People Near Here; 201; Doug Bathke: Crazy Carousel

I'm going ride the merry go round as we take you want a world with tour of one of America's most famous hero's Soul Factory where Doug bath he spends much of his spare time going round in circles. Next on PEOPLE near here. Hi and welcome addition we're going to talk about favorite

things from the past. For example these are some of my favorite things from the past my pin the lunchbox collection I have about I think about 40 in my entire collection these are just a few of them. This is my absolute favorite one is my Rogers and Dale Evans lunchbox it's a little beat up but the reason I love this one so much is because this is the lunchbox I carry to school almost every day. When I was in grade school unfortunately I broke the thermostat at about 10 times longer with a thermos and in mint condition. This box to be worth quite a bit today but that's not why I have it. Our friend Brian Baron let us borrow this to show you. Isn't this beautiful. Absolute mint condition tin from about 1955 at Disneyland Paris will. Well we'd like to introduce you to a fellow who also likes collecting things from the past. His name is Doug bath. He lives in Tonawanda New York. And when Doug is not teaching school he's spending much of his spare time doing

something that he finds absolutely fascinating. It is a hobby that keeps him going around in circles. And that's what brings us here to North Tonawanda New York or just outside of Buffalo about 12 miles north of Buffalo. We're not very far from Niagara Falls as a matter of fact just 12 miles in that direction. Here's what we've come to see the Allen Herschell Company Incorporated carousel Merry-Go-Round factory. This is where all of the Herschel Neri grounds were built for generation after generation. It's a museum now. It's run by some volunteers. And there's a fellow here we'd like you to meet. His name is Doug bath. He's a wood carver and he's one of the people who volunteer an awful lot of their time here at the museum so that the rest of us can enjoy this wonderful piece of American history museums not open yet and open in a few hours. So we get the take a look before it gets real on it.

Here's the inside of the actual factory. And down here somewhere is here he is right here. Here's dug back behind those doors. Good to see you. Welcome to the Herschell carousel factory museum. Thank you this is the way it was ha. This is it this is the spot. This is fascinating and this is where the wood carvers actually carved all those carousel animals for all those years and everyone was carved here before it was shipped out. When we come back there in my back in the carbon shock a lets go this way and it's too long and while here on Earth all right. Look at all this where do we start. Take a look at this older animal down here that we're restoring. This is a traditional Herschell carousel horse. We believe it's the Hershel Hershel company from the

1880s and it's one of the animals that software 1016 machine. What do you do. We are the only the third owner of this animal and the machine had restarted with auto body paint and primer and not really doesn't give and take with the wood so we've decided to strip it down to the bare wood again and restore it in the proper methods and bring it back to life on our machine and you'll do that and we'll do that yes. I noticed that the horse is fancier on this side than it was on the back side here is more recent American counterclockwise where the roundabouts from England would go the other direction. So we wanted the fancy animals. Parts like the maine and new trim on the saddle plus the head looking out at the people. Invite them into the ride along with a band organ music would be entice them to come spend their money. And this is called the romance because this is a site that draws you toward the animals right. That's wonderful this is about one hundred seventy seven

years. What do you got going over here. Giraffe here we have with the museum from the wood carving club. And many of these animals are very hard to find as antiques. So we've decided to reproduce a series of them for the museum so they can put them on display. How do you know that this was this is an accurate reproduction where you get the drawing of the picture. We have a picture of an animal that was on a machine in California Herschel Spillman company. They made a postcard of that particular animal and. We're trying to copy it as pos as close as possible and somebody is drawing up plans here as one of the plans everything must be scaled no plans exist for these animals the originals the originals we have to take a picture like that they're all about a foot wide blow them up on the overhead projector and use slides and then make our own patterns from 1015 until 1959 carousels

another amusement park rides were manufactured here by generations of dedicated craftsmen during its heyday the factory produced one complete carousel per day wood carvers pattern makers painters machinists blacksmiths each specializing in every detail which would go into a finished carousel when carousels became less popular. The factory switched to making other amusement rides a tribute to the flexibility and dexterity of the craftsman. The company closed for good in 1969 and in 1985 the factory complex was purchased by the North Tonawanda carousel society. A group of enthusiasts interested in preserving this unique part of America. Now on the national and New York State Register of Historic Places The factory is a living museum where volunteers like Doug bath to

