Friday, February 04, 2011

Knott's Roaring 20's, March 1977

We've seen other similar photos from today's lot of Knott's images, but these are so nice that I decided to post them anyway. We're in the new "land" known as "The Roaring 20's", and you can see the Corkscrew roller coaster to our right, and the tower that had the Sky Jump and the Sky Cabin in the distance. Notice that the palm trees still have that scraggly "just planted" appearance.


The photographer panned to the right and zoomed in just a bit. We've seen those two old ladies before, notably in one of the frightening Sky Jump baskets. They seem to be regarding the Corkscrew, wondering if they want to ride it.


The Roaring 20's was pretty cool, but it did have its problems. Just look at this sterile, uninteresting building. It certainly doesn't make me think of the 1920's. The Knott family did not have the money that Disney had, but just imagine if they'd been able to build a 1920's area that rivaled Main Street USA. You can see a bit of the Calico Mine Train's mountain to the right.


One nice touch was this photo-op, a bench with a pair of fashionable young "flappers" who were happy to pose with guests. Did they have names? I imagine that they are long-gone, but they must have been friends with ghost town residents Handsome Brady, Whisky Bill, Marilyn, and Cecilia.

6 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I know I don't have to tell you how much I like these! All that lovely grass in the first two pics is now gone....replaced with lots of concrete and a small shop that sells flip flops, tank tops and board shorts. Those flapper statues still exist, but now they sit in front of the Screamin' Swing (which now sits where the Haunted Shack was once located) That bulding behind them is the backside of the Calico Mine Train show building and the Rides Management office for the Roaring 20's was located at the top of that sprial staircase (the office structure has since been demolished.) Oh, if only we could step into these photographs......

Connie Moreno said...

These are so cool!

Katella Gate said...

However it may compare to Disneyland, this is the Knott's I remember and loved. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to go on the corkscrew ride, which was the last word in daring in 1977 (my junior year in HS)

Jim said...

Yep the flappers are still flapping -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/superX1/joepics/cell-phonepics006.jpg

Are Corkscrew is now at a place called Silverwood in Idaho.

Major Pepperidge said...

Thank you, Jim! I'm glad the flappers are still there, wish I had seen them the last time I was at Knott's.

JG said...

Ha, the flappers are great. This Knotts is all new to me. Came and gone while I wasn't looking.

Rats.

JG