Fred Baxter
Adelaide Mail May 29, 1937 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55934241
The Baxter's Merry-Go-Round was considered to be superior to the others on the side-show circuit. Here are some descriptions of it. The Hobart Mercury had a report on the Hobart Agricultural Show of 1887 - Mention must also be made of what proved a source of much attention to the youngsters present - a most elaborate merry-go-round, constructed by Mr. W. C. Baxter, of Melbourne, which comprised in its intricate anatomy a steam piano, that discoursed loud if not the sweetest music. (Hobart Mercury, October 22, 1887, see here)
This report of the New Year's Day Port Adelaide Regatta of 1892 was in the Port Adelaide News - Every kind of amusement was provided along the wharves, the most popular with the juveniles
being swing-boats and merry-go-round. The latter, however, was a very poor substitute for Baxter's merry-go-round of last year, which was driven (including the organ) by steam-power. The one provided on this occasion was worked manually, and had not even a barrel organ. (Port Adelaide News January 8, 1892, see here.)
In 1894 the merry-go-round was in Mount Gambier - Baxter's Steam Circuit, a merry-go-round of a superior character, and four swing boats, opened in Commercial-street on Wednesday evening, and have been a great source of enjoyment to hundreds of young people nightly since. There are in the circus 30 capitally made - horses and two cars, all prettily painted and named after Australian turf celebrities, the whole being set in motion by a small portable engine. The movement of the horses is accompanied by appropriate music, supplied by an organ composed of a number of brass instruments, which is also worked by the steam machinery, and plays 27 tunes. The centre of the circus inside the circle of horses is brilliant with mirrors and spiral columns brightly painted, and when the horses are moving these mirrors and columns revolve with a dazzling effect. (Mount Gambier Border Watch, March 17 1894, see here)
From the Laura Standard - the merry-go-round is a most beautiful sight, the horses moving as nearly to life as possible, and the swing boats carry the passengers right around, at times just stopping in mid-air. They are of course fastened in, but the screams from the fair sex caused some amusement. (Laura Standard, June 10 1904, see here)
I did find one slightly critical report of the merry-go-round. This was in 1907 from the Hamilton Spectator - The licensee of a hotel at Albury has been fined for allowing Baxter's merry-go-round to perform on a vacant piece of land adjoining and belonging to the premises. It appears that a merry-go-round falls within the definition of "music" though it requires some stretch of imagination to realise the fact. (Hamilton Spectator, July 23, 1907, see here)
This is a steam operated merry-go-round, like Baxter's was - the portable engine is on the left. It's from a series of photos at the State Library of Victoria called Bannon family and friends and views of Victoria and South Australia, taken c. 1914 to 1937. Is this actually Baxter's Merry-Go-Round? Right time frame, right location (Victoria and South Australia) and not dissimilar to the merry-go-round in the photograph, below, which I know is Baxter's.
State Library of Victoria Image H84.201/4
You can see from the above that Baxter's Merry-Go-Round toured widely and not only to capital cities. There are reports in the paper of it being at Port Pirie and Orroroo in South Australia; Adelong and Tenterfield in New South Wales; Bairnsdale and Rochester in Victorian and Longford in Tasmania. Given that in the early days it would have been transported by horse and dray they are extraordinary distances. Even later on if they used a truck it was still an achievement. There is also a report that the merry-go-round arrived in Renmark by barge.
Baxter's Merry-Go-Round was a fixture on the St Kilda foreshore for over twenty years. The first mention I can find of it connected St Kilda was in 1894 when the St Kilda Council had - an application from Mr. William Baxter to erect swinging boats; steam merry-go-rounds, aerial slides and a cosmorama on the beach during the Christmas holidays. (Prahran Telegraph, November 21 1894) I can't find a report on the outcome of this application, but they were definitely there in the summer of 1896/1897 and they continued to exhibit at St Kilda until 1918.
Baxter was obviously initially happy with St Kilda as according to a report in the Prahran Chronicle of February 22, 1902 he applied to the St Kilda Council to for a lease of the reclaimed land, containing about 4 acres, on the Lower Esplanade, for a term of 20 or 21 years, at a pepper corn rental. I will expend during the first three years a sum not exceeding £5000, to be spent in three equal sums, one in each of the three years. Such money to be spent in the erection of brick and wooden buildings according to plans to be approved of by the Council - to comprise an amusement pavilion with refreshment and other conveniences ; also a stage and band stand, shrubbery, fencing etc. All improvements to become the property of the council at the end of the lease. (Prahran Chronicle, February 22, 1902, see here)
A grand plan indeed, and it was referred to the Council's Public Works Committee for consideration, but the Council did not accept Mr Baxter's offer. He made the same offer to the Council in September 1904. The Council discussion was reported in the Prahran Telegraph of September 17, 1904 (see here) The discussion covered a number of issues such as whether the Council actually 'owned' the land or whether it was a Reserve. Baxter has also applied for land at the pier. A rental for this was suggested but again there was a discussion as to whether the Council controlled the land and whether it should be a depot for shooting galleries and merry-go-rounds. Baxter's Merry-Go-Round was located on various sites in St Kilda (more on this below), so the Council did not agree to him having a 20 year lease on the four acres on the Lower Esplanade.
