''Gustav Dentzel'' was a German immigrant who built some of the earliest
carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
s in the United States.
Born in Germany
Gustav Dentzel was born in
Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in th ...
, Germany, on August 3, 1846.
As a child, Gustav, would travel around southwest Germany during the summer from fair to fair with his father, Michael, and the rest of his family, setting up a small, portable carousel ride. Gustav learned the art of woodworking, carving carousel animals and making wagons during the off-season, from his father.
Career
Michael sent Gustav, and his brothers, to the United States, in 1864, along with a carousel, which may have been the first carousel to come to the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
. Gustav first opened a cabinet making shop and hired many German and Italian immigrants, like himself, that had learned woodcarving in the "Old Country". After building a small carousel and touring the countryside with it he found that people were eager to ride it. Gustav founded the
Dentzel Carousel Company
The G.A. Dentzel Company was an American builder of carousels in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
History
Its founder, Gustav Dentzel, had immigrated to the United States in 1860, from Germa ...
(also spelled Dentzel Carrousel Company, among other variations)
in 1867, in
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
United States
* Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County
* Ger ...
, Pennsylvania. Dentzel has been credited for introducing the first steam-powered carousel and introducing the use of
menagerie
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern Zoo, zoological garden.
The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to ...
animals, such as cats, lions, tigers, deer, in addition to horses and chariots.
Marriage
Gustav married his first wife, Alma, in 1874. Together they had five children, Augusta, William H. I., Margaret, Helen, and Charles. However, Alma died in 1880, and Gustav remarried Mary. They had a son, Edward P.
Death
Gustav died in 1909, his sons William and Edward, took over the company and ran it until 1928, when William died.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dentzel, Gustav
1846 births
1909 deaths
German emigrants to the United States
American woodcarvers
Carousel designers
Amusement ride manufacturers
People from Bad Kreuznach
Burials at Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia