candle powered carousels? i read the recall - they are made of wood. wood suspended over candles....
how did that even have to make it to a recall? it shouldn't have made it to the market in the first place.

@catastrophegirl: These things have been around for a while... thought I have always wondered the same thing.

Consumerist is having some counting problems. 6 is the new 5!

Just as this clip starts you can see Clark Griswald looking at his 'Candle Powered Carousel" after cousin Eddie knocked it apart. Best shot I could find.

@courtarro: there are two jackets.

@SWAK_GitEmSteveDave loves->★: Ben fixed it. I just like poking fun at them :D

Those "Candle powered carousels" are Scandinavian. We've had them in our house for as long as I can remember - but they've all been METAL, not wooden! What idiot thought that up?

Jumbo, fire-starting snowman.

How is this not already in the pipe as a holiday movie event?

@lessemm: I'm thinking of buying as many of those as I can before they're pulled.

@catastrophegirl: The trick is to ensure that the propellors are high enough above the candle flame (I'd say 6-10" at LEAST) since its the heat that makes them work.

Of course, these recalls assume people will be idiots, and of course I'm sure people left them COMPLETELY unsupervised, which is just asking for a fire even with a regular candle sans carosel.

My parents have one of these which they bought in europe years and years ago.

@TangDrinker: We have a wooden one. Look at the picture and you'll see the one in question is particularly poorly designed. The candles are RIGHT NEXT TO the structure. The one my parents have puts the candles at a fairly safe distance.

And of course, you have to watch the stupid thing, you can't wander off and not expect it to catch fire.

See, I had all sorts of drawstrings on my jackets when I was a kid and I NEVER once suffocated or strangled myself.

Did I fail as a child? Or were my parents just diligent and responsible in making sure I wasn't an idiot?

@pmcpa2: We had one when I was a kid. It's got something to do with the rising heat draft from the candle pushing the blades atop the spindle (sorry, my physics are dismal). There's basically a horizontal pinwheel atop the carousel, and the candle heat pushes it around.

@Oranges w/ Cheese: I don't think the notion that some kids survived a product is enough to get it classified as safe, especially since the vocal poll is going to be skewed by the fact that the kids who died aren't able to participate in the adult sampling.

Basically, there are plenty of other ways to close the neck and hood of a jacket that haven't ended strangling anybody, and that's what manufacturers are supposed to use.