C. W. Parker

Charles Wallace Parker (1864–1932), commonly known as C. W. Parker, was an American manufacturer of carousels (merry-go-rounds). He was self-titled the "Amusement King".^[1] He also called himself "Colonel Parker" although he never served in the military.^[2]

Early life

Parker was born in 1864 in Griggsville, Illinois; the family moved to Abilene, Kansas in 1869.^[3]

Parker's first venture into the amusement business was purchasing a traveling shooting gallery, a type of carnival game.^[3] After touring the area with the gallery, he constructed one of his own, improved, design.^[3]

C. W. Parker Amusement Company

1910 poster advertising C.W. Parker's steam engine, band organ, and track carousel

Parker bought his first carousel, an Armitage–Herschell Company track-style machine in 1892. After operating this machine for two years, he built his own machine and started the Parker Carnival Supply Company in Abilene.^[3][4] He began manufacturing jumping carousels, first powered by steam, and later by electricity.^[4] The carving on the wooden carousel horses became increasingly elaborate.^[4]

The company was renamed the C. W. Parker Amusement Company in 1896.^[3] The company also built shooting galleries and Ferris wheels, but its primary business was the production of carousels.^[1]

By 1905, Parker was running four full-sized traveling carnivals.^[4] In 1911, he moved his company to a bigger factory in Leavenworth, Kansas.^[4] He built hundreds of traveling carousels (known as "Carry-Us-Alls")^[1] for the carnival circuit, as well as four or five "Superior Park Model" carousels for permanent installation in amusement parks.^[4] The Jantzen Beach Carousel ("Superior Park Model #2") in Oregon is the only one of these still in existence.^[4] C.W. Parker personally supervised the installation of the carousel at Jantzen Beach Amusement Park in 1928.^[5]

Around 1925, the company started producing carousels with aluminum horses rather than wood.^[2]

The C. W. Parker Amusement Company produced approximately 1,000 carousels.^[6]

Legacy

C. W.'s son, Paul Parker, also manufactured carousels, running the company from 1930 to 1955.^[2][3]

The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth features a 1912 Parker carousel (#118) and a Parker metal carousel (#834).^[7]

In 2019, a 1930s Parker carousel (#600) formerly located at Roaring Rapids Pizza in Eugene, Oregon, was donated to the now-defunct International Museum of Carousel Art owned by the Perron family.^[8]

See also

• Lander Park Carousel, built c. 1898–1901, located in Abilene
• City of Waterloo Carousel, a 1911 Parker two-row portable carousel (#53)
• Pueblo City Park Carousel, built in 1911 (#72)
• Crossroads Village (Michigan), site of a Parker Ferris wheel and 1912 Parker carousel (#108/#234/#332)
• C. W. Parker Carousel No. 119, built in 1912, located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Chippewa Park, site of a c. 1917–1921 Parker carousel^[9]
• C. W. Parker Carousel No. 825, built in 1950, located in Faulkton, South Dakota, United States