Monday, June 15, 2009

Ye Old Mill, Jack Rabbit and Carousel, Wildwood NJ




Very old image of the Cedar Avenue entrance to the wooden roller coaster called the Jack Rabbit constructed by Wildwood entrepreneur Edward E. Rhoads in 1919.  It also served as the entrance to Ye Old Mill boat ride, a dark, early-twentieth-century version of a tunnel of love. Rhoads contracted with the famed Philadelphia Toboggan Company to construct a hand-carved carousel to match and compete with the Dentzel masterpiece carousel built for the boardwalk pavilion known as the Casino that opened in 1897. 
I am also including an aerial view of the Rhoad's carousel building ( flag on top ) and the monstrous Jack Rabbit coaster in the center left/background.
Third there is an amazing image of the Dentzel steam-powered carousel that brought fame to the Casino. ( from my book Boardwalk Memories, Tales of the Jersey Shore - Globe Pequot Press .) Click on the images for more detail and you can see the Dentzel trademark panel in the upper right of the carousel.


2 comments:

  1. Do you recall a dancing chicken? I barely remember, inside the building that housed the Merry-go-round, there was an "amusement machine" where you put money in, and a chicken would dance.

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  2. Yes there was a dancing chicken and kissing
    bunny rabbit located at second ave.

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