19th Century Carousel Horse Head, by Gustav Dentzel

Original Gustav Dentzel middle row "jumper" carousel horse w/cast iron stand Original to a Germantown PA park, and purchased by George and Leo Whitney, for Whitney's the Beach, San Francisco CA. Jumper appears to retain remnants of the original paint, with a very old overcoat, mounted to a vintage presentation stand, overall 58" H x 52" W. Stand measures 21" H x 37" W. Provenance: Purchased directly from the Whitney's at the Beach Collection, San Francisco, CA From Wikipedia: “The area that was Playland began as a 19th-century squatter’s settlement, “Mooneysville-by-the-Sea.” By 1884, a steam railroad was in place to bring people to the first amusement ride at the City’s ocean side — a “Gravity Railroad” roller coaster, and to the Ocean Beach Pavilion for concerts and dancing. By 1890, trolley lines reached Ocean Beach — the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad, the Park & Ocean Railroad, and the Sutro Railroad — that encouraged commercial amusement development as a trolley park. The Cliff House, which opened in 1863, and Sutro Baths, which opened in 1896, drew thousands of visitors. The rides and attractions that began to spring up along the beach were separately owned by various concessionaires. For example, John Friedle owned a shooting gallery and baseball-throwing concession. All of the rides at Chutes at the Beach were purchased new or built there, including the Shoot-the-Chutes, which inspired the first official name for the amusement area — Chutes at the Beach. Around 1913, Arthur Looff leased a piece of land for a carousel and its house — the Looff Hippodrome, located next to John Friedle’s concessions. Friedle and Looff become partners in Looff’s Hippodrome and began to buy other concessions to realize their vision of creating “the grandest amusement park on the Pacific coast. In 1926, George Whitney became general manager of the growing complex of seaside attractions and changed the name to Playland-at-the-Beach, also sometimes known as Whitney’s at the Beach. Although the attractions continued to be operated as independent concessionaires, during the late 1920s and 1930s, especially during the Depression when concessions began to fail, George and Leo (Whitney) began to purchase the attractions outright. The Whitneys bought the roller coaster in 1936 and the merry-go-round in 1942. Playland took up three city blocks and, in 1934, the Midway had 14 rides, 25 concessions, and 4 restaurants. Despite this expansion, the post-war years saw the tearing down of the Shoot the Chutes in 1950 and the Big Dipper in 1955, and after George Whitney died in 1958, Playland was never quite the same. For a while after George Whitney’s death, Playland was operated by his son, George K...

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