This is Baxter's Merry-Go-Round at St Kilda (1). Photographer: Nicholas Caire.
To the right of the merry-go-round is Baxter's 'Royal Shooting Salon'
State Library of Victoria Image H2014.184/123. Click here to see a higher res version on the SLV website.
It was after this that Baxter moved his operation to Glenelg in Adelaide, where it was still operating in 1950. Another reason put forward for the move from St Kilda to Glenelg was mentioned in Fred Baxter's obituary - It was keen competition of St. Kilda that brought Mr. William Baxter and
his large merry-go-round to this State [South Australia] in 1918. (Adelaide Mail May 29, 1937 see, here) There are other reports confirming the strong competition for the entertainment dollar (or more correctly the entertainment shilling) in St Kilda at this time. This is from the Sydney paper, The Referee of January 8, 1908 - St. Kilda Beach is the outdoor show place of Melbourne. Up within three years ago Baxter's merry-go-round had the district "on its own." Then came "The Pierrots" two seasons ago, also "The pester King" in the the same year and the report goes on with various other amusements and how much income the St Kilda Council derived from these shows.
Where were Baxter's located in St Kilda? J.B. Cooper writes about the merry-go-round in volume two of his History of St Kilda (1) He writes about various amusements on the St Kilda foreshore such as the English Pierrots - Before those regular beach shows there was in full whirl, Baxter's Merry-Go-Round, which gave many happy minutes to thousands and thousands of holiday-making children, enjoying glorious days at St Kilda with their buckets, spades and sand castles. Baxter's Merry-Go-Round is notable because it was the first amusement on the first piece of reclaimed shore land. The St Kilda Council made the reclamation...starting at the foot of the pier and spreading out from there, towards Kenney's baths...the subsequent beautification of the foreshore of St Kilda, had its source, in this modest beginning, upon which Baxter was allowed to place his Merry-Go-Round, as so he became the first tenant on reclaimed shore land at St Kilda.
Advertisement for Baxter's 'riding gallery' located on the Esplanade between Pier and Kenny's Baths.
Prahran Telegraph December 19, 1896. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144633411
The Merry-Go-Round had, as I said before, various locations in St Kilda in the time it was there - here are some of the locations as reported in the newspapers. Cooper's 'first piece of reclaimed shore land' was near Luna Park - the St Kilda 'triangle area' (3). In 1896 - they were between the Pier and Kenny's Baths (see advertisement above). The Prahran Chronicle of November 19, 1904 said they they were located at the entrance to the pier. The Prahran Telegraph of January 5, 1907 reported that Baxter's merry-go-round quite held its own in popular favour, and, although the location is different, this innocent amusement is just as popular as ever it was. This doesn't tell us any exact locations, but it does indicate it occupied various locations in St Kilda. In 1916 it was located on an allotment on the other - the Esplanade Hotel - side of the street. (The Argus January 17, 1916). In 1917, Baxter applied to use the ground adjoining the Royal Hotel, Esplanade (Malvern Standard, December 22, 1917). The Royal Hotel was on the corner of Robe Street. At one time it was operating on the corner of the Upper Esplanade and Acland Street (where McDonalds is now located) and where the Empire Cafe was opened in December 1918. (3)
Baxter's Merry-Go-Round brought a lot of joy to the public but there were also some accidents associated not with it but with Baxter's other side-show attractions - a steam swing boat and a shooting gallery. Here are reports of some of these incidents. In August 1891 a lad named Hammond, was in Market square [Castlemaine] He was passing the swing boats attached to Baxter's steam merry-go-round when one of the boats struck him on the forehead and inflicted a severe wound. The lad was conveyed to the hospital and this evening was in a critical condition. (The Argus, August 17, 1891, see here) The steam boat was also the source of another accident in December 1900 when an employee, Charles Beresford, was swinging himself to and fro in the boat and he stood up, toppled over and fell back downwards through the air, a distance of 30-feet, his head crashing with great violence against one of the solid wooden stays of the suspended boat, after which he lay on the sand bleeding from a large scalp wound as the Age of December 26, 1900 graphically reported (see here). Charles was rushed to the Alfred Hospital and operated on. I don't know what happened to him in the end.
