Toytown Fire Brigade

Whittaker Brothers' Stand, Crompton Preview - The Coin Slot, October 1974

One of many two-seater carousels manufactured by Whittaker Brothers, the Toytown Fire Brigade was first exhibited at the Crompton Preview in October 1974.  It featured two identical fire engines with anthopomorphic chipmunks dressed as firemen standing on the back but could be customised to personal requirements.


Pagham Beach Amusements, October 2017.  This unit had been beautifully preserved and looked almost as it would have done when it left the factory with all original colours and stickers.  The only thing that had been carefully removed was the original price sign from the central column - the ride would have originally operated on 5p or 10p.  Now it's £1!  Oh well, we can't expect everything to stay the same for over half a century!

The roundabouts could be customised to personal requirements.  For instance, on the model seen above, one of the fire engines has obviously become a police car...not sure if anybody informed the chipmunk though as he still looks more like a fireman in his yellow helme!  Meanwhile, the chipmunk riding upon the fire engine looks more policeman-like!  Maybe Whittaker Brothers just wanted to create a chaotic scene in their magical Toytown world?!

The ride could also be purchased as part of a larger unit with four Whittaker Brothers' Mini Carousels set around a police box with a bulldog policeman centrepiece.  The first of these larger "Carousels" was sold to Oldham Co-Op in December 1976.