The dawn of kiddie rides and the birth of B.R. Leisure

Dating back to 1930, the kiddie ride was first invented by James Otto Hahs of Sikeston, Missouri. Hahs created the ride which was originally called the ‘Hahs Gaited Mechanical Horse’ as a Christmas present for his children. Shortly after, he realised that the ride had the potential to be developed and to start making money. Hahs got to work and started to think of ways to commercialise his invention and decided on a coin-operated mechanism for the rides.

To start with, wooden horses were used on the carousels but after a couple of months Hahs decided that the horses were too heavy and switched to aluminium which would be a better material to sculpt his horses out of. However, Hahs got rejected and was told that using aluminium would not be possible, so he took matters into his own hands and went ahead and created the horses himself from his very own factory in Missouri, called the Hahs Machine Works in Sikeston. Low and behold, this was the birth of the kiddie rides and Hahs then went on to win several awards and the kiddie rides were labelled as the fastest growing business in 1953.

Since then, the original kiddie ride has been seriously upgraded and the aluminium material was swiftly changed to fibre glass. Now, features such as music, enhanced movement and even videos are now being used in the modern-day kiddie ride. Licensed kiddie rides, like many of B.R. Leisure rides have been designed and programmed to replicate popular children’s toys and television shows, such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Winne the Pooh, Postman Pat, to name a few, which play the famous theme tunes whilst the ride is in motion.

Fast forward to 1985 when Brian Riley set up B.R. Leisure, now the UK’s most established, leading provider of licensed kiddie rides, vending and amusement machines. To the day, Brian is still very much involved and other family members also make up the rest of the team.  B.R. Leisure now have over 420 machines, from the classic kiddie rides to the Falgas horse carousel and to more recently the vending machines and entertainment platforms. From leisure venues to retail parks, you will find kiddie rides and coin-operated rides in most places you visit across the UK. Not only are B.R. Leisure providing families with fun and entertainment but they are also helping to maximise the earning potential of private and public spaces.