Steve,  Charles Walker was here in Shelby, NC today ( I believe you
must have been at his shop yesterday.)  He brought our Artizan A-2
facade back that he had been stripping to investigate the original
paint.  This facade is really interesting, nice carving and some
original painting remains.  It still needs some work to get it in
restored condition and the top is missing, but it is beautiful in
its own way.

Charles is the Conservation Chairman for the National Carousel
Association and a person with lots of varied knowledge and interests.
In addition to all kinds of pipe organs and carousels (he owns a PTC
and an Allan Herschell) he is into old water mills and researching
stagecoach trails.

Charles and I visited Tony Marsico's Lincolnton shop and we had an
interesting hour.  They had never met, but Charles was quite impressed
with Tony's work and all the interesting projects and instruments.
We ended up talking about carnival history in front of Tony's 153
that belonged to Milt Kaufman of Great American Shows.

Speaking of the Artizan A-2, I find myself wondering how rare these
machines are, whether converted to Wurlitzer vacuum system or not.
Does anyone know where some Artizans, and A-2's in particular, are
located?

And does anyone know whether they used carving machines to duplicate
the carved facades?

Tommy Forney
Shelby, NC
http://carrousel.shelby.net