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Today,
however, when they are restored to their former glory they will
delight the hearts of collectors. They sell for prices of $5,000 to
$7,000 for small horses and from $20,000 and up for bigger, more
elaborate and rarer pieces.
The
carousel horses children ride now are usually made of aluminum or
fiberglass, John says. "Only a few carousels still have wooden
horses. There’s one in Indianapolis at the Children’s Museum.
Anyone can ride it, adults or children, and I think the price is
still 25 cents."
John
has been working with wood, one way or another, since he was in Cub
Scouts. Woodworking and music have always been important parts of
his life, but he’s tried out a number of ways to make a living
[Restoration began with only these three pieces]
After
getting a bachelor of arts degree in music at Millikin University
(and doing much of the work toward a master’s degree), John became
a music teacher in Beason. When the Beason high school district
merged with Lincoln, he became a rehabilitation supervisor and
counselor at the Lincoln Developmental Center
When
the Illinois Department of Mental Health began moving residents out
of the Developmental Center, he worked for a while for the
Department of Corrections. "I was workshop supervisor and also
in charge of leisure time activities. It gave me a lot of good
teaching opportunities."
[Sutton created these
legs from scratch for the limbless horse]
He
enjoys restoration, and before he started working with carousel
horses he restored buggies, wagons, sleighs and hearses. Among his
other occupations have been chair caning, clock repair, sign making,
selling monuments, and fine woodworking and carving of various
kinds.
He’s
a dedicated member of the Possum Holler Pickers, an old-time music
group that will be holding a free jam session on Saturday at the
Lincoln Recreation Center. John will be playing the mandolin.
The
Possum Holler Pickers started years ago as a dulcimer group with
MeLane Coulter and her brother, Kevin Beatty, from the settlement once
called Possum Holler, between Middletown and Broadwell. All three of
them played dulcimers. More and more people joined, until there were
eight to 10 members.
[The Finished Product]
"We
started branching out and fiddling around," he says. "We
are always trying something new." The original group is now
two, a dulcimer ensemble called Prairie Aires and the present Possum
Holler Pickers. "Our group got into old-time country, which was
what I grew up on. That’s country without electric instruments and
no rock influence. We are also doing bluegrass, which is a different
style but with the same instruments and sometimes even the same
songs."
The
pickers play at church suppers, for nursing homes, wherever they are
asked. "If someone wants to pay us, we’ll take what they give
us, but we will put the money back into the community. That’s what
our March 11 concert is. We rent the place and buy some food,
although anybody can bring a potluck dish. Everybody can come, no
charge, and play sing, listen and eat with us. That’s how we give
back to the community what they gave us."
Present
members of the Possum Holler Pickers include Kenny Harris, rhythm
guitar; Manny Gaston, banjo; Darryl Wibben, lap dulcimer; Dale
McRoberts, guitar; Lynnette Belcher, bass; Tanya Conrady, bass; and Maureen Douglas, fiddle. Others may sit in from time to time.
As
well as being an artist and a musician, some people call him a
philosopher. He’s not so sure, but he does say this: "If you
think at all, you’ve got to come up with something. You don’t
always know how sound it is or how valid."
If
philosophy includes a sense of humor, he certainly qualifies. About
the variety of jobs he’s held, he says: "If you’re in a job
too long, you don’t want anything to upset the apple cart because
then you might have to do some real work. Right now I’m trying to
wean myself off food and shelter so I can stop working."
The
values he lives by are summed up in the first two commandments.
"If you truly love your neighbor as yourself, you won’t raise
yourself higher than your neighbor. The higher you raise your
neighbor, the higher you can go."
One
way John "raises his neighbors" is by lending a helping
hand whenever he sees a need, whether it’s buying groceries for a
senior citizen who can’t get out, fixing a neighbor’s bicycle
or helping somebody draw up plans for a shed. If a friend just needs
somebody to tell his troubles to, John is ready to sit and listen.
A
lifelong Catholic, he attends Mass every morning at Holy Family
Church. "It starts me out pointed in the right direction,"
he says. After Mass, he’s off to breakfast at the Arcade
Restaurant with a group of friends. "We have a broad range of
experts on everything," he notes. "We solve all the world’s
big problems at breakfast. Then I come home and take care of the
menial stuff."
Sutton
also enjoys local history and knows a lot about Lincoln and Logan
County. Abraham Lincoln, who was once a surveyor, laid out
Postville, he points out. He also knows why Union Street got that
name. "It’s the street that joins Lincoln and
Postville."
