Gustave Dentzel was born in Kreuznach, in the Kingdom of Prussia, and learned carousel carving from his father Michael, who built and operated portable rides across southern Germany. Michael sent his son to the United States in 1864, reportedly with a full-sized carousel — possibly the first to reach the Western Hemisphere. Dentzel settled in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, opened a cabinetmaking shop, and by 1867 had committed to building carousels full time. He hired skilled German and Italian immigrant woodcarvers, and his Germantown workshop grew into the foundational American carousel factory, producing two to three machines per year for parks across the eastern United States. He is credited with introducing steam power to the American carousel and, more consequentially, with popularizing the menagerie format — lions, tigers, deer, cats, and other animals alongside the traditional horse rows that had defined the ride in Europe. He died in Philadelphia on January 20, 1909. His sons William and Edward continued the company until William's death in 1928, employing master carvers whose work under the Dentzel name defined the Philadelphia school of carousel art (sourced).

Approximately two dozen Dentzel carousels survive in operation today. Several hold National Historic Landmark or National Register designations, including machines at Glen Echo Park in Maryland (maintained by the National Park Service), Highland Park in Meridian, Mississippi (the only surviving two-row stationary Dentzel carousel in its original shelter building), and Riverside Park in Logansport, Indiana. Individual Dentzel figures appear regularly at major American auction houses and are held by institutional collections including the Smithsonian and the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. The Dentzel name carries forward through a sixth generation: William H. Dentzel III continues to build hand-carved carousels from Port Townsend, Washington, working in the craft tradition his great-grandfather brought across the Atlantic more than 160 years ago (sourced).