Sunday, December 19, 2010

Carrousel & Pack Mules, 1957

I recently went through a box of oversized color slides, many of which have already appeared on this blog - including my very first post. Many of them have turned pink or orange, but I decided that a few of them might still be worth sharing with you. Like this shot of a happy kid on King Arthur's Carrousel. Mom is making sure he is securely lashed to his leaping stallion - a necessary precaution, since his feet are nowhere near the stirrups.


The kid is still happy - or maybe the word "bemused" would be more accurate. This time he is on a real live hayburner, about to take a trip through the magical Nature's Wonderland.

17 comments:

Chiana_Chat said...

What a photogenic kid, he got his good looks from his mamma (and what a character he looks to be!). =) I see he hasn't yet snagged his Sambos-like Adventureland T-shirt. Neat settings too. Why, there's the El Dorado Hotel, and maybe a visit to the dentist next door explains his face hehe. Any more from this set? :)

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

What are over-sized slides and why do I like them? Nice depth-of-field on these, probably not a brownie camera... THANKS!

Connie Moreno said...

Lovely photos. So why are you going through a box you've already been through when you have so many "new" ones, huh? LOL...

Chuck said...

Major - are these 2 1/4 by 2 1/4?

Same family as the first post?

I realize the color's a little off here, but I've always preferred Rainbow Ridge's pre-Big Thunder Mountain paint scheme.

I think the kid's about to spit a huge wad of tobbaccy, just like a real mule skinner. Dad probably bought it for him on Main Street.

Major Pepperidge said...

Chiana, that kid looks like he belongs in TV commercials. Spaghetti-o's, maybe. There are a few more from this set!

VDT, the clarity that these larger slides tend to have is really great.

Connie, "so many new ones"... I wish!

Chuck, the actual image size is about 2" X 2" (so they are 4 times the area of a standard 35mm slide); the slide mount is about 2.75" X 2.75".

Thufer said...

All dressed up in high collar and ear rings; however, are those flip-flops mom is wearing?

Major Pepperidge said...

Thufer, I'm sure that ladies called them "sandals" back then!

Katella Gate said...

@Thufer... I'm sure the lady's footwear is a proper sandal, with a cut that resembles the rubber flip-flop. To be spotted in real flip-flops in a place like Disneyland would be like being caught with curlers in your hair. (shame on you!)

It's interesting that the kid probably doesn't reach the stirrups on the donkey either, yet he still gets one leather strap loose around the waist to the pommel. Today, it would be a 4 point body harness.

TokyoMagic! said...

Katella, LOL...I got your Dippity Do reference....although I'm not sure I spelled it correctly!

Katella Gate said...

@TokyoMagic: Don't worry, only your hairdresser will know for sure.

Anonymous said...

I don't think the kid likes the smell of the mule.

Anonymous said...

What's with all the old men obsessed with women's clothing from the 50s? A little creepy, don't you think?

JG said...

Ha, my mom used dippidi-do. Those sandals look to me like the rubber ones that Mom called "zoris". Most uncomfortable. That is certainly a cute kid, bet he's fat and bald now. I rode those horses the same way, no feet in the stirrups.

Great shots Major.

Hey Anonymous, most of us here are fascinated with remembering our childhoods, because we enjoyed them... and that lady is dressed like our Moms. Is there something wrong with having good memories of your parents? Because if that's wrong, I don't want to be right. So p*ss off.

Apologies Major, for backtalking in your blog. I won't do it again, until I do. Sorry.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Ha ha, no prob JG! I was going to say to "Anonymous" that I believe the comments about the clothing has more to do with how nice folks tended to dress (both men and women) back then, compared to the t-shirts and jeans (or worse) you see today. By the way, I am a t-shirt and jeans guy myself, so that makes me one of the slobs!

Photo Restoration Services said...

Absolutely lovely photo. It doesn't look so old.

Barry said...

Is it me, or is the Carousel photo reversed? All my photos of the thing have it going in the other direction. I must be getting old!

Major Pepperidge said...

Barry, you are probably right; these slides were put in their cardboard mounts by the photographer, and they are every which way. So if I put them "face down" on the scanner bed, there is no guarantee that they will be correctly oriented!