Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

Obviously, we have something of a history of carnival rides here in Clinton County. With the Regatta and the Clinton County Fair, there have been a lot of rides in and out of here over the last fifty years or so. This amounts to an unfathomable amount of nausea, which I prefer not to think about too deeply.

But with all the rides throughout the years, there was one that was invented here. Most people aren’t aware of that.

Let me introduce you to Charles Moyer, and his invention, the Gee-Whiz.
Charles Moyer was born in Sugar Valley, the son of a local doctor and politician. (Nobody had just one job in those days.) As an adult, he got married twice—Not at the same time—And moved into a house at 24 East Park Street in Lock Haven.

Moyer was, among other things, an inventor. At one point, he invented a grade crossing switch control for the railroad companies. About 1914, he moved on to new things—Specifically, carnival rides.
His big attempt was called the “Gee-Whiz.”

First, he built a small model. Testing that, he found that it seemed to work about the way it should, so he invested some money and had the full-size design made from wood. He carefully supervised the construction at the Bloom Machine Shop.

By July of 1921, the ride was ready for its first actual test. This happened on Vesper Street in Lock Haven, during a local block party.

Troop F was a local military cavalry from World War I. Recently redesignated, they held a block party on Vesper Street, between Water and Main. They closed off that section of the street, and invited everyone to show up. And that’s when the Gee-Whiz made its big debut.

Moyer set up the Gee-Whiz, which consisted of a central mast and a series of ropes. It could seat about thirty people at a time, and was operated by the Troop F men, who presumably were given some instruction beforehand.

The machine made something of an impression by not using any electrical power. It was designed to operate entirely by gravity, almost a perpetual motion device. The Clinton County Times reported on it, remarking,”A feature of the block party on Vesper Street this week is Moyer’s Gee-Whiz, a new riding device. Many people old and young have ventured to try out the invention and have found it to be a good form of amusement. It can be operated entirely without power, accompanied by an up and down movement which produces something new and distinct from other devices of a carousel type.”

By the end of the night, over three hundred and fifty people had tried out the Gee-Whiz, to great approval. The thing was such a hit that it later made appearances elsewhere in the county, at festivals and carnivals. Moyer patented it in 1922, also sending a model of it to London to secure European patents. He met with the Chester Pollard Company of New York to sell them an option on the patent.

Pollard invested six hundred dollars in creating a steel model of the ride, which debuted on Coney Island, where it was a big hit.

The Clinton County Times reported,”Should the demonstration at Coney Island prove successful, manufacture of the Gee-Whiz will probably begin on a larger scale and the distribution through the United States, Canada, and the European countries, including England, France, and Germany will be instituted.”

Moyer passed away in 1929, and was buried in Dunnstown Cemetery. If you happen to be out there, and see his grave, maybe take a moment and have a carnival hot dog in his memory.