Boat U.S. - March 2008 - (Page 21)

ment park rides — from carousel horses and fire engines, to cartoon characters and airplanes — for some 30 years, had to shut down its new unit production line seven years ago as demand waned. When Carson took over in 2004, he began salvaging and restoring these old rides, appealing largely to private individuals for the nostalgia value or a personal hobby interest. A few businesses, like car dealerships, have bought rides that tie in to their product lines, as well. What Kiddie Rides USA does now is comb the auctions for old rides that they can restore and customize. Carson will pick up 10 rides here, three or four there, and bring them back to the warehouse until he gets an order for a specific style. “Say it’s a boat ride and the customer wants it to match their first boat or the boat they own now,” he says. “Then we haul the appropriate model off the shelf, restore the body and paint it to the customer’s requirements.” Kiddie ride boats came in only three or four basic styles, Carson says, and for some reason, boats were never as popular as cars, trucks, animals or trains. The finished product runs from $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the amount of customization and the age or “collectability” of the particular model. His crew overhauls the mechanical components and a lot of times will add a switch to override the coin box timer. But if a customer wants to retain the “coin-op” feature, he will refurbish the mechanism and even adapt it to operate by token. Carson says less than a third of his business still comes from the two-bits-a-ride arcade operator market. One of his restored boats now entertains people waiting in line to eat at Baxter’s Boathouse Club in Hyannis, MA. “My Dad had a boat named the Fish and Chips,” says Ben Baxter, a partner in the family business, founded in 1957. “I remember riding the horses outside the five-and-dime when I was a kid but I’d never seen a boat kiddie ride before. “I came across Kiddie Rides USA on the Internet and when I saw a boat, I thought it would be great to put one down on the dock where people line up for our fish and chips dinners,” he adds. “So I had Damon restore a boat ride to go with our restaurant theme and we named it Fish n Chips.” Baxter installed the ride two years ago and at today’s going rate of 50¢ a ride, he hopes the little boat might start netting a profit next year. But for Carson, the real some have dual outboard motors molded in. Carson, who is not a boater himself (“I’m not a pilot or a fireman or a horse lover, either”), says that for some reason, when he finds a boat, people “just love ‘em.” And he does, too. “There is something captivating about a boat ride,” he says. “I have one from the 1950s that I’d just love to restore to mimic an old mahogany Chris-Craft speedboat of that period. But then again, I guess I just love all of these old rides.” Carson’s most satisfying boat sale, one that chokes him up a bit when he talks about it, is actually a memorial to a twoyear-old girl who succumbed to cancer in 2006. The boat, customized in colors she would have loved, is named Miss Maya. Donated by her parents, to the Children’s Inn, a family housing facility at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, it “sails on” in her memory with tiny but critically ill skippers. Children come from across the country and around the world to stay togethcatch is the adult who wants a very unique er with their families in the inn while undertoy for their own child. going treatment. “These aren’t just ordinary sick kids,” Big Trips in Short Ships says Meredith Daly, the inn’s public relations director. “These are very seriously ill children The ideal customer for a kiddie ride here for groundbreaking medical treatment.” today is someone with nostalgic memories Miss Maya has no coin box, only a of going up and down and around in small, switch, and it sits right outside Daly’s office. gentle circles until the quarter (or dime or “It’s a two-seater but we let kids ride nickel, in earlier days) ran out. Combine that with a personal passion for antique cars, rac- on the deck, too, if they want; the more the ing motorcycles, horses and, yes, even boats, merrier,” she explains. “And they can ride it just as long as they like. and Carson has one sold. “I just love hearing the rhythm of the “Everybody has a fond memory of a kidmotor when it’s running,” she adds. die ride and when that overlaps a hobby or “These are brave little pioneers an interest, like boating, I have a customer,” so even if it’s an imaginary boat he said. ride, it gives them a thrill and In his current 250-ride inventory, only “about eight or nine” are boats. Nonetheless, puts some fun in their lives.” there’s what Carson call, the “basic V-hull,” a rudimentary runabout some four feet long, — By Ryck Lydecker which may or may not have an outboard motor shape molded on the stern. The boat is mounted on one or more undulating poles atop a base that conceals the mechanical workings. Usually such boats are made to seat one or two small children, and Carson says some are twin-hulls reminiscent of hydroplane race boats and A restored speedboat kiddie ride takes a young Photo by Karl Becker adventurer on a voyage. BoatU.S. Magazine March 2008 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Boat U.S. - March 2008

Boat U.S. - March 2008 Contents Behind the Buoy BoatU.S. Reports Member Forum Cap'n Drew Sailing the Sidewalk Aviators Ahoy Docking and Duffing Waterfront Living: Charleston Waterfront Marketplace Grady Right 2nd Time Around DIY: Keeping the Water Out Hot Tips Boat Smart Ask Chuck Foundation Findings Tangled Line At Your Service Good Foundations BoatU.S. Exchange Behind the Boat Where Our Flags Fly

Boat U.S. - March 2008

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