Park.
During the winter of 1997-1998, the carousel was moved to its present location near the Village Green.
Greenfield Village Carousel Animals
The 1913 Herschell-Spillman carousel has 40 hand-carved animals. Eight of the animals are stationary and 32 are jumpers, animals that move up and down when the carousel is in operation. The carousel also includes two stationary chariots, one rocking chariot, and a lovers tub.
Horses were the most common carousel animal—over 80 percent of the carousel animals carved in America were horses. The Greenfield carousel has 22 horses. Carousels often included a “lead horse,” the most decorative horse on a machine, always found on the outside row and sometimes inscribed with the maker’s signature. A lead horse was not included with part of the menagerie of animals on the carousel when the Ford Museum acquired it.
While horses were the most common carousel animal, more exotic or whimsical creatures like ostriches, lions, and sea monsters can be found as well. Herschell-Spillman produced the most varied array of menagerie figures ever offered, including pigs, goats, roosters, zebras, sea monsters, dogs, cats, storks, lions, tigers, frogs, deer, giraffes, and ostriches. The carousel includes all of these animals, except the ostrich.
Herschell-Spillman was the only carousel manufacturer to produce a frog (called a “hop toad” in the company’s catalog) and the frog is the only American carousel animal known to be wearing human apparel. (Some believe that his outfit may have been inspired by the character Mr. Toad in the book The Wind in the Willows, published in 1908.) Herschell-Spillman was also one of the few companies to produce a stork. Another interesting animal on our carousel is the goat, which has the initials of the Herschell-Spillman Co. carved on its blanket.
The chariots are elaborately carved with mythological figures including Neptune and Leda and the Swan (a story from Greek mythology).
While the Herschell-Spillman Company created many of the animals on the carousel, several were made by Spillman Engineering Corporation and the Allan Herschell Company, successor companies to Herschell-Spillman.
The decorative panels on the carousel depict nostalgic landscapes, seascapes, pretty girls and exotic animals, including a tiger and a polar bear. Light-catching jewels add sparkle to the decorative rounding boards." Text Source and more info can be found at: (
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