Riverfront Park Carousel


The Riverfront Park Carrousel, also known as the Looff Carrousel and the Natatorium Park carousel, is a carousel in Spokane, Washington built in 1909 by Charles I. D. Looff as a gift for Looff's daughter Emma Vogel and her husband Louis Vogel, who owned Natatorium Park in Spokane. It remained at Natatorium Park until 1968 when the park closed. The carousel was then relocated to its present location at Riverfront Park in 1975 where it continues to operate. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 1977.
The carousel still contains its original 1900 Ruth & Sohn band organ, which plays 87 key B.A.B. rolls, although due to deteriorating player rolls, a digitized recording is played during the carousel's operation. The organ was manufactured in Waldkirch, Germany and imported by Looff around 1900.
The carousel contains 54 horses, 1 giraffe, 1 tiger, 1 goat and 2 chariots, all hand carved by Looff himself. It also has a ring dispenser that allows the outside riders to grab a ring during each pass and then toss the ring at a clown with a hole for his mouth. If the rider is successful in capturing the brass ring, he or she can turn it in to win a free ride on the carousel.

Pop culture

The TV sitcom Frasier makes reference to the carousel, calling it simply "the Looff", in the season 9 episode "Frasier has Spokane".