help keep the tradition alive. Some tools laid out here. Yes all these are mine. This is a prized possession one of our harbors from the factory who passed away in the mid 80s 1980s at the age of 94 Jake world gave me this tool when he was made by the buck Brothers Company an American company. They would purchase the blades for about a dollar a dollar 25 per blade were chisels today cost about $25 apiece and they would put their own handles on. The idea being that they would only have to look at the handle to decide what cutting edge it had they would have to waste time looking at the exact cutting edge want to take hold of that it's quite heavy steel there. And this was this was used right here in this that this was used in this factory. And this is the same company but a commercial handle they made at the time quite a bit different than what the car was made Stay right there. I want to reach over here and show everybody this I think this is wonderful you're working on this that's a great link thank you. I'm very pleased with

the shape and everything but there's a little knot in the wood showed up just as I cut into that area. So I have to decide whether he's going to have a birthmark or. Color that over camouflage camouflage and Hershel's or beyond that themselves camouflage paint. Now this is an original. This is somebody three story and a chance to see the body is put together. Body is required because of the weight of the machine there's a minimum of thirty six animals as many as on a machine and that would add an awful lot of twenty to thirty thousand pounds. So they would take a plank maybe at the edge to edge to make it wide enough for the side of the body put those two on each side and then have plugs of wood and now you can see that angle very deep in the middle there. The carvers would be rounding off the body if they happen to go through into that hollow box that

would permit them to hit rather than an open space. Time to stop and make a repair. That's beautiful. Isn't that gorgeous the head would be up here. Here now an apprentice here in this factory. The apprentices did what. Sometimes because it's a little tougher and they would be expected to carve six legs per body like this it would be cut everything squared off yet another plank and here for example for the saddle and they would round all that off and just get approximate like you see it now. One and a half bodies per day and then the Master Carver would put the carving on the head put the head on itself and then fit all the flow in Maine and other trappings of the body sort of this and then it would be primed to go to the paint room in three or four layers of primer two layers of colored

paint and then probably three to five layers of spar varnish to make it nice and shiny and protected from the humidity and yet allow the wood to move and in the heyday of this factory. How many carousels that are here an amazing one machine one complete machine complete machine for how many years roughly I think there are about 120 people in the factory at the time and we're probably talking about 10 years. How many complete Armitage Herschel machines are left in existence who are crucial companies. There are probably only 30 machines by Herschel left. There's probably only a hundred twenty machines left in America that were made by some 20 other manufacturers. So they're disappearing. Now I understand there's another room not far down the hall here where you can show the history of the factory here in actual carved horses. Yes I can want you to join me in the next exhibit. Take a look.

And this is the man himself. This is the man Allen Herschell born in Scotland in the 1850s that came to America in 1870. The factory were started in 1915 and here is the here's the history of the factory in animals. You know this is start with the first style right here. This style and the one to my left here the two agree animals are Armitage Herschell horses they were built in the 1880s. And what was unique about them this one has been modified that it has a center pole. If you look at these two great animals there is no center pull on them anymore. It was they were on a carriage system that made a track machine and the sign behind shows roughly how that was set up. Will build steam engines originally and got into horses by accident. Armitage was the fellow who brought the steam power to Army first correct

and then Armitage went away. Yes he didn't like the idea of making these amusement rides and Hershel got into it big time with his brother in law at Spelman. OK so these are now our Herschel Spillman animals over here right the pig and pony. I love this pic I remember a very groundswell of younger This can't be beguiled into the idea of menagerie animals where you would have a menagerie of animals other than just horses on your machine and the two of them work together for probably 10 or 12 years before Herschel retired from the factory and left by himself. I like it that you know that is a mental tale. I don't think would hold up with the green in this factory though I sat there early and look at this now. Now we're talking film an engineering company. What happened to Hershel Hershel retired in 19

13 and we don't know if it was an amicable parting or not. But Spillman continued on to Spillman engineering can tell you to make carousel rides among other rides. He's also involved in other industrial engines and things like that hence the engineering. Some of the animals were very plain others as you can see had more trim on them but then I see in the in the history of things Hershel is back. Hershel came back in one thousand fifteen came out of retirement. Still his former Foreman John Wendler from the Spillman factory had started carvers away from them and then started again with the Herschel factory. Herschel looked to his animals and this is interesting because that's not entirely down here and this horse here this one is this one is this is what has the fact he

ran out into the 50s in the carvers were dying off. There is an animal that I can show you that wooden body but the head and legs are metal. So they started making metal head casting because they were cast you can have a cancer you have to be an expert to carve the pattern in the other experts had to be metal people. Right. And in front of the chariot where mom would sit to keep an eye on the little little tykes. Some of the carts rides the once again these are two halves of aluminum welded together to make one small animal. And this is the one you referred to earlier. This has metal legs and the wooden body. And by this time as a said the carvers were passing away that they didn't have that many skills to do the carbon so this was an extra way to keep production up.

