Hello Friends and Family,
Link to this year's index by clicking here.
Maryland, My Maryland, Part 6 |
One of the oldest attractions on the boardwalk at Ocean City is Trimper's Amusements, created in the early 1900s. I personally remember the great Zoltar, the gypsy fortune teller. In my youth, he only required a nickel to give you a card telling you what fate had in store for you. Sorry Zoltar but in those days, I'd rather play the baseball game with my nickel — and I got to be pretty good. Sadly those machines are gone (hopefully to an amusements museum) and replaced by the latest electronic game. |
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They also had another boat ride where the boats traveled on wheels up and down on a circular wooden track. I was sad to see that this old favorite is no longer here. |
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The jewel of Trimper's Attractions is the full size carousel. This 1912 purchase cements the historic significance of Trimper's Rides. It was that year that Daniel Trimper purchased a massive carousel from the Herschell-Spillman Company in North Tonawanda, NY. It was 50 feet in diameter with a uniqueness derived from the only other carousel made by the firm at that time having been sent to Coney Island, and that one was later destroyed by fire. |
While in Ocean City, I read an article about the woman who maintains all the carousel animals for Trimper's. She started as an artist but helped maintain the rides just to make ends meet. Now she is an artist of a different sort — one who keeps the animals in repair and looking great. |
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I do not recall this story but my mom told me that I was crazy about the carousel when I was quite young. It made such a warm spot in Mom's heart that she gave me a couple of minature carousel horses for a birthday gift — probably so she could retell the story and keep that memory alive. I still have them and they are in my display case. |
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Speaking of riding the carousel, my three sisters — (left to right) Lisa, Janie and Connie — revisit their childhoods. Actually, Lisa does not remember Ocean City from her youth — she was only two years old when our family moved to Florida. Her memories are from later trips to visit our parents who retired to Salisbury, some 30 miles inland — and subsequent visits to Ocean City — our mom loved the boardwalk and the beach (and the soft-shell crab sandwiches and the caramel corn and the fudge, etc.) — and Lisa had a lot of catching up to do. |
To be continued...
Life is good.
Aloha,
B. David
P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com