News Scrapbook 1975-1977

San Diego, Saturday, February 19, 19n

USD SHOW OFFERS CLOSER LOOK Carouse animals-Early Americ

n art form By JAN JENNINGS The music resounds. The merry- go-round turns. The brightly colored anunals follow their circular course. Children of all age join the merri- ment, off on a lark. And a lark was all the carousel was expected to offer. Found in amu •ment parks, where people go for play, the merry-go- round is a whimsical treat for young and old But its significance doesn't end there. And an exhibit, "Carousel Ani- mals a Sculpture," aims to prove It. On view at Founders' Gallery at SD, the exhibit was organized by th university's art department under the direction of Professor Th re. Whitcomb, with a si tance by Jnstmctor and carousel horse collector Deloss McGraw. The merry carousel music is there, but the gan ·h colors repr - senting layers and layers of pamt rcfmishmg 1s gone and the hand- carved wood horses are stripped to as close to their original state of carving as poss!blP. "These may be considered part of our m rican folk art," said Whitcomb. "Th wooden animals wrre all hand carved around the turn of the c ntury, roughly between 1890 and 19'20 "Mo t have bren done by anony- mou craftsmen from varying American carousel firm , begun by 11nm1grant from Europe, particu- larly Germany and Italy 'Th y began their craft m their native countries, thr-n immigrated to th s country and oontlnu d in its devr•lopment and expansion. Ani- mal of all km · ha\! n carved, but pnmanly hor because of the popularity of the Wrst and its influ- ence." Among American carousel firms in the late 19th and c>arly 2oth centu- 1ies were Dentzel Co, C. W. Parker, M C. Illions Co., HPrsf'hCII-Spill• man, Charles I. D. Looff, Stein• GoldstPin and Philadelphia Tobag- gan Co. Representative carous I animals by these fums are on v1ew here. "Each of these firms, often ex- tended families worktng together at the craft, had partirular stylistic characteristics to their animals," said Whitromb. "From these differ- ent styles, we can generally deter- mine which firm carved the animal." But though the firm may be deter- mmed, the ammals can not be pinnrd down to ind1v1dual carvers. "Often the ammal were done by several carvers," said Whitcomb "So as with much of folk art, the actual craftsman or craftsmen for an individual piece remain anony- mous." In the past, the carousel animals to all but a few collectors, have been taken as lightly a. their amusement park surroundings. "The animals were probably pamted by the water boy or mainte- nance man," said collector McGraw, "Just slapping on paint whenever they needed it. The layers and lay- ers of pamt covered up the actual detail in the carving of the artisans and rendered the animals whimsical amusements. "By strippmg the animals of the paint layers down to the- wood, the fine crafL~mansh1p of the carvers may be evidenced." The exhibit animals have bare traces of paint, but for the most part may be seen in their natural state. The carousel animals are on loan from rivate collections including those of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Gottdenker of New York; Marge Swenson, Garden Grove; Beverly Johnson, Santa Monica, and Deloss ~1cGraw Sr. and Deloss McGraw Jr. According to McGraw, these are among the last of the American hand-carved wooden carousel hors- es. "Many have been found at aban- doned amusement parks, old storehouses, even people's attics or basements," said McGraw. According to Whitcomb the collec- tors come from all walks of life, with no common denomenator of job, income level or education. "There were a number of other carousel animals that we could have gotten for the exhibit," said Whitcomb, "but most of these still had the layers of paint. Some collec- tors prefer to leave the paint on and retam the amusement atmosphere." The carousel animals, hand- carved in wood, have been valued betwef'n $3,000 and $7,000 each and gaining in value because of the rari- ty and the fine craftsmanship of a bygone era in American folk art. What d6 collectors do with the animals? "Most just keep them in their home," said McGraw. "Just as any other decorative or artistic piece." The hand-carvmg of the carousel animals became extinct after about 1920 and from then on they have been mass produced in plastic, fiber- glass and alummum. The exhibit of hand-carved carousel animals, including the derby horse, an ostrich, a camel, an elephant and a number of other horses, will be on view at Founders' Gallery, USD, through March ll open to the public weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ---

