A carousel is an amusement ride with a spinning circular platform for guests to sit on. The “seats” are generally rows of wooden horses, or other animals mounted on poles, with many of them being moved up and down by gears to simulate galloping, with looping circus music playing in the background. As a result, the galloper is one of the probable American names (but see below for further information on rotational orientation). Other popular names are jumper, horse around, horse tornado, and flying horses.

Carousels are usually stocked with horses weighing approximately 100 pounds (45 kilograms), although they can also hold pigs, zebras, tigers, or mythical creatures like dragons or unicorns. Seats that resemble chairs or benches are occasionally used, as well as mounts that resemble airplanes or automobiles.

“Roundabouts” or “merry-go-rounds” at most playgrounds are slightly different devices: simple, child-powered spinning platforms with bars or grips that children may grab while riding.

The modern carousel evolved from early jousting techniques in Europe and the Middle East. Knights would gallop in a circle while tossing balls from one to the other, an activity that required exceptional horsemanship and dexterity. This game, which originated in Byzantine and Arab customs, was introduced to Europe during the Crusades. Carousel and carousel are both derived from the Italian Carosella and the Spanish Carosella (“little battle,” used by crusaders to describe a combat preparation exercise and game played by Turkish and Arabian horsemen in the 12th century). As the riders swung their swords at the fake enemies, this early contraption served largely as a cavalry training mechanism, preparing and strengthening the horsemen for actual combat.

By the 17th century, the balls had been phased out, and the riders had to spear small rings hung from poles overhead and pull them off. Cavalry displays like the ring-tilt, which replaced medieval jousting, were popular in Italy and France. Carousels sprang up at fairgrounds all across Europe as commoners began to play the game. For the children, a make-believe carousel with wooden horses was built up at Paris’ Place du Carrousel.

By the early 18th century, carousels had been invented and were being used at various fairs and gatherings throughout Central Europe and England. Animals and machinery would be created over the winter months, and the family and staff would travel the region in their wagon train, operating their massive menagerie carousel at various places. Manufacturers included Heyn in Germany and Bayol in France. On these early carousels, which had no platforms, the animals would dangle from chains and fly out owing to the centrifugal force of the revolving engine. People pulling a rope or cranks, or animals roaming in a circle, were commonly employed to power them.

In 1803 John Joseph Merlin had a carousel erected in his London Mechanical Museum, where gentry and nobility loved meeting on winter evenings.

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