Come to the 34th Annual Chisholm Trail Day Festival!

It’s time to saddle up and head to the 34th Annual Chisholm Trail Day Festival, on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at the Dickinson County Heritage Center, 412 S. Campbell in Abilene, Kansas from 9 am to 4 pm. The admission is $5 per adult and $2 per child (ages 3-12), sponsored by the Dickinson County Historical Society.

There will be lots of fun and activities for the whole family. We will have lots of live entertainment on the main stage featuring Classic Heart playing great music of the 50s and 60s, music that will really make you want to dance. Aaron Fowler of Wichita will also be on the main stage presenting a program entitled Oh Give Me A Home: Music and the Kansas Prairies. Our third performer on the main stage will be Dave “Zerf” Zerfas. Zerf plays Kansas Ballads and Old Cowboy songs. There will be great music and entertainment all day long.

This year the Antique Farm Show will feature International tractors and farm equipment. The special feature tractor will be International Cub owned by Gail Rodda. Registration begins at 8:00 am. There will be tractor games at 11:00 am and the Parade of Power will begin at 1:00 pm. Also there will be an antique tractor pull beginning at 2:00 pm.

There will also be a pedal tractor pull for kids four to twelve years of age. Registration will begin at 8:00 am and the pull will begin at 9:00 am. This activity will be free of charge.

If you love old cars then you won’t want to miss the Antique and Classic Car Show. There will be over 50 antique and classic cars on exhibit throughout the day. Anyone who would like to bring a car for the show is welcome to do so. Registration will begin at 8:00 am Saturday morning.

Come and learn how old crafts were done. We will have demonstrations on blacksmithing, chair caning, bread baking, molasses boiling, pioneer cooking, lumber sawing, and much more.

Inside the Heritage Center make sure you visit the Mud Creek Quilters demonstrating the art of quilting. As a fund raiser, the Dickinson County Historical Society will be giving away a beautiful hand quilted quilt at 3:00 pm. For a donation of $1.00 you will receive a chance on the drawing, or for donating $5 you will receive 6 chances for the drawing.

There will also be a special traveling exhibit entitled Orphan Train Riders to Kansas from the National Orphan Train Museum in Concordia, Kansas inside the Heritage Center.

For $1.00 kids of all ages will enjoy riding on the 1901 C.W. Parker Carousel powered by its original steam engine. This carousel is a National Historic Landmark, a National Historic Carousel, and was voted one of the top 8 Wonders of Kansas Customs. It is truly a national treasure and everyone will have great fun taking a ride.

If you like trains, come and ride the rails as the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad powers up their 1919 Santa Fe 4-6-2 “Pacific” #3415 Steam Locomotive. Relive the days of steam powered trains. The train will run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on the hour.

During the day, visit Old Abilene Town and watch Wild Bill Hickok tame the streets of Abilene in 1871. Also you can take a ride on the Old Abilene Stage located in Old Abilene Town. On Sunday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Bill Burrows will hold a “Cowboy Jam Session” at the Alamo Saloon.

There will be children’s activities as well as arts and crafts booths, folk craft demonstrations, and the Farmers Market. Kasey the Clown and Timbo will also be roaming the grounds during the day.

Don’t miss out on the fun and the excitement at the 34th Annual Chisholm Trail Day Festival. For more information call 785-263-2681, check out our website, or visit us on Facebook. 

We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support of the Chisholm Trail Day Festival.

Wrangler

Bert & Wetta

Solomon State Bank - Solomon, Abilene

Abilene Termite and Pest Control

Zey's Market

M & M Tire & Auto, Inc.

Family Eye Care of Abilene

First Bank of Kansas

First National Bank of Hope

Abilene Reflector-Chronicle

TCT

Great Plains Manufacturing

Wyatt Land Title Services

McKee Swimming Pools

Reynolds Real Estate

Mr. K's Farmhouse

Mid-Kansas Cooperative Assn.

Kenneth A. Hansen, D.D.S.

Drover

West's Plaza Country Mart

Pinnacle Bank

Webb Home Center

Holm Automotive Center

Longhorn

Smart Insurance

Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc.

Brierton Engineering

Thanks again! We'll see you at the Chisholm Trail Day Festival on October 6, 2012!

