The oldest carousel at the Mus\u00e9e des Arts Forains in Paris
Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

The Art of Funfairs\u00a0and Carnivals<\/h2>\n

The sights and smells of carnivals and funfairs are layered deep in memory.<\/p>\n

We remember . . .<\/p>\n

\n
• taking pride in choosing our favorite horse on the carousel<\/li>\n
• eating\u00a0airy sugar in cotton candy clouds<\/li>\n
• digging\u00a0deep to find our inner superman, someone capable of winning the largest and furriest of the stuffed animals<\/li>\n
• living\u00a0for the heart-stopping, stomach-spinning rides<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  We were having so much fun at the funfairs that we probably didn\u2019t give full attention to the detailed art and design of the structures, backgrounds, and carnival characters\u2014creative expression that was especially imaginative if we lived in 19^{th<\/sup> century Europe.<\/p>\n}

  

  Choose your favorite galloping wooden character.
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  Oh, I See the Treasures (Now that I’m Really Looking)<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  A visit to the Mus\u00e9e des Arts Forains (Museum of Fairground Arts) in Paris brings the beauty of the funfair treasures into clear focus and takes us back in time from 1850 to 1950.<\/p>\n

  The architecture, sculptures, and paintings that make up the rides and games of this era are a special kind of theater.<\/p>\n

  Everything works together in this museum of memorabilia to set the stage\u2014a world full of illusion, energy, fanciful characters, magic, and color.<\/p>\n

  

  The confectionery at the Mus\u00e9e des Arts Forains
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  Cultural and Artistic Variety in the World of Funfairs<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  Cultural variety is evident in the museum collection, which was gathered from all over Europe by actor and antiques dealer Jean Paul Favand.<\/p>\n

  

  The game of passe-boules, a test of ball-throwing skills (circa 1920)
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  For example, the horse tails of the French carousel horses are usually carved in wood. The German horse tails are made of horsehair.<\/p>\n

  The main carousel has traditional wooden horses and carriages, but the museum also has a carousel of Venetian gondolas as well as one of old-fashioned bicycles.<\/p>\n

  

  Peddle power on the V\u00e9locip\u00e8des carousel
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  The speedy bicycle carousel, the V\u00e9locip\u00e8des (circa 1897), goes 62 kilometers (38 miles) per hour thanks to ambitious riders’ fueling the rotation with their frenetic peddling.<\/p>\n

  Off to the Races<\/strong><\/h4>\n

  Another cultural difference is the creative approach to the racing games. The customary horse races are part of the museum collection, where you advance your horse by rolling balls into the high-value holes.<\/p>\n

  

  And they’re off . . .
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  But, only in French culture would you have La Course des Gar\u00e7ons de Caf\u00e9<\/em> (the race of the caf\u00e9 waiters). The traditional horses are replaced by mustachioed waiters carrying trays of wine glasses. They leap along, at a startling\u00a0pace\u2014surprising because you rarely\u00a0see them move that fast in real\u00a0caf\u00e9 life.<\/p>\n

  

  La Course des Gar\u00e7ons de Caf\u00e9
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  Seeing\u00a0Things Differently<\/h4>\n

  After a visit to the Mus\u00e9e des Arts Forains, I see things differently. I see the beauty of the wood-carved horses, the painted games, the ornate statues and wall murals.<\/p>\n

  

  The beauty of an era past
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  I see the technical marvel of the v\u00e9locip\u00e8des that can spin at 38 mph and make me hold on for dear life as my\u00a0high-wheeler\u00a0takes the curves.<\/p>\n

  But most of all, I see myself differently\u2014metaphorically of course, but also physically. In\u00a0the hall of mirrors, without even trying, I lost\u00a020 pounds.<\/p>\n

  That’s my kind of funfair.<\/p>\n

  

  The Hall of Mirrors makes dreams come true.
  Photo \u00a9 Meredith Mullins<\/p><\/div>\n

  The Mus\u00e9e des Arts Forains<\/a> is open during the Journ\u00e9es du Patrimoine in September, during the holiday week in December, and for private tours and events.<\/em><\/p>\n

  Comment<\/a>\u00a0on this post, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paris-mappoints","category-art-creative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40725,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20287\/revisions\/40725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}