Here is really interesting because it's very animated. The riots were basically made to be taken around from Carnival Carnival and an animal was not big in size but yet it was flared to the main in the head of the head a little larger than probably a real horse would have and it was a fantasy animal that had color and interest to his rides and would hold up to the jostling of the house. This is fascinating of the ostrich. This is a menagerie. It's one of the unique. About it is the carvers name and it was found on the inside of a body in that hollow box. That's where that's very rare usually carvers do not sign there at all the company may have an initial or an emblem that's placed on an

animal but the individual carvers usually did not mark their animals. Now you have two working carousels here is that right. Yes we do we have a children's machine that's all them animals from the 1920s and we have our antique wooden one from 1016. I can't wait to see the antique 916. But let's save the best till last. We'll get right on that too a bit. You can say you have two working carousels here and the one we're about to see them now is a Herschel kiddy carousel. Yes it is it was built in the 1940s in our volunteer roles can fire it up for us so we can work around. OK this is great. This has been fully restored. Everything on the machine is original except for the trim on the side of the chariots because they match the profile of the seats. Otherwise we have a mixture of wood and metal on this

machine as it would have been done in 1940. There's a mixture of wood and metal right so this is post-war then and it's strictly for kids or kids you have a large machine you have a height limit for being too small. Go read the big machine. I think you're big enough to be made whole and if you're tall enough there can't wait. Thanks. What's in this room this room is our number one special Allen Herschell carousel built in 1916 and it's in the original round house. This is a real piece of history. And that door at this National Historic Site National Register of Historic Places. And here we are. My my my if this thing if this is how many horses. Thirty six horses. We all go up and down one

chariot and one lovers tub. And this is completely restored by our local volunteers. Where did you find it. The machine was built in 1916 and found its first home in Canada you know Ontario. It found its second home as a non-operational machine in London Ontario. And then we purchased it from that owner and brought it back to North Tonawanda in 1902 and since then we have been reduced to working on restoration of various parts of the machine and it's had its home and up and running since 1983 in this building. This horse here looks different than all the other workers. Right in mind right now you're correct this is a lead horse. Look around the front of this horse it's amazing it's bigger it's got huge almost menacing. Why do you call it the lead horse. Well its job was to lead the other horses around the machine if it's properly located on a machine it will be the first and will be behind the chariot

and here's the chariot right researcher right. So he's doing his job leading all the other steeds around is that traditional and that's traditional from all the different factors yes. Now this merry go round we fire this up. Sure I want to show the people how fast this goes this is a real eye opener watch how quickly this with the best machine you'll find a virtual company to be in it don't ride saw it is still at the six and one half revolutions per minute at her doorstep instead of the factory. I open up a. Everything is leaking. There are always things new book I fear I can't see it again. I need to go on writing. We've been a good boy today so we like to do that. It's coasting through a stop now that it has turned to the right when it fulfills

their skills. Yeah. Which one are you. I want to write this one. OK guy next to you. OK you're going to want to make if you're a ticket again Richard. OK 30 years I'm going to want to be. Many people say yeah. During much of the year Doug

bath he is busy teaching social studies at the local school. But many of his weekends and most of his summers are spent here at the Herschell carousel factory museum where he and a host of other dedicated volunteers are eager to teach anyone the art and history of the Herschell carousel a magical conglomeration of wood to paint steel and glass. The singular function of which is to make all who write it young again was so very important to preserve these animals and machines and 1079 our current Cell Society was formed. There were roughly three hundred fifty animals or machines up in America that were running or on display someplace. And as people have run into money problems or families have not wanted to continue. What better Grampa done. They sold the machines because they could get a very good price for them. So many collectors through the years have

purchased a lot of these machines piecemeal. Nothing is left but the mechanicals when they're done and they were down to around one hundred twenty machines now just since 1979. So people can come here and look at this see how they're made. Ride them and still experience with something to back and eighteen nineties 900 I think is very important that we pass it on to future generations. I think Allen Herschell would be very pleased if you saw what we've done today. Certainly has continued to promote his idea of the world having fun through the amusement rides. I think he would enjoy the history that we're passing on to others and that we often joke when two or few of us carvers are in the building and you can hear the mallets clicking away it's kind of a almost ghostly eerie feeling that you can hear that echo of the wood chopping through the building. And we think you would like to hear that sound again. You can find that bath and plenty of other

carousel enthusiasts at the Herschel Spillman carousel factory and Museum located in North Tonawanda New York not far from Buffalo western part of New York state actually it's pretty close to Niagara Falls. Museum is open from April in September and there is a modest admission charge. You might want to get McCall before you go however to make sure that they're open on the day that you want to visit. Well that's it that's all the time we have for this edition of PEOPLE. She ordered. Oh wow. Are you going to hear me.