Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Miscellaneous Wednesday

Today's post is called "Miscellaneous Wednesday" because I love eskimos. Long story.


Anyway, let's start in Somewheresville USA, and visit the amazing, baffling Mystery Hill! Mystery Hill is clearly one of many similar roadside tourist attractions found around the country (the signs even look just like the ones at the "Mystery Spot" up in Santa Cruz). For those of you who remember the Haunted Shack at Knott's Berry Farm, the illusions were probably just like that; by playing with perspective and building a structure on an incline, water would appear to run uphill, tall people could shrink (and short people could grow), and so on. There are four Mystery Hills listed on Wikipedia, and I have no idea which one this is. Brooklyn, Michigan? Marblehead, Ohio? North Carolina? New Hampshire?


Here's a photo of Long Beach, California (circa 1967), taken from the harbor. Long Beach had a wonderful beach-side amusement park known as "The Pike" (and later the Nu-Pike). By 1967 the Nu-Pike had fallen on hard times, but you can see the famous "Cyclone Racer" roller coaster. In just a few years the Cyclone would be demolished as part of the preparations for the arrival of the Queen Mary.


Now we hop over to Sarasota, Florida (and back in time to 1956) to see a young Orville Redenbacher sitting at the wheel of a 1906 Autocar at "Cars of Yesterday". Founded in 1953, Cars of Yesterday had a display of more than 70 automobiles, as well as antique music boxes, bicycles, a recreation of an old blacksmith's shop, and so on. The museum changed hands several times, but you can still visit it today as the Sarasota Classic Car Museum! (PS, that's not really Orville Redenbacher).

12 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

What a great shot of the Cyclone roller coaster! I remember visiting the Pike in the seventies (after the Cyclone was already gone, but before Kelly Garret got shot there on Charlie's Angels). That "V" shaped thing that looks like a giant crane in the center of the pic was actually a ride. You can just barely see two cables hanging off each point. There were two large observation "cages" attached to the cables that would raise and lower.

The Cyclone roller coaster was built on a pier that went out over the ocean, but there doesn't appear to be any water underneath it in that photo. I wonder if the "landfill" process was already taking place along the coast? And what is that low wall that we see in the foreground of that photo? Could it be a breaker or dam that was built to hold back the water?

TokyoMagic! said...

Hey, it looks like the International Tower (the cylindrical condominium building on the far right) was under construction!

Major Pepperidge said...

TM!, a friend told me that the coaster in the photo was the Cyclone, but maybe he was mistaken? I really know very little about the Pike. And yes, I think you're right about the V-shaped thing being another ride.

The International Tower? Don't know that one!

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I wasn't questioning whether or not that was the Cyclone. It looks like the Cyclone Racer to me. It even looks like part of the pier is visible underneath a section of it on the far right. I just can't see any water under it. Maybe the tide was out? Or maybe they had already begun the landfill process for the addition of Shoreline Drive.

Incidentally, after the Cyclone was torn down, the Pike had another Cylcone which was a smaller metal roller coaster. My grandfather took my brother on it, but it looked too "rickety" to me, so I stayed on the ground. I remember there was a sign near the loading platform that read, "No Wigged Ladies!" and there was an actual wig hanging from it!

Major Pepperidge said...

Yes, I can see a little bit of what looks like a pier under the coaster. I wonder if my friend would know about why it appears to be high and dry.

I love the story with the wig! According to Wikipedia, the Cyclone's destruction turned out to be totally unnecessary, as the plans for that parcel were never realized. Such a shame! I'm sure they didn't want a "carny" atmosphere near the Queen Mary anyway.

Nancy said...

pretty cool stuff here...i remember once going to one of those places where they had the optical illusions like two people standing n what looked the same plane yet one was about 6 inches shorter than the other one (that is the only one i can remember)

wooden roller coasters are the best but i cant ride them a lot any more b/c of my chiropractor needs lol. getting older really stinks sometimes

the car there looks more like something i could ride, reminds me of the Munsters car without the top on!

210Frwy said...

That Mystery Hill photo is really super. Looks like a movie set for an episode of Twilight Zone.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I read that about the Cyclone ultimately not needing to be torn down....what a shame! Belmont Park in San Diego still has their wooden coaster (the Giant Dipper) even though it was closed from 1976 to 1990 and was threatened during that time with demolition. Enough people cared about it and were able to get it declared a landmark and have it restored. Too bad that didn't happen at The Pike. I do remember hearing a rumor about 15 years ago that city management was talking about rebuilding the Cyclone Racer using the original blueprints. I wonder if that was true.

Major Pepperidge said...

These days I can't imagine any SoCal city having the money to do something like building a roller coaster, even if it might increase tourism. Sad...

Chiana_Chat said...

"There are four Mystery Hills listed on Wikipedia, and I have no idea which one this is."

Well now it could hardly be a mystery otherwise...

Love that antique Autocar! Sure that isn't Orville's son, Heis 'Spanky' Redenbacher?
;p

Chiana_Chat said...

Did the cities in the past, with far fewer residents, far more of them being poorer and all living on far less "valuable" land, really have more money around in the old days?

Not that I'm suggesting there's anything convenient in perceptions of current impoverishment that might facilitate any sort of trend for any govm'ts to unload their social "burdens" and local investments but if you look at how much wealth there still is and compare it to what there was and was not in "the good old days," there may be something to think about in all that...

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I know this is my fifth comment in one day (I REALLY like that Long Beach photo!), but I just now noticed your comment earlier about the International Tower. It's a round high-rise on Ocean Blvd. that is still standing today. It has been used in movies including the opening scene of "Lethal Weapon" when a woman falls to her death from one of the balconies. I've been inside it once....the hallways are circular and the condos have walls that run diagonally...it's a trip!