BEA I animals, hand-carved around the turn of the century, are bemg examined as sculptural form of American folk art in an exhibition, "Carousel Animals as 'OF THE BEA T- Wooden carou

Sculpture," on view at Founders' Gallery, USD. Many layers of paint have been removed to reveal the fine attention to detail in the carvings.-Photos by Roger Wrenn, Tiibune Staff

~---

•

•

Gas Rati

ng

In

ive Years

By CAROL KE\'DRICK Statf Writer,~ San Di"90 Union

American consumers, despite increased conservation and the development of alternate energy sources, face gas ration- ing within the next five years, fonner Secretary of the Interior Stewart 1,. Udall told a ~vernav at Sao Diegp debal.e aurlieoce lasr night. Udall, arguing Tor greater government regulation of U.S. energy resources, gave a gloomy view of America's energy future "We face a lot of changes," he said. His opponent in the debate, Bruce Johnson, associate

director for research at the Cniversitv of Miami Law School's Law and Economics Center, blamed the current energy cnsis on the "cocka- mamy schemes' of govern- ment regulators. The debate between the lawyer-polltican and the economist on the question, "Should there be greater government regulation of our energy future?" was the second in the series on law and economi presented this semester by the USD chool of Law. SUPPLY :\IISJUDGED Udall, who has published articles and books on Arneri- ca 's energj resources, blamed the energy situation on misjudgments of oil and gas reserves, the view that nuclear power would be the solution to all problems and over-reliance on "cheap Arab oil." udall, who now has a pri- vate law practice, said the world is running out of ener- gy and "there is no meaning- ful substitute Jor petrole- um,, He predicted the nation will run out of oil within 20 years, with price regulations and conservation only slow- ing that !nevitablitiy, not preventing it. "We're just about to find out how crucial petroleum is," Udall observed. NOT TIED TOGETHER While Udall said price reg- Ulations and production are not tied together, Johnson argued for deregulation on the grounds that ex1stmg and proposed price controls discourage proctuc:lion and encourage consumption by the consumer. Johnson said high priers will effectively force oon r- vation, while higher poten-

POP O IZ: Bob Darnell, morning deeJay on the countf) music stat10n Zl04-F d, began to recogmze a pattern on hi re- quest linP. The callers either wanted to knew the name of Moe Bandv's latest release, the name of 81ll Anderson's $(mg about liars and believers, or both Finally, Darnell found the com- mon denominator: All the calls were coming from students of Dr Alphonse Zukowski, the USD math professor and country mu.5ic buff. Zukowski had sched- . uled an exam for later in the day, and offered bonus points to any student wl!Q.soVld answer both questions. ,n·l'JI.J, e. ~-» 7'/,

USD EXHIBITION Carousel Figures Wait For Children fl F.R E TO FLOR , Stoff Wrlltr, lbe San Dino Unl4n 20th centurl , most of the carousel

arumal wood carvers w re Italian and G ITTnan Immigrants, and who, I the old t-ou ntne , had tu follow rtam methods and way of carv- ing

ttal for profit will spur drill- ing. He said he would not be surprised to learn of JO· stances where producers hoarded natural gas sup- plies, since the 1mpdus to distribute gas across the country has been eliminated by existing price controls. He reviewed the failure of energy regulations as result- ing in the "cold house, closed factory" syndrome, noting that the current cold wave across the nation has left as many as 2 million workers idle and led Presi- dent Carter to turn d wn the White House thf'rmostats to a level that unfortunately caused the automatic air conditioners to go rnto action

•

Staff Phot05 bY Jerry Windl• The hoI e hc:-,ul at rap lelr show mcc101lous derails wuh v.Juch carousel v.ood-can-er· made their animals ,o ro 60 }C::Zt ago Thi: ame d rails and lifelike symmecry JIC i und in a,iorher derb~ horse ;ic nghr The remains of J (aro11 cl clephmr arc- mounted on a .square wooden box JC borcom ro hov. what rhe animal looked ik r

--~-;.._--"'-----__..

-....::.::.::.::;-::::J__;_::..____ ______ __::.:..::::==

l.!!ll!...!.!.::~~

~ ---,......~~