20 November 2016

Carousel, Bacău

Carousel, 20th century
Originating from the region of Bacău, the carousel, also known in the area as “Căiuţi” or “Căluşei” (small horses), was brought into the Village Museum in the year 2004. Built during 1960, by a master from Piatra Neamţ, the carousel was used until 2003 at various fairs and marts in Moldavia. The carousel is an entertainment installation also known as “ringspiel” (German) that is made of many wooden horses named “căiuţi or “căişori” (small horses), on which usually kids are ridding, these also having the choice to ride on the small carriages to which the horses are harnessed. The installation itself is very picturesque, having “a mushroom”, coaches and wooden horses that are spinning around the painted panels. The carousel is lifted to a certain distance from the earth and they are spinning with a moderate speed around a fixed axis. The spinning motion was ensured by a gear, but in the archaic version there were also the possibility to operate them manually, by means of a handle. They were occasionally used for children amusement in fairs, marts or Sunday markets or in “Luna parks”, as they are easy to dismount and mount back.