doug trimper's great-grandparents daniel and margaret trimper purchase two city blocks of oceanfrontland. they start with a pair of small hotels but in 1902 decide to risk everything on a new attraction. daniel wants to bring in a ride unlike any seen before in maryland. he orders a massive carousel from the herschell-spillman company. with a diameter of 51 feet, the merry-go-round is one of the largest built up to that point. how special is the carousel? >> it's pretty unique. there's 48 hand-carved animals on it, with real horsehair tails, and it has oil paintings around the top. i mean, it's just not the sort of thing that's made anymore. >> the carousel is originally powered by a steam engine, and rides costs a nickel. but those nickels add up. when daniel trimper dies in 1929, he leaves ownership of a thriving operation to his seven children, and they pass it on to theirs. under the third generation of trimpers, the park enters its golden era with the leadership of daniel trimper iii and doug's father, granville. >> my father -- all he ever wanted to do was to run the amusement