Monday, August 02, 2010

A Pair from July 1961

A smattering of guests are entering Disneyland startlingly late in the day (why?) - the line at that ticket book seems rather short for a July day. Because everybody else has been there since 10 o'clock! It's hard to see in this dark photo, but the Disneyland RR (the C.K. Holliday, I think) is up there, crossing in front of City Hall. Notice the sign for "Disneyland 1961", heralding the extension of the Monorail track, which now went all the way to the hotel and back (with shiny new Mark II trains)!

I love this pleasant scene of the fishing dock on Tom Sawyer Island; kids with souvenir cowboy hats, another in overalls (I'll call him "Huck") , and their watchful parents (grateful to be sitting down).

10 comments:

Big10 said...

That is the CK Holliday, the distinctive smokestack is a giveaway.

I'm not so sure that it is so late in the day. We're looking North, and that shadows are indicating the sun is from the East, probably mid morning. A reasonable time to be buying tickets for the day.

Connie Moreno said...

I want to know how much the ticket were!

Anonymous said...

TS Island must have been a welcome respite for my tired parents.

As long as the kids didn't leave the island, what harm could they do?

I never guessed the water was only four feet deep.

Notice how much the trees have grown since then, the Matterhorn is barely visible from TSI today.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Big 10, I guess that, because it's July, it already looks bright and sunny (and possibly hot!) even if it's only 10:30 or 11-ish.

Connie, we ask our pal Vintage Disneyland Tickets how much a ticket book was in July 1961!

JG, I'm sure you are right, although I never underestimate the damage kids can do!! And I think at least a couple of people have drowned in the river over the years.

Major Pepperidge said...

DOH, I somehow left out the words "need to" in the sentence "we ask our pal..."!

Chuck said...

"We ask our pal Vintage Disneyland Tickets how much a ticket book was in July 1961 need to." That still doesn't sound quite right...

Nancy said...

what a beautiful blue sky...and a good crowd there in Frontierland waiting to board one of the lovely ships :)

TSI is always a nice place to relax even for just a bit. was there ever a restaurant there like we had Aunt Polly's at WDW?

Anonymous said...

What is amazing about pictures such as these is that certain things have remained the same at Disneyland. You can see the Matterhorn in the background etc... It is almost as if the photos could have been taken last week. Then you realize the they were taken 49 years ago. I look the people in the pics and wonder where they are today. What is sad is that people who have taken these pictures took them for memories and now they have been given up to the public and not kept in the family. However, it is great we all get to glimpse the the past in such a vivid format at Kodachrome slides.

Anonymous said...

Try Again: I need to proofread. What is amazing about these pictures is that certain things have remained the same at Disneyland. You can see the Matterhorn in the background etc... It is almost as if the photos could have been taken last week. Then you realize that they were taken 49 years ago. I look at the people in the pics and wonder where they are today. What is sad is that people who have taken these pictures took them for memories and now they have been given up to the public and not kept in the family. However, it is great we all get to glimpse the the past in such a vivid format at Kodachrome slides.

Wendie said...

Great post! It's a beautiful glimpse of the past,you can see the little things that transcends through our time.