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In
addition, Sutton is a member of Lincoln’s Logan County Arts and
Craft Guild, a volunteer group that demonstrates arts and crafts of
the 1800s at local events such as the Railsplitter Contest and the
annual Postville Festival, held in conjunction with the Balloon Fest
and Art Fair. For these demonstrations he’s made treenware, wooden
kitchen utensils such as spoons and forks, and a mortising machine
that makes square holes using foot-power.
He’s
often seen around town riding his bicycle or hiking along the
railroad tracks, and he doesn’t worry about what he’s wearing.
"How I look is not one of the most important things in my life.
One day I went to the Arcade and all my clothes matched. People
asked me if I was sick. I said, ‘No, it’s just the luck of the
draw.’"
Years
ago, while on vacation, he decided not to shave. "It dawned on
me that for some reason, a man has a beard. God wanted it that way.
I used to trim it up but finally I thought, why go to all that
trouble?"
He
doesn’t worry, either, about acquiring things. "I got to the
point where I found out what was sufficient was enough. It takes all
the pressure off, knowing there are a lot of things I don’t have
to have and I don’t have to keep up with anybody." Sutton’s
not very keen on competition either. "I’ll play games but I
don’t want to keep score. Why don’t we just have fun? Why can’t
we both win?"
His
enthusiasm for bicycling led him to work on a committee to lay out
bicycle trails for Logan County riders. An east-west trail will link
Chestnut, Mount Pulaski, Elkhart and Middletown. A north-south trail
will link Williamsville with McLean. The ultimate goal is to connect
Lincoln with Springfield and Bloomington’s bike trails, perhaps
even getting as far as Pontiac on the north and Carlinville to the south.
Most
of the trails will be on existing roads, but the committee wants to
be sure there are signs indicating these roads are also bike trails.
"Then motorists hopefully will run us over at lower
speeds," he says.
Back
in his workshop he has books explaining the history of the companies
who made merry-go-round horses, and he can talk at length about the
different types and styles. Small, sturdy horses were made for
carousels that went to country carnivals and had to be moved from
place to place regularly. These used construction details that
wouldn’t break, ears laid down or even detachable, legs in
parallel so the horses could be stacked close together for moving.
Larger, more elaborately carved animals were made for machines that
stayed in one place, such as an amusement park. These carousels
might have 50 or 60 animals with ears that stood erect and flying or
"peek-a-boo" manes with three or four holes in them.
"Of
the two major types, there were many styles," he explains.
"There are standers, prancers and jumpers. In any one of those
you can have a variety of other details. You can have the heads
tucked down or you can have stargazers, with the heads looking up.
You can have wooden tails or horsehair tails."
Ron
Craig, the head of maintenance at Lincoln College, is in business
with Sutton. Craig does the locating, buying, selling and trading
and Sutton does the restoring.
The
first step is to take the horse to pieces; then repair each piece
individually. "Everything comes apart, just like you’d
restore an old Model T," Sutton says. It doesn’t worry him
that he has a bucket of legs here and a pile of ears there.
"You know what goes on what horse. You know the hoof of a
Hershell-Spillman just like you’d know a taillight from a Model
T."
If
part of the horse is missing, he recreates the piece, maybe a neck
or a pair of legs, puts it all back together, smooths it out and
finally paints it the way it used to be. "We mix our own paint.
Ron knows the exact colors."
The
rarest and most expensive piece he ever restored was a standing
donkey. "We signed a waiver for $20,000 when it was in a junk
state, and we insured it for $55,000 when we sent it back," he
recalls.
[Putting
the finishing touches on his latest creation]
Sutton
moved to Lincoln in 1966 and can’t see any good reason to leave.
"I’ve got friends, freedom and what I do for recreation. I
hike and bicycle, ride my motorcycle and fish, draw, carve, pick and
grin, grow veggies and flowers. I’ve got most of my
rainbows."
Editor’s
Note: The Possum Holler Pickers will hold an Old Time Music Jam on
Saturday, March 11, from 2 to10 p.m. at the Lincoln Recreation
Center, Primm Road. Area musicians are invited to bring acoustical
instruments and sit in with the various groups. A potluck meal is
set for 5 p.m. Soft drinks will be provided. No alcohol is allowed.
[Sutton, a fiddler for the Possum Holler Pickers practices his tunes]
[Joan
Crabb]
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