Breaking up an antique carousel is not a particularly good idea when
there are relatively few of them remaining in operation.  It would be
better to sell a carousel as a complete unit rather than breaking it
up.  Once it is broken up, it is doubtful that it will ever operate
once again.  There are people who might be willing to buy the carousel
as a complete unit and set it up at a brand new location.  If the
carousel is in competent hands, it can be safely operated and
maintained for many years to come.

Many old carousels were well constructed and were meant to last for
a great many years with proper maintenance since they represented a
very large investment for the entrepreneur.  Some antique carousels
have operated for over 100 years and are still in good condition
through either proper maintenance and/or restoration.  If the figures
on a carousel are worn, through years of hard usage.  They can almost
certainly be restored.  There are outfits that will restore old
carousels to their former glory thus adding to the value of the
carousel.

If the carousel has an antique organ, it is best not to remove it, but
rather to keep it as part of the carousel.  Unfortunately many antique
carousels no longer have their organs as they were often removed
sometime during the life of the carousel.  However, organs are still
available and even faithful reproductions of classic carousel organs
can be produced.  A good example of this is the organ built by Verbeeck
that is on the Sea Breeze park carousel in Rochester that replaced the
original Wurlitzer 165 organ that was destroyed by fire on March 31,
1994.  The only item that the organ needs is a facade, otherwise it is
quite faithful to the original.

Jeff Alterman