Did I grab the brass ring???

cosmic

Hero Member
Dec 31, 2006
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Watseka, Illinois
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Nokta Fors Core, X pointer, Sunrays
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I was going through some odds and ends from the schoolyard (1890s).. I ran across this, which I remember digging up at the swings.. It was deep as my pinpointer is all I can remember, so I'd say 8" or a little more..
As I looked at it I thought "a brass ring, must be a plumbing part, Oh well" and started to toss it.. Then it struck me "is this a brass ring that was used for a free ride on a merry-go-round?" So does anyone here know what size they were.. It has no marking at all, round, not compressed or flattened in any way,made from heavy brass, and weighs 9.7 grams.. So did my M-6 grab me a brass ring??
Ray
 

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YAHOOO!!!! Well it looks like the M-6 did it again!! And at that depth is were I find my pre20's coins Heres some history I dug up from http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/21/messages/930.html..

It is what children obtained by reaching out from a merry-go-round (round about?)to snatch a ring from a device that was next to the merry-go-round. You had to hold on with one hand, reach out and grab the ring with perfect timing to get your prize...

We should add that the rings came down a gravity-fed chute, and all of them were iron, except one - the brass ring, which gave you a free second ride as your prize. All the rings were collected by the ride operator and reloaded (in random order) for another chance at the brass ring. So the prize was not merely for being dextrous or long-armed (any child older than, say, 7, could pull a ring) but there was a considerable element of longshot chance involved. The metaphorical use of the phrase "going for the brass ring" has a little of that longshot buried in it...
Writers on the history of carousels say that the

Victorian carousel and the associated brass ring developed from a medieval device for training knights. The knights rode horses in a circle while trying to spear a ring with their lances."
Heres a pic of the ring feeder arm
 

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cosmic said:
YAHOOO!!!! Well it looks like the M-6 did it again!! And at that depth is were I find my pre20's coins Heres some history I dug up from http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/21/messages/930.html..

It is what children obtained by reaching out from a merry-go-round (round about?)to snatch a ring from a device that was next to the merry-go-round. You had to hold on with one hand, reach out and grab the ring with perfect timing to get your prize...

We should add that the rings came down a gravity-fed chute, and all of them were iron, except one - the brass ring, which gave you a free second ride as your prize. All the rings were collected by the ride operator and reloaded (in random order) for another chance at the brass ring. So the prize was not merely for being dextrous or long-armed (any child older than, say, 7, could pull a ring) but there was a considerable element of longshot chance involved. The metaphorical use of the phrase "going for the brass ring" has a little of that longshot buried in it...
Writers on the history of carousels say that the

Victorian carousel and the associated brass ring developed from a medieval device for training knights. The knights rode horses in a circle while trying to spear a ring with their lances."
Heres a pic of the ring feeder arm

MAN ! Today's ambulance chasing lawyers would have a field day with THAT rig. ;D
Our poor children's fingers; don't you know !!
 

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