The American Classic Carousel, crafted by American Classic Toy, is a child-sized carousel just the right size to install outside a campground store or laundry room to keep kids occupied and entertained. The carousels are also often installed in car dealership showrooms, mall courtyards, or the yards and homes of wealthy people who simply want one for their children.
Jay Horowitz, president of American Classic Toy, is a third-generation toymaker. Horowitz grew up working in the New York toy stores owned by his father and grandfather, and now runs a company specializing in nostalgic toys.
The carousel is designed for riders up to 100 lbs. It can accommodate four kids at a time, with horses that circle a central pole. The horses rise and lower as they rotate, just as they would on a full-size carousel. Horses are hand-painted, and Horowitz is proud of the artistry and design.
“You know, the decoration of the horses is a major, major expense, but those horses are beautiful,” Horowitz noted. “The body itself is sprayed, and then it’s hand-painted … we’re talking about real artists doing it carefully by hand, because the horses are important.”
Each horse has a mounting bar so smaller children can clamber on by themselves, and there are handlebars and footrests so they can sit securely.
The carousels are easy to assemble, and most owners put the rides together themselves. In fact, Horowitz says the company invented the mechanism inside the ride specifically to be easy for purchasers to manage.
“We changed it because we wanted to make it easy to assemble, and easy to operate, and so forth,” Horowitz explained. “So we’ve incorporated the speaker within the control panel, so nobody has to assemble or put it up. It’s already assembled. So, the entire carousel is assembled within the base.”
He says problems are rare, but someone is available to talk buyers through any maintenance issues.
The ride is six feet in diameter and uses 110V house current, so it’s easy to plug in and operate as well. It comes with a coin box, which is pre-set to charge $0.75 per ride. However, owners can change the amount, add a bill acceptor or card swiper, or disable the coin box altogether if they don’t want to charge.
American Classic Carousel provides a one-year guarantee on the ride. The carousel sells for $12,500, which is the factory price for the ride, according to the American Classic Toy website. There is financing available for purchasers, and customers can make monthly payments until the carousel is paid off. Horowitz points out that some of that cost can be recouped by charging for rides.
The exact amount each campground earns will vary depending on location, demographics and other factors.
The carousel is a great, quick visual indicator that a campground welcomes families. Stationed outside a laundry room, the ride can also be a great way to occupy kids on laundry day on the road.
This article was written by Laura Falin.
