You Know You're Old When You Feel Nostalgia...

[teddy_radiator]

sempraseverus' superb drawings of carousel animals has me thinking of the days when the Myrtle Beach Pavilion was a magic place you went to ride rickety amusement park rides, take a turn on the Full Menagerie Herschel-Spillman carousel, and listen to the German Band Organ. When I was a little girl, I used to stare at this for hours.

Now the Pavilion is only a memory, but the Organ and the Carousel were taken to another tourist attraction in Myrtle Beach called Broadway on the Beach. If you're ever there, go and listen to this lovely old organ which by the looks of it here, has gone through major renovations. At the Pavilion, it was sadly allowed to fall into a terrible state of disrepair. Now it's all shiny and beautiful. It is the sound and vision of my childhood, and even through my jaded teenaged years, I would stop and watch the band organ play. The top is just a nice set of shots, the bottom vid shows it in all it's jingling, turning, cherubic, bleating glory:

This one is sort of long, but worth it just to see the closeups!

Comments

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

Initial gut reaction when I hear someone say they're getting old is: I certainly hope so ;-)

Funny those organs make you feel nostalgic. They're fairly normal in my neck of the woods, and I've always strongly disliked them, because the ones I knew were always that bit out of tune. To my sensitive ears, that was horror.

It's funny that it's called a German band though, I always figured this sort of street organ to be typically Dutch.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

It was made by the Baden company, and it was at the Pavilion for as long as I can remember. I loved the mechanics of it, and my parents tell me even as a little girl I would sit for hours and watch it. I would remark on how it had changed over the years (the little arms and legs of the cherubs were in terrible shape. It was like watching broken egg shells at times).

I think (believe) that I must remember them from a past life, because I was so enamoured of them and my folks tell me I was since before I have living memory. They can be awfully raucous, and this one doesn't sound as good as it should, but I'm just thankful they preserved it. The Pavilion had been a landmark of Myrtle Beach for almost one hundred years, and they unceremoniously tore it down one summer in the name of progress. There is a vacant lot there now, and sadly, our memories of it mean nothing to those who weren't there to see it in its heyday.

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

It moves me that you can recall your loving memories with such clarity and detail. Memories can be powerful things, especially when they are suddenly triggered by sound, view, or even smell.

Your story makes me want to sit down with you and just watch and listen to that organ. Now I want my next travels to be in that..ahum..vicinity even more.

( on a different note, I got bored couple days back,so I took a random survey with over a hundred questions about where I would want to live if I ever wanted to move to the States. My number one city? Charleston, SC.... Number two was Honolulu. I'm such a tropical creature, really)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

You would love Charleston. It has its own unique beauty, but to be perfectly honest, you would THRIVE in Savannah, Georgia. They are close together and are about the same age, but Savannah is a decadent, louche city, whereas Charleston is a little prim and elitist. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but Savannah is almost like New Orleans without the shit.

It is super friendly, it has this old world decadence that just turns me on when I'm there. The riverfront is so secretive and sensual. It's a very sexy city. Charleston is more austere in its beauty. But hey, it's all the South, and the south is about heat and hope and bright colours and hidden desires....

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

I see a lot of words I really really like. Decadent, louche. Hmm.

However, when I think about Austere beauty, something in my goes "boom boom baby". Something that has very little to do with cities...

Ah, heat. I could do with a lot of that actually. Give me heat. Yes.

[sandlappershell.livejournal.com]

We should have our LJ friends come see us and we could start in Savannah or Myrtle and work our way to the other end...I bet between you and I, we could find some LOVELY things to do and eat and drink and see -
I really love where I live...three hours to the beach and three hours to the mountains!! Brilliant!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Oh, and when you come and visit, we'll go there and watch and listen to the organ. It will be fun!

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

I'll do it for you. Feed me your frozen mojito's and I'm game. or those Vodka tonics that keep popping up?

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, the vodka tonics, or Vitamin Water - the health drink of choice at Con, so I'm told! I want to go to Con!!!

Of course, I've had a bottle of wine and I'm feeling no pain right now... I'm predisposed to make whatever you fancy.

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

I like everything except Whisky, alas. I tried many times, but to me it just tastes like liquid wood.

Don't tempt me! I'm dangerously low on funds anyway. I may have to sell some of my art.

[sabrebabe.livejournal.com]

I took a survey like that once. My number 1 answer was Eagle River, Wisconsin. Number 2 was Houghton, Michigan.

I live (and was already living in) Houghton, Michigan at the time.

Eagle River, Wisconsin? 2 hours drive to the south. :D

[howlingmojo.livejournal.com]

I deliberately omitted number three on my list: Little Rock, Arkansas. I mean, que?

That is hilarious though. The survey knoooows you. ;-)

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

That's amazing! I've only passed through Michigan a few times (my father, for some Southern reason best known to himself, insisted on calling it Mitch-i-gen, which, I sadly, now say automatically). And my first husband was from Madison, Wisconsin, which I thought was lovely, but alas, that's about all I know of the Midwest. That, and what Prairie Home Companion taught me.

