Historical information
This image is part of a collection of 35mm colour transparencies taken by photographer Stewart Strachan during the carousel restoration project which took place in Elphinstone between 1997-1999.
The Carousel was manufactured around 1892 by the Armitage-Herschell company of New York. The Carousel operated on the Mordialloc Pier from the 1920s to the 1950s.
In around 1996, the carousel was found quietly rotting away in a Victorian shed by collector and restorer Rick Furlong, who saw its beauty and potential, then gathered a team of specialist historians, craftspeople and artists to work on the project of authentic restoration.
Rick Furlong – Collector, Restorer and Project Manager
Lindsay Mew – Woodcarver and Foundry Artist, dismantled, sectioned and cleaned the horses.
Graeme Wright – Artist, who stripped up to 40 layers of paint from the horses and completed colour research for each individual horse.
Kurt Simmons - Dismantled, sectioned and cleaned the horses.
Andy Bull – Carpenter and Joiner, restored the floorboards, platforms, drums and crown panels and recreated a ticket box.
Colin Turton – Repaired and restored all the structural metal work.
Brendan Furlong & David Ely – Artists, painted the horses in their original colours.
Jenny McCracken – Artist, created the paintings on sixteen scenery panels.
Denise Puller – Made the pure horsehair tails.
Chuck Kaparich (from Montana, USA) – Carved the chariots and shipped them for assembly and painting in Elphinstone.
Using only recycled timbers, 24 of the 36 horses were restored with many legs, heads and necks replaced, while 12 replicas were hand-carved to match the originals, believed to be rare examples hand-carved by the American master, Charles Dare.
Each horse took 300 hours to restore, with intricate carving, coating, filling, sanding, smoothing, painting and varnishing.
The period matched organ and steam engine were sourced from New South Wales and Tasmania respectively.
The Steampacket Place Development Board, a joint team formed by the Victorian State Government and the City of Greater Geelong undertook the $30 million revitalisation of the entire Geelong Waterfront from 1995 to 2000.
As part of the revitalisation, the Steampacket Place Development Board purchased the Armitage-Herschell portable steam-driven carousel as a major feature on the revitalised waterfront.
Physical description
Colour image showing wooden carousel horses inside a goods shed building.
Subjects
- merry go-round,
- horses,
- carousel,
- geelong,
- restoration,
- rides,
- j. j. miller,
- geelong waterfront,
- steam engine,
- opening,
- 35mm colour transparency,
- steampacket place development board,
- city of greater geelong,
- revitalisation,
- armitage-herschell,
- stewart strachan photograhy,
- elphinstone,
- rick furlong,
- artists,
- mordialloc
