In response to Matthew Caulfield's question regarding play time of band
organs on carousels 130801 MMDigest]:  Cafesjian's Carousel in Como Park,
Saint Paul, Minnesota, is PTC #33.  Its excellently-restored and in-tune
Wurlitzer 153 band organ plays throughout the operation of the ride,
opening to closing, except when a short speech before each ride is given
to the folks waiting in line.

The speech advises the riders on how to mount and dismount the horses,
using the black metal step.  The band organ is muted by a remote switch
at the speech-giver/ticket-taker's station.  The roll does not stop --
it is just muted, and the music continues once the speech is concluded.
This procedure was enacted to help quell the rash of incidents of riders
stepping on the horses' raised legs to mount and dismount, often
breaking the legs at their joints and effecting repairs.

Incidentally, PTC #33 is operated by a nonprofit organization called
Our Fair Carousel.  The 68-jumping horse ride (and 2 chariots) was
installed at the Minnesota State Fair in 1914 and operated there until
1988, just after it had been sold at auction for $1.2 million.  It went
into storage, then ran in an indoor park in downtown Saint Paul before
reopening in a splendid, stand-alone building on the beautiful Como
Park grounds, only about a mile from its original fairgrounds home.

There are only two paid positions for the operation of the ride,
a manager and a maintenance person.  The rest of the staff are
volunteers.  There are usually five volunteer workers on each shift,
three on the ride and one each at the ticket and souvenir counters.

The ride will celebrate its 100th anniversary next summer.  PTC #33 is
unusual in that it is one of a very small number of carousels of its
age with original paint.  The ride's excellent web site is at
www.ourfaircarousel.org.

Tracy Tolzmann - band organ buff and Cafesjian's Carousel volunteer