[dozmuffinxc.livejournal.com]

THE MYRTLE BEACH CAROUSEL IS GONE??? O_O

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

The one that was at the Pavilion is now in what's called the Nostalgia Park at Broadway on the Beach. They took a few of the more classic rides and shipped them over there.

[beffeysue.livejournal.com]

Geez! That takes me back. I can remember going to sit and enjoy the music and marvel at the "moving statues." We went to to Crescent Beach (now part of North Myrtle Beach) every summer, and Daddy would take all of us to Myrtle Beach to go to the Amusement Park and the Pavilion.

At that time (the 1950')the Pavilion was located on the beach front side of Ocean Blvd., and the organ was in the amusement park across the street. It was right in the middle of all the rides, and the park was sand... not paving.

My father especially loved that organ. He had seen many of them that had been destroyed during World War II, and it always broke his heart that those beautiful works of art had been ruined. This Baden Organ Band has been beautifully restored. I don't remember the colors being as bright as they are now, but I do remember them being gorgeous.

At the Pavilion we could play the pinball and bowling machines, have our fortunes told, and watch the adults and the "big kids" dance. I don't think there were any rides next to the Pavilion until the 60's, but I could be wrong about that.

I always wanted to ride the Carousel. Over and over and over. I had my favorite steed, you see, and I could pretend that I was chasing outlaws with Roy Rogers or Lash LaRue. Or even better, I could be a knight in shining armor. Knights had swords and rode prancing chargers, and they had all the fun! Damsels-in-Distress not so much. Yeah. Be a knight.

Thank you for bringing back these wonderful memories.
Hugs you with lots of hugs,
Beffey

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

It's so part of my childhood, and I have so many fond memories of the place. My family tell all their tales of Myrtle Beach. My mother remembers shagging in the Pavilion, and sneaking into the Bowery and trying to look old enough to be there and being chased out by the bartender! My dad used to tell about the time he got thrown off the dancefloor in the Pavilion for doing the 'dirty dog' - the Police came and escorted him off the premises! He was a marvelous dancer.

Good times there. It's so sad that it's all gone. Well the organ and the carousel are at Broadway, but Ocean Boulevard was such a cool place when I was a teenager, and sadly, those days are long past. They are just in our memories now.

[severus49.livejournal.com]

Sigh! It makes me long for the days of my amusement parks of old. Living in PA, you don't have beaches close, but you go to amusement parks locally. We used to have four of them when I was little, White Swan which was on our way to the airport, West View - which I lived about 15 minutes from, and watched steadily go downhill till the early '80s, Idlewild which was over an hour but had this neat old park beside it called 'Storybook Forest' with Mother Goose lifesized displays that you could walk through, and Kennywood Park, which was about 45 minutes from where I grew up. West View was within walking distance from my aunt and uncle's house and it was famous for the Dips. Kennywood is still there, and still tops on the ACE list (American Coaster Enthusiasts) though the undesirable kids, the lines and the prices have made it off limits for families to go; And Idlewild is still there, much bigger, a half hour from where I live (we love it), and now voted the Number One Kids Park in America (But, honestly, I think the bees voted that one, because you can't get near garbage cans due to the infestations!)

I'm glad some of those places are still there, but I miss going 'round the sharp bend in the road that the Dips at West View abutted, and watching the people fly past us in the coaster cars. Sadly, some things you can never get back...

[sandlappershell.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not - I have only been to Myrtle Beach a few times. Never went to the Pavilion, but I have been to Broadway at the Beach and have seen the organ. I always thought it was crappy the way the Pavilion was done. There is a new amusement park in that area now - but it is nothing like what my Mom and Dad told me about. When I was younger, we always went camping in the NC mountains until after my Grandfather died. Then we started going to the beach rather than camping, but we always went to Edisto Beach, about 45 minutes South of Charleston. Myrtle has just gotten way to commercial and crowded for us!

[darklotus1211.livejournal.com]

I can see how you would have been enamoured by this as a child - I think I would have been too.

I think it's really lovely - raucous, but lovely. Of course, the raucous element would have added to its charm when I was a kid. It's sad that they tore down a landmark with such history, but I'm glad that some of it was preserved, even if in a different place.

I live in an historic area of Australia, and it's often heartbreaking to see our history torn down in the name of progress. Future generations won't thank us for it.

[juniperus.livejournal.com]

I have some very fond, tear-and-nostalgia inducing memories involving old carousels and historic carousel organs (also glockenspiel clock towers and pipe organs).

Thank you for this.

[bonsaibetz.livejournal.com]

Wow, I've seen these type in the plain brown wood at a few places and even a few on Main Street at Disneyland, but not with so many colorful figures. That's a gem!