Great job of restoring the 1905 Charles I. D. Looff Carousel. I grew up in the 50’s riding this historic carousel when it operated at Playland at the Beach. I have many pictures of this carousel from it’s Playland days, when it still had the sneaky Looff tiger on it, but when it was purchased from the owner Marriane Stevens, she kept the tiger in her personal collection. I only wish that this restored carousel had band organs playing on it. When it operated at Whitney’s Playland at the Beach it had 4 working band organs. A Wurlitzer 165 (now at SC Beach Boardwalk) two Wurlitzer 153 band organs, and an Artizan style D band organ. Myself with Playland enthusiast Dave Warren discussed with then SF Supervisor Sue Bierman to get the City to purchase this historic carousel from Miss Stevens who was very unhappy with the lack of maintenance and care it was receiving from Shoreline Village in Long Beach. Glad it’s still running beautifully at Yerba Buena Park in San Francisco.

Do you know what kind of gems they use on the horses? Are they real crystal? I'm having a hard time finding crystal or even glass gems of a large enough size. All I can seem to find is acrylic, resin or plastic.

owning a mini model carousel horse ride (not the actual amusement park ride) has been my dream since I was 6