Ah, Kiddieland. Who remembers whirling around the Little Dipper roller coaster in the summertime at this Melrose Park fair? My parents took us once—even though an Okura family amusement park trip was quite the ordeal. Between my dad, who refused any ride with a spinning motion; my mom, whose fear of heights kept her off any ride taller than five feet; and my sister, who cried if anything “made her stomach drop,” it was not the careful outing it could have been. Suffice it to say that for my family, the one safe, beloved ride was the carousel.
Kiddieland closed in 2009, and now a piece of it is going up for auction in Union, Illinois. Donley Auctions will sell the vintage carousel, with its 48 hand-carved horses, along with 300 other pieces of Americana including rare drug store and soda fountain memorabilia from the 1890s, a 1917 Harley Davidson motorcycle, arcade equipment, antique phonographs, and juke boxes.
Bidders can find the sale at Donley’s Auction Facility (8512 S. Union Rd., Union, 815-790-9435, donleyauctions.com) from 6 to 9 p.m. on November 16.