A New Face (of the Equine Variety) at the Museum

The Heritage Center is very pleased to announce that we have acquired a carousel horse due to a generous donation from Mary Feller. After repairing several of the horses for our 1901 C.W. Parker carousel, Mary’s husband, Don, was inspired to build four different horses based upon Parker’s patterns. This particular horse was an extra one created by Don, which Mary so graciously decided to donate to the museum. It is currently featured in our museum’s entrance and gift shop, welcoming guests as they enter the Heritage Center. We also plan to bring this carousel horse to festivals and events to help promote our museum’s many attractions to the public. Next time you are at the museum, be sure to take a look at this beautiful carousel horse!

The Amusement King

Charles Wallace Parker was born in Griggsville, Illinois in 1864.  At the age of five, his family moved to Abilene, Kansas.  As Parker grew into adulthood, he became interested in creating and operating amusement devices as a career.  After saving his earnings as a janitor, Parker bought a portable shooting gallery.  He traveled the area with the device, and after some time, decided that he could improve the design.  Parker soon built his own shooting gallery, thus beginning his career in manufacturing amusement devices. 

C.W. Parker

Soon Parker would be building carousels as well.  As the story goes, Parker and his daughter were headed towards the general store one afternoon.  Parker had one dollar in his pocket to buy the family’s groceries.  Suddenly, his daughter noticed a carousel offering rides for a nickel.  After much pleading from his daughter, Parker paid for his daughter to ride the contraption.  His daughter did not stop riding until Parker had spent eighty-five cents, leaving only fifteen cents to pay for the family’s groceries.   Seeing that the excitement of a carousel could get him to spend most of his last dollar, Parker decided he should be in the carousel business.  After saving enough money to make the purchase, Parker bought a portable carousel.  Similar to his ideas concerning his shooting gallery, Parker decided that he could build carousels in superior ways.  Parker built his first carousel in 1892, and started the Parker Carnival Supply Company two years later.

Parker's Abilene factory.

In 1896, the company became the C.W. Parker Amusement Company.  Over the years, Parker’s company produced all sorts of amusement devices including shooting galleries, Ferris wheels, and other carnival equipment.  While Parker did produce this wide range of devices, he was best known for his carousels.

The "Head Man" was an experienced wood carver who focused on the head details on each horse.

At the time of his company’s beginning, Parker was the only carousel manufacturer not operating on the east coast.  Most of Parker’s early carousels, or “Carry-Us-Alls” as he named them, were built to be portable.  Generally speaking, every carousel had interchangeable parts, so replacement parts were easy to acquire.

One of Parker's Abilene carousels packed on a wagon for transport.

Parker's early carousels were operated with the use of a steam engine such as this.

Several Parker horses on his property in Abilene.

Parker’s business lasted in Abilene until 1911.  At this time, Parker got into a dispute over property lines with the city.  Rather than continuing to dispute, Parker decided to move his entire company to Leavenworth, Kansas instead.  While in Leavenworth, Parker made visible changes to his carousel designs.  The horses became more grandiose and other animals were featured as mounts.

World War I caused a shortage of supplies for carousel manufacturers.  Following the war, the Great Depression greatly hurt the business, as fewer and fewer patrons had enough money to visit a carnival.  The carousel manufacturers that survived were those that switched to wood carving machines, or to aluminum horses (which required little to no maintenance).  Parker’s company was one of those that endured.  After Parker’s death in 1932, his son ran the company in Leavenworth until 1955.

Parker used his "Seal of Cleanliness" to promote that his carnivals were a family friendly environment.

For his time, Parker was a huge name in the amusement business, earning him the nickname of the “Amusement King.”  A number of his carousels still exist today, at least sixteen in operating condition.  Two museums in Kansas feature the story of C.W. Parker and his carousels.  The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth features a number of carousels, two of which can be ridden.  The Dickinson County Heritage Center in Abilene features a 1901 Parker carousel that is known to be the oldest Parker carousel that can be ridden.

The Dickinson County Heritage Center's 1901 Parker carousel.  Notice that the horses are simply adorned and move on a rocking mechanism.  These were common features of Parker's carousels made in Abilene.

All photographs in this post are courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.