Lagoon's carousel is one of only 150 wooden carousels still operating in the United States, says Bette Largent, president of the National Carousel Association.

Once, there were 6,000, Largent says, but amusement parks fell on hard times during the Depression and folks found other entertainment after World War II, such as drive-in movie theaters and cruising.

Aluminum carousels also became popular from the late 1930s to the 1960s, Largent says in a phone interview from Spokane, Wash.

Many wood carousels have been broken up because the individual animals are so collectible, selling for $25,000 apiece and up.

Every carousel is different, Largent says. "It's like 150 kids -- you've got to love each one for its own personality."

And it doesn't matter if you call it a carousel or a merry-go-round. Largent says the names are interchangeable (although some may say carousels have only horses and merry-go-rounds include other animals).

The 1893 carousel at Lagoon is noteworthy for its animal menagerie, Largent says, and for remaining in a single location at the Farmington amusement park since 1906.

This is Utah's only operating wooden merry-go-round. An antique carousel in Salt Lake City's Liberty Park is called a "half and half" -- each horse is half metal and half wood.

Marilee Latta, owner of the Liberty Park ride concession, says the Allan Herschell carousel dates back to 1924 and was found at an abandoned Pocatello amusement park in the 1980s.

Outfitted with horses only, it's a smaller-size merry-go-round, decorated in art-deco style, Latta says.

Other former Utah carousels have found homes elsewhere. A one-time Ogden carousel is now in Rexburg, restored in 1990 as Idaho's Centennial Carousel.

And Largent says a merry-go-round from Saltair, on the Great Salt Lake, is being rebuilt in Nederland, Colo.

Lagoon refurbished its carousel in 2003, giving the 40-plus animals a hand-painted face-lift -- to the tune of 200-300 hours of work per animal.

Although carousel animals were often repainted over the years, Lori Capener, the park's art and sign shop director, tried to re-create Lagoon's in the spirit of the originals.

Among the standouts are the two frogs outfitted with bow ties, vests and shorts.

"That's very unusual to have an animal that has clothing on it," Capener says.

Lagoon's merry-go-round is Victorian in style, with jewels and glass eyes decorating some of the animals and elaborate landscape paintings on the center framework, Capener says.

"When you rode the carousel," she explains, "you were supposed to be transported back to another time."