Friday, May 13, 2011

Random Friday

Today I have an oddball selection of images from various vintage tourist attractions from around the USA.


This first photo (from June 1962) of an "Old Jail" is a mystery to me! It was in a lot of slides that also had a number of Freedomland pictures, and at first I thought that this might be from that park. But I'm not so sure now. Those figures are awfully crude. If anybody has an educated guess, I'd love to hear it!


Ringling Bros. Circus had its winter headquarters in Sarasota, Florida (notice the cypresses covered with Spanish moss in the background). This photo from the 1950's shows a woman posing next to a wonderful antique circus wagon, with carvings evoking India and the elephants found there.


From 1967, here's a closeup of the sign that you saw when entering Santa's Workshop, which is at the North Pole. New York, that is! If you look closely you can just see the ghosts of old words on the sign, it appears to say something to the effect of "Home of Santa's Workshop NORTH POLE".


Here's a photo from 1961, showing a corner of Silver Dollar City, found in the Ozarks (near Branson, Missouri). The park had opened only about a year earlier (May 1, 1960). Nearby Marvel Cave with its beautiful natural caverns had been a tourist attraction for many years, but Silver Dollar City is now a typical theme park with a western atmosphere. There are flume rides, roller coasters, and all kinds of amusements.


7 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Cool! I love the "random stuff" today, Major.

I wonder if any of the original buildings at Silver Dollar City still exist today?

nthsh01 said...

Old Jail in St. Augustine, FL.....it's still there, although more "authentic" now, but I loved all the hokey stuff as an 11 year old the first time we visited it in the 1960's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St._Johns_County_Jail

Major Pepperidge said...

TM, glad you liked todays mix. I have a group of more recent slides from Silver Dollar City, maybe I'll see if I can recognize any of these older buildings.

nthsh01, thank you for the link and the solution to the mystery! The Old Jail looks pretty different now, but it is definitely the same place. You get a gold star!

Connie Moreno said...

Cool!!


pledhump??? Where do these words come from?

Major Pepperidge said...

Connie, I don't recall ever using the word piedhump!

nthsh01 said...

Well thank you! If I get a chance, I'll scan and send you a couple of black and white photos my folks took of my little brother and me in the cages and stocks there, we were so excited!

JG said...

Nice.

Thank You.

Sorry about the lost drafts, never trust computers.

JG