Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Knott's, October 1960

Here are two nice vintage views from Knott's Berry Farm (from stereo slides), circa 1960.

In spite of the fact that it was a beautiful day, it looks like crowds were light (or nonexistant)... Ghost Town really looks like a ghost town! But lucky for these tourists, the Indian chief was still there with a few extra feathered headdresses for a classic photo op. I don't know much about fashion history, but the lady's fur-trimmed coat and pearl necklace make me think of the 1940's.


For those of you who love a little monkey action, here's the Berry Farm's own Monkey Man! The Organ Grinder obediently follows orders from his powerful master, the capuchin monkey in cowboy duds. The guest with the red shirt tries valiantly to disguise his terror, but the two kids are fascinated. Especially the boy, who dreams of having his very own monkey pal. He'll gladly trade his baby brother in!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I'll be an organ-grinders' monkey if that shack behind them doesn't look like me great-gradmas. :p Although I saw that Disneyland had a monkey too, I think on some pics you posted here, to me this Knotts pic feels a bit more distant an era than DL. But fascinating to me. :)

Let's Talk Knott's said...

Great old photos! I am always happy to see the old knife shop. Too bad it is gone now. Nice shot of "Roy Beans" too. I can't believe how tree covered that area used to be. Thanks for the great post!

The Viewliner Limited said...

Fantastic photo of the Indian Chief.

outsidetheberm said...

These are probably quite beautiful in stereo. Amateur Kodachrome in stereo - what could be better?

The photo of Judge Roy Bean's 'Law West of the Pecos' was taken at the old location. Before the building was moved to the present site. It once stood near where the Indian Trails section is today.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Great post! I just posted some old Knott's slides today and one of the slides shows Judge Roy's at this old location minus the monkey!

Chris Jepsen said...

I'd guess this was before 1960, since you can still see the light poles for the Horse Arena.