In 1869, a woodcarver and cabinet maker named Melchior Thoni moved to Nashville from Switzerland. He hand carved the wooden animals to stand on Nashville's first "Flying Jenny" as merry-go-rounds were called then. Around the turn of the century there were thousands of carousels across the country, but weather, fire, neglect and change of ownership has made them a rarity. Only a few of the vintage carousels still exist.
Red Grooms, native Nashvillian and internationally known artist, finished the new Fox Trot Carousel, a working merry-go-round with 36 life size nostalgic figures of some of Tennessee's famous citizens. Many individuals and businesses made donations to defray the cost $1.75 million dollars. The Fox Trot Carousel sits at the intersection of Broadway and First Avenue along the Cumberland at Riverfront Park. This quaint whimsical artwork offers a fascinating ride through Tennessee's history with tribute to special citizens, athletes, businesses and legends.
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Adelicia Acklen (Southern belle of Belmont Mansion) Chet Atkins (acclaimed guitarist) Bell Witch (poltergeist haunting the Bell Family in Adams, TN.) Reverend Samuel Jones (Preacher who inspired building of Union Gospel Tabernacle) |
| Charlie Soong (immigrant who studied theology at Vanderbilt, & sold Western Bibles in China) Purity Milk (1925 family managed dairy) Richard H. Boyd (former slave began National Baptist Publishing Board) Rod Brasfield, Lonzo & Oscar, Speck Rhodes & Cousin Jody (Grand Ole Opry comedians) Leroy Carr (popular blues artist) |
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Bell Kinney Scholz (sculpturer of Parthenon replica) Grantland Rice (the "Voice of Sports") Fox Trot (ballroom dance and slow gait of a horse) Davy Crockett (legendary frontier hero) |
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Cornelia Fort (Female flight instructor who died in World War II) Captain Thomas Ryman (Riverboat captain sponsered the construction of Ryman Auditorium) William Edmondson (African-American sculpturer) Sequoyah (created the Cherokee alphabet of 85 letters) GooGoo (Nashville's candy) manufactured since 1901 by Standard Company in our city. Maybe you heard their old slogan advertised on the Grand Ole Opry. It was "Go get a GooGoo... It's Good!" |
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Everly Brothers (folk music artists) Eugene Lewis (director of the Centennial Exposition in 1897) Anne Dallas Dudley (women's rights leader) Charlotte Robertson (wife of city's founding father) |
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Lula Naff (manager of the Ryman Auditorium) Wild Fang (Nashville Kats arena football) Vanderbilt Life Flight (helicopter transports for critically ill or injured patients) Andrew Jackson (soldier, statesman and President) Horace Greeley Hill (First cash and carry grocery with H.G. Hill Food Stores) Rabbi Isadore Lewinthal (Jewish community leader) |
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Kitty Wells (female country music singer of "It Wasn't God who Made Honky-Tonk Angels" Catfish (staple of Nashville cuisine) Uncle Dave Macon (much loved banjo picker) Dan May (founder of May Hosiery Mills) Moses & Calvin McKissack (state registered architects) |
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(Three time Olympic gold medal winner) She ran the 100-meter dash which she ran in 11 seconds flat) Born the 20th of 22 children, she overcame polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia as a child. Chiggers (itchy mites which infest lawns) |
HoneyHoney's Country Girl Hullaballoo
http://www.oocities.org/bornhoney/