Charles Wallace Parker (1864-1932) was the "Amusement King" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After purchasing his first shooting gallery, Parker became interested in amusement devices and constructing newer and better versions. Parker built his first carousel in 1892, and two years later, in 1894 in Abilene, Kansas, he started his company, which was initially named the Parker Carnival Supply Company. In 1896 the company was renamed C.W. Parker Amusement Company. C.W. Parker married Louisa Westrup (1870-1968), and the two of them had six children. Their son, Paul D. Parker (1898-1992), eventually ran the company until 1955.

The C.W. Parker Amusement Company produced various amusement devices, such as shooting galleries and ferris wheels, but was best known for its carousels named "Carry-Us-Alls." When the company was founded in 1894 by C.W. Parker (1864-1932) in Abilene, Kansas, it was the only carousel manufacturer not on the east coast. Most carousels manufactured were portable, but five large carousels, known as park machines, were built. Only one of these park machines is still in existence in Portland, Oregon. In 1911 after property line disputes with the city of Abilene, the C.W. Parker Amusement Company moved to Leavenworth, Kansas. World War I caused a shortage of supplies for the carousel manufacturers, but the C.W. Parker Amusement Company endured through the Great Depression up until 1955.