Giddy-up! Cafesjian's Carousel's original horses at Como Park are still galloping after 110 years.

Growing up in St. Paul in a family with four children, the closest Angelo Rulli got to a family vacation most years was a ride on a carousel.

"What could be better than a carousel ride for a kid?" he said. "It's still one of my favorite memories of childhood."

On a recent evening, a special event at Cafesjian's Carousel in St. Paul's Como Park attended by the 81-year-old Rulli and about a dozen other enthusiastic adults suggested that carousels aren't just for kids.

"It's important this magnificent machine get credited," Rulli said.

The two-hour event in September was one of several "History in Motion" sessions held this past season, with more planned for next year. They offer an opportunity to learn about the colorful past of one of the largest surviving antique wooden merry-go-rounds in the country, one of the few that retains its original paint even after surviving a fire and other upheavals.

The program was led by Tracy Tolzmann, president of the board of Our Fair Carousel (OFC), the nonprofit that almost 40 years ago rescued the carousel from being dismantled and that is still in charge of keeping its historic horses galloping.

The carousel will close for the season on Oct. 27 but will be open on MEA weekend, Oct. 17-18.

Dispensing the first of many fun facts, Tolzmann explained that the ride has to close when temperatures drop below 45 degrees because parts of it are made from the same steel as was used in the Titanic, which of course broke and sank when the ship hit an iceberg in 1912.

That was two years before the carousel was manufactured by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. (its specialty was roller coaster cars, called "toboggans").

The ride sold to two private owners for $8,500 (that's $267,576 adjusted for inflation — still a bargain). It debuted at the Minnesota State Fair that year.

In the carousel's pavilion, its interior illuminated by the 900 tiny lights affixed to the ride, Tolzmann gave attendees a slideshow talk about the merry-go-round's history. He showed them around its 68 horses, each a unique piece of art carved in realistic equine style but fancifully detailed: feathers, scales, wild manes and a lolling tongue, a turtle pursuing a fish, a human face peering out from under a saddle, a glittery gold alligator sprawled across the horse's side.

The event culminated with several rides for participants — the first two spinning at the carousel's usual 8 mph but the third cranked up to 10 mph, a speed marked on the carousel's own control panel "NEVER for public!"

Turns out 10 mph can be slightly scarier than you might think, when experienced on the back of a wooden steed pumping up and down and whirling around in a circle, accompanied by carnivalesque music blaring from a Wurlitzer Band Organ.

Not too scary for 2-year-old Bjorn Hunt, though. He was "just beaming" during the ride, said his dad, Josiah Hunt, a member of OFC's board.

Fire and other disruptions

Fire! In 1939, flames apparently spread from a cooking stove placed near its building and the carousel was briefly ablaze.

"Fortunately, the St. Paul Fire Department was on the ball," Tolzmann said. "They hit it with everything and extinguished the fire very quickly."

The ceiling was damaged beyond repair, but only eight horses were hurt. In the subsequent restoration, workers scraped off the charred wood and touched up the paint, preserving the old colors and leaving a few little "windows" showing the charred parts. Under fresh paint, dents on the carousel platform still indicate places that burned.

"We didn't do anything to hide it because it's part of its history," Tolzmann said.

Other carousels weren't so lucky. Their number peaked at 3,000 in 1930, Tolzmann said. Some were lost to fire, others dismantled and sold off.

"A lot of horses are still in private collections," he said.

That almost became the fate of this one. It had been in the hands of private owners, not the fair, and in 1988, the owners put the carousel up for sale. Reportedly they couldn't find a buyer to purchase it intact, so it was being dismantled and headed for auction in New York.

Then a St. Paul couple, Peter Boehm and Nancy Peterson, came to the rescue. Learning that the attraction was available for just over $1.1 million, Boehm and Peterson formed OFC and announced in local media their intention to buy the ride, inviting help from the public.

"Over the next week, their phone rang nonstop with people calling to tell stories of what the carousel meant to them," the OFC website says. "Each day's mail brought contributions, from $100 to a 6-year-old's gift of a quarter, two dimes and a nickel 'to save my favorite horse.'"

The City of St. Paul contributed funds to guarantee a bank loan that OFC could use to purchase the carousel, giving Boehm and Peterson one year to repay the loan.

The couple bought the ride in the nick of time — the auction had begun and the first horse was about to be put up for bids.

Boehm and Peterson offered horses for "adoption" through tax-deductible donations of up to $25,000. For each donation, a plate with the name of a donor or a loved one was affixed to the carousel platform beside the selected horse, and on a plaque on the wall of the pavilion.

About 10 horses are still available for adoption now, Tolzmann said.

When the couple operated the carousel for its 75th and final year at the Minnesota State Fair in 1989, more than 108,000 people rode it. Many also bought T-shirts and other merch, generating still more money for the cause.

Then Gerard L. Cafesjian, a local publishing executive who died in 2013 at age 88, called to ask how much they would charge for "naming rights." How about $600,000, about half the amount needed to repay the city's loan, Boehm and Peterson suggested. OK, Cafesjian said. It has been Cafesjian's Carousel ever since.

"I believe something special happens on a merry-go-round," Cafesjian told the Star Tribune in 1990. "The music, the magic and the movement combine to create a one-of-a-kind personal experience. When we preserve the carousel we also preserve that joy and hope — that happiness — for the entire community for years to come."

In 1990, the carousel opened at its new home, Town Square Park, an enclosed city park on the top level of a building in downtown St. Paul. But by 1993, downtown retail business was struggling, Town Square was transitioning to office space, and the OFC decided to move the carousel to Como Park.

Once again, Gerard Cafesjian came to the rescue, putting up another $600,000 toward the carousel's pavilion, about half of the building's cost, Tolzmann said. OFC chipped in $300,000 and the rest came from the city and state. Cafesjian insisted on a stylish home for his favorite ride, with a copper roof, a Wurlitzer band organ and a horse-shaped weathervane.

"We can safely say the carousel hasn't run as good as it does now since we purchased it," Tolzmann said.

Stephanie Hunter, the carousel's operations manager, said more events will be held next season.

"Our goal next year is to do a lot of these," she said. "People need to see how awesome this thing is."

Hunter is one of four carousel employees. The attraction depends heavily on volunteers, who receive a free ticket for every hour worked.

"Volunteers are our life blood," Tolzmann said.

The need for volunteers was also emphasized by Steve Sinkloski, the carousel's chief mechanic, in a recent Facebook post that has received 6,500 "likes" and been shared 1,500 times.

"We need riders (and volunteers) to keep this treasure going for years to come," Sinkloski wrote. "I encourage folks to dress up and go on an old-fashioned carousel date with your sweetheart! Come one, come all, and help me keep it spinning!"