Carousel Finds A Home
The WurliTzer Band Organ cranks out the music as the woo
den horses on the carousel went round and round. It was the days of the carnivals and side shows, the fat lady and the sword swallower. Levitt, Brown and Huggins Shows provided the entertainment.
The historic 1917 Philadelphia Toboggan No. 43 portable carousel has delighted crowds at the Puyallup Fair for decades. But each year it has been dismantled and stored or crated off to Portland where its owner Bob Bollinger owns an amusement park.
This year the carousel will reside in a permanent structure located at the main entrance of the fairgrounds. It is being donated to the grounds by Bollinger who was born into a carnival family in the early 1900s.
Show artist Tom Cooper did the careful work of restoring and painting the 
wooden animal figures. Cooper, originally from Sarasota Fla. was artist for Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. He did circus work and painted the wagons for the traveling shows.
Preserving carousels is the major concern of the national carousel Association of Atlanta, Ga. It was from a recent convention in Portland that Bollinger discovered the value of the machine that has served the fair for so many years.
According to Charles Walker, conservation chairman of the Carousel Association, the Philadelphia Toboggan is the most complete one of its kind in the country. Walker was concerned about speculators interested in purchasing the machine for its antique horses alone. He urged its owner to preserve it a part of the heritage of fairs and carnivals.
When Levitt, Brown and Huggins stopped doing business at the fair, the merry-go-round with its 42 horses, three abreast, fell into the hands of Bud Douglas. It was from the Douglas estate that Edward Bollinger purchased the carousel.
Edward Bollinger’s show first came to Puyallup in 1934. There were mainly independents here then. Bollinger explained the permanent roller coaster at the fair was built by his father in 1935. The Old Mill Mystic Water ride built in 1936, burned up in the grandstand fire. Bollinger’s father died in 1948 leaving the amusement park and rides to his son. (note: the park was left to EH Bollinger's 2nd wife. Robert purchased it from her)
Bollinger has since incorporated as FunTastic's, the familiar carnival rides traveling in bright yellow semis throughout the Northwest and setting up at local fairs, festivals and shopping centers. His three traveling shows comprised of more than 70 rides, will converge at the fairgrounds offering the “best show ever.”