Los Angeles Magazine calls the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round "a time machine, an art lesson, and a thrill ride all in one." The merry-go-round has entertained and enthralled park visitors for over 75 years, thanks to the Davis family.
In the early 1900s, Oliver Funk Davis, a master carpenter, took merry-go-rounds to carnivals and fairs throughout California.
The family also became the operators of large carousels in Tilden Park (Berkeley), Long Beach and Lincoln Park (Los Angeles). The machines were built by the Herschell-Spillman Company of North Tonawanda, New York.
The Tilden Park merry-go-round was constructed in 1911, and operated in San Bernardino County, San Diego and Griffith Park before it was permanently placed in Berkeley.
The Griffith Park merry-go-round was originally built in 1926. It was brought to the park from San Diego in 1937 by Ross R. Davis. The “Davis Merry-Go-Round Shop” was located at 5210 Alhambra Ave. in Los Angeles.
“Spillman designers took highly detailed horses that had been destined for a two-row machine and carved larger detailed horses for the out rows, then added huge jeweled horses from about 1885 that had probably been taken in trade. Most of these were from carousels built by master carver Charles Looff and others from one of the Looff’s head carvers, Charles Carmel. Looff had a factory in Long Beach during the 1960s.”
Charles I.D. Looff was born in Denmark in 1852 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1870. During his lifetime he manufactured more than 50 carousels, and numerous amusement parks, roller coasters and Ferris wheels, as well as the Santa Monica Pier. J.O. Davis supervised the operation of the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round and snack stand from June 1968 to August 1972, calling it "a great family business."
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