The Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier was in the troughs of a major refurbishing project of the historic Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum Kiddieland Testing Park when the need to refurbish six antique, early 20th century kiddie boats, which were part of the carousel rides were in dire need of repair.
That is when Carubba Collision stepped up to the plate. Six of these kiddie ride boats were brought to Carubba Collision for extensive body work and paint repair. The boats were dented, rusted, corroded and in extremely poor condition after decades of neglect.
The boats were completely sand blasted and stripped of all old paint and rust. They then were then set- up in the body shop where each boat body was straightened, body filler applied and then sanded to original shape.
They were then moved to the paint department where they were finish sanded, primed, re- sanded and re- primed to insure a high quality base for painting.
Each boat was then moved into the paint booth where they were masked for one color, painted, dried and then re- masked for the second color and painted. After painting was completed each boat was pinstriped with accent color and the special HERSCHELL CARROUSEL graphics were applied.
The total time expended by a ten man Carubba Collision team was nearly 300 man hours. The completed boats were then delivered back to the Museum in North Tonawanda, NY.
“We are proud to donate our services and support this wonderful organization and help preserve a unique part of not only the great history of the Niagara Frontier Region but also an important part of American history and culture ” stated Carubba Collision President, Joe Carubba.
On August 22, 2013, a dedication ceremony was held at the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum for the new Kiddieland Testing Park. Dignitaries from Western New York and from across New York State were in attendance.
Carubba Collision Corporation has served the greater Buffalo area since 1955. Giving back to the community is something that Carubba Collision has a long and proud history of. Several not- for- profits have benefited from the generosity of Carubba Collision over the years including Make A Wish, Young Life, Mercy Flight, ECMC Trauma Unit, YMCA, the Food Bank of WNY, the Niagara County Sheriffs K-9 Unit and the City Mission just to name a few.
The Allan Herschell Company, founded in 1915 in North Tonawanda, New York, was the fourth in a series of companies in the community, which manufactured carousels and other amusement park rides. Allan Herschell had previously been a partner in the earliest of the area's carousel firms: the Armitage Herschell Company in 1873, and later with the Herschell-Spillman Company in 1901.
The National Register of Historic Sites nomination concludes: "The Allan Herschell Carrousel Factory achieves significance as one of only two surviving manufacturing complexes associated with the production of carousels during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With its architectural integrity intact, the factory is a unique link with this bygone industry, which once provided one of America's favorite forms of recreation."
