The Curtis Bros: Cuba City's Merry-Go-Round Men

July 05, 2021

The Curtis Bros: Cuba City's Merry-Go-Round Men

Nothing says summer like a carnival! The annual Cuba City fair may have a treasured place in your childhood memories, but did you know that Cuba City once had its own carnival company? For the first quarter of the twentieth century, local brothers William, James, and Walter Curtis brought smiles to the faces of children in Cuba City, and beyond, with their carnival rides. And the best part is, you can still experience a piece of this local history today!

But first, who were the Curtis Brothers? William (1860-1926), James (1869-1930), and Walter (1879-1950) were just three of the fifteen children born to Cornish immigrants John and Mary Ann (Luckey) Curtis, and the boys grew up on the family farm in North Hollow, southwest of Cuba City.

Prior to and during their stint as carnival operators, the brothers pursued several occupations, from farming and buying livestock to well drilling and delivering mail. They also participated in Cuba City's mining boom in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Perhaps it was profits from these mining ventures that allowed them to invest in their first amusement ride--a merry-go-round--by 1906-07.

The brothers' summer carnival tour varied from year to year, and the merry-go-round would often stay in one place for weeks at a time, which must have been a relief considering the labor involved in constructing and deconstructing the equipment. Not surprisingly, Cuba City and nearby Benton seemed to be regular stops on the summer tour.

Published in the Cuba City News-Herald (May 8, 1914).


Published in The Benton Advocate (May 22, 1914).

The "Jas. Curtis Electric Merry-Go-Round" was part of Benton's 1912 Fourth of July celebration. Published in The Benton Advocate (June 21, 1912)

In addition to stops in Cuba City and Benton, newspapers of the day place the Curtis Brothers in the following communities throughout their touring career: Hazel Green, Platteville, New Diggings, Montfort, Livingston, Lancaster, Boscobel, Fennimore, Muscoda, Mineral Point, Gays Mills, Richland Center, Spring Green, Monroe, and Lansing (Iowa).

It is no wonder that the brothers and their merry-go-round were in demand--they were well-liked and described as kind and generous men. One correspondent from Lancaster wrote:

"Yes, the merry-go-round is here all set and going at the fair grounds, with three great big jolly Curtis's from Cuba City as proprietors. They have been here before and wanted to get back here again. They are very careful of the little ones when they are on for a ride, good natured all the time with old and young." --The Fennimore Times (September 17, 1913).

The bachelor brothers did have a soft spot in their hearts for children and, as one Hazel Green correspondent wrote, "any child who does not have the price and he [James] knows of it, will get a ride just the same" (Galena Daily Gazette: July 2, 1908). The Curtises apparently even offered their equipment for fundraising purposes. According to an article in The Benton Advocate on May 23, 1913, they moved their carousel to Platteville, where a portion of the profit went toward that community's new public library.

Nothing is known about the Curtises' first merry-go-round, but they would eventually purchase a C. W. Parker portable wooden carousel, perhaps persuaded by the promise of impressive profits in advertisements like the one below.

C. W. Parker Carry-Us-All advertisement published in The Billboard (August 26, 1911).

The Curtis model had 28 hand-carved horses with glass eyes and real horse-hair tails, as well as two chariots decorated with winged serpents.

The C. W. Parker carousel was originally built in 1910-11 for a gentleman in North Dakota. Unless that deal fell through, it seems unlikely that the Cuba City brothers would have had it in their possession by 1911, but local newspaper articles, such as those below, definitely suggest an upgrade in equipment at that time.

"The merry-go-round which has been running evenings since Saturday has been the center of attraction for all the kids in town and some of the grown-ups too. It is an elegant new outfit, equipped with its own dynamo for electric lights and a dandy 30-horse gasoline engine. We are told the machine, which belongs to Curtis of Cuba City, cost $4,000." --Fennimore Times (August 2, 1911).

Published in The Benton Advocate (May 31, 1912).

This photograph, taken by Cuba City resident Lillian (Heitkamp) Kirk, may have captured the Curtis carousel in action. Thank you to Lillian's granddaughter, Rachel Butts, for sharing!

Though it doesn't receive the attention of the merry-go-round, the Curtis Brothers added a Ferris wheel to their carnival tour by 1915. The new, and apparently brief, addition received mention as late as 1918 (in the directory of the Standard Atlas of Grant County, Wisconsin), but that is the last time a Ferris wheel is mentioned in association with the brothers.

The Curtis Bros. brought both their merry-go-round and Ferris wheel to Fennimore's Big Days in 1916. Published in the Cuba City News-Herald (July 30, 1915).

The brothers had been operating their carnival rides for a decade when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Those on the home front had to make sacrifices, but they did not have to go without merry-go-round rides, as the Curtises continued touring during the war years.

Walter Curtis's draft card during World War I lists his occupation as "Carry-us-all merry-go-round" and his place of employment "traveling." U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. (Accessed at Ancestry.com)

The Curtis Brothers carnival rides, and particularly the merry-go-round, were so much a part of children's childhoods that they were mentioned in an unlikely place--a young man's letter from the front during World War I. When trying to convey his war experience to family at home, Private Leo A. McCarty, of Benton, wrote the following on October 29, 1918:

"The big guns roared all night but are very quiet today. That is the way it is here. At this writing you would not know there was a war within a thousand miles of here, and maybe by night you would think you were in the center of the Curtis' Merry-go-round." --The Benton Advocate (December 6, 1918).

After the war, the Curtis Brothers continued their annual cycle of hitting the road with the merry-go-round in the summer and, as the Cuba City News-Herald joked, returning for "hibernation" in the fall, when William and his siblings went back to purchasing livestock or pursuing other occupations. By the mid 1920s, the gentlemen had offices and/or living quarters in the Cuba City State Bank building, located next to today's Presidential Plaza and Caboose.

In a disruption of their familiar cycle, the Curtises exited the traveling carnival business in August 1925, when they sold their carousel to the Waterloo (Wis.) Firemen's Association for $1,175 (plus $136.63 for shipping via rail). Not only did William, James, and Walter abruptly put an end to their merry-go-round days, but they all moved to Rockford, Illinois, by 1926, where they would live and work until their deaths.

While the Curtis Bros. and their carnival rides may have faded in the memories of Cuba City residents, one of their carousels lives on. The C. W. Parker merry-go-round that was sold in 1925 is still frequently in operation at the Firemen's Park in Waterloo, Wisconsin. It, along with the unique structure built to enclose and protect it, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It is certain the "jolly Curtis's" from Cuba City would approve!