In Numurkah the next year George Williams met with an accident with the lighting plant attached to the merry-go-round - the calcium carbide used for lighting had somehow become damp and on Williams lifting the lid of the drum in which it was kept the lighted watch he was carrying ignited the gas from the decomposing chemical with a consequent explosion of flame. Williams had his hair and moustache burnt off and was otherwise rather severely singed. (Numurkah Leader, June 14 1901, see here) However, the most tragic incident occurred in 1907 in Rochester, when sixteen year old George Sullivan was shot at Baxter's shooting gallery - A man was going to have a shot, but decided to change the rifle he was about to use for another. He laid the loaded weapon on the table, and an attendant, named Cooper, picked up the rifle to unload it. The rifle went off, and Sullivan, who was standing near by, was shot in the breast. (The Age, April 12 1907, see here) The verdict of inquest into his death was that it was an accident and thus Cooper was not charged.
Sad though this is, given the number of people entertained by Baxter's side-shows over the years the number of incidents was very small, although I am not dismissing the pain and anguish these incidents caused. There was another side to Baxter's side-shows and that was their donations to various charitable causes - here's a few examples - the hospital at Narrandera, the Mining Disaster fund at Bendigo, the Blind Soldier's Fund at Mildura; the Alfred Hospital and the Womens' Hospital in Melbourne and the Chelsea Fire Brigade.
Baxter's side-show exhibits at St Kilda (1). Photographer: Nicholas Caire.
The merry-go-round is on the left, then the shooting gallery, a ferris wheel and round-about attraction with boats - is that the Swing boat? There also appears to be another Swing boat on the very right of the photograph.
State Library of Victoria Image H2014.184/124. Click here to see a higher res version on the SLV website.
Baxter's was around for so long that is worked it's way into the social fabric of the community - here are some anecdotes -
This was from an article on horse racing - reminds us of the old gag and the almost certain winning bet that used to be made on the way to down-the-line meetings. "There will be a lot of grey horses
seen out to-day" would say one chap. The shrewdie would consult his race book and see not more than one or two entered. He would offer to bet they would not see three grey horses. The alleged shrewdie alongside would see the book, too, and stand in half with him. But they never win. The
point of the joke is that every market gardener for miles this side of and beyond Mordialloc has a grey horse, and any day you may see not three but dozens of grey horses. The alleged shrewdie thinks only of the racehorse greys, and the market gardeners don't come into his calculation-but he has to pay. One day the joke nearly went astray. It was the market gardeners' picnic. The jokists seemed certain to lose their money, but darned if Baxter's merry-go-round wasn't planted right near the bridge on the main road. And they're all grey horses! (Richmond Guardian, February 23, 1908, see here)
While the merry-go-round is used as an excuse for taking little Mary and Willie out of an evening, in reality pa and ma desire the outing for the purpose of meeting old and lost-sight-of friends. And it is "marvellous how many old friendship have been renewed at Mr. Baxter's "show place"! (Glenelg Guardian November 15, 1923, see here)
This was in an article written by jockey, Laurie Meehan - As I returned to the jockeys' room a racegoer told me I would fall off Baxter's Merry Go-Round if I wasn't tied on. (The Call (Perth, W.A) July 17, 1947, see here)
What happened to the Merry-Go-Round? 1885 appears to be when they imported the first steam Merry-Go-Round, but in the interview with Frederick's son, Arthur, in the Adelaide News of December 30, 1952 (see here) he says the Glenelg merry-go-round is 50 years old, thus from 1902. It also says that Mr. Baxter's father imported a merry-go-round from Norwich (England) 60 years ago. It's still running at Cronulla (NSW). This dates the original steam merry-go-round to 1892. But in the long run a couple of years here and there is unimportant and what is important is the fact that Baxter's Merry-Go-Round gave joy and happiness to thousands of children and adults over the years all throughout Australia.
Trove list
I have created a list of newspaper articles on Trove about Baxter's Merry-Go-Round, access it here. Every article referred to here is on the list.
Footnotes
(1) To say I was excited finding these photos of Baxter's Merry-Go-Round and other side-show attractions is the understatement of the year. The State Library of Victoria have the five photos in this series labelled as "St Kilda Foreshore, Victoria, dated as '1890-1910?' They are stereographs - so I have cropped the 2nd photo.
(2) John Butler Cooper wrote the two volume The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a City and after, 1840 - 1930. It was published by the St Kilda City Council in 1931. The information on Baxter's Merry-Go-Round, which I quoted is from Volume 2, page 206 and 207.
(3) It was my friend and research colleague, Isaac Hermann, who told me about Baxter's Merry-Go-Round initially, and the fact that the Empire Cafe at St Kilda was built in 1916 on a previous location of the merry-go-round. I have more information on the Empire Cafe, here. Isaac also told me that the first piece of reclaimed shore land, which J.B. Cooper identified as the original location of Baxter's Merry-Go-Round in St Kilda was the land near Luna Park.
