Odd One Out – Looff Carousel, Eldridge Park, Elmira, New York

This 1890s Looff carousel was originally brought to Eldridge Park in 1924 by Bob Long. In the late 1980s, the carousel was dismantled and the animals were sold off at auction, leaving only the motor behind. Through the efforts of the Eldridge Park Carousel Preservation Society, this majestic ride was restored and reopened in 2006. It is one of the few remaining carousels in the world with a working ring feeder.

Charles I. D. Looff was an American master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides. He was born as Karl Jurgen Detlev Looff in Bad Bramstedt, Duchy of Holstein, Denmark on May 24, 1852 just 12 years before the German Confederation took control of Holstein in the second Schleswig War. His father was a master blacksmith and wagon builder. Watching his father, Karl learned how to work with metal and wood. To avoid the coming war, Karl immigrated to the United States . Arriving in Castle Garden, New York City on August 14, 1870 he changed his first name to Charles. In low German, I and J look very much alike and confusion set in as to his initials. Somehow, his name became Charles I. D. Looff instead of J. D. Looff.

Settling on Leonard Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, he found work as a carver at a furniture factory. Working part-time as a ballroom dance instructor, Looff met and married Anna Dolle in 1874. After working in the furniture factory all day, he took scraps of wood home to his apartment and began carving them into carousel animals. Young Looff assembled his wooden horses and animals onto a circular platform and created his first merry-go-round. In 1876, he installed his ride at Lucy Vandeveer's Bathing Pavilion at West Sixth Street and Surf Avenue. This was Coney Island's first carousel and first amusement ride. Looff opened a factory at 30 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn and continued building more carousels. He installed a merry-go-round at a restaurant and beer garden on Surf Avenue, Coney Island owned by Charles Feltman, the inventor of the American hot dog. Looff installed another machine at Coney Island and then created a large ride for Asbury Park in New Jersey. Looff began to hire expert carvers such as John Zalar, Marcus Illions, John Mueller and Charles Carmel to help with his expanding business.