The Leopold Lion

The Leopold Lion. . Edward F. Long and his family - the first generation of the family that now owns and operates Seabreeze - began building carousels in Philadelphia in 1876. They built eight major carousels, and the animals were carved in local shops primarily by the Mueller brothers and Charles Leopold, a carver who worked for the Muellers and Gustav Dentzel. , This lion was originally on the eighth Long carousel, which was built in 1903. That carousel operated for almost 60 years at Bushkill Park in Easton PA. The lion was replaced by a Cenigliaro lion (Dentzel Factory) in about 1950. , Since then the Leopold Lion has been on display in the Easton PA area or at Bushkill Park. Not only is it over 100 years old, but has survived at least three floods where water was over its head! The latest flood occurred as a result of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. , An earlier Long carousel operated at Sea Breeze and then was switched with the Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel that was at Seneca Park. The Seneca Park machine had a Leopold lion very similar to this one. Long carousels also operated in Cape May and Burlington Island Park in New Jersey, Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England, Eldridge Park in Elmira NY, and at Ontario Beach and Genesee Valley parks in Rochester. , The Leopold Lion is on loan from Ron Long and Reta Long Gregg. , Early Ride Ticket, c. 1890.