Knott's Berry Farm, June 1958
I love this first photo, a wonderful look at Doctor Mal De Mer's Medicine Show, from the summer of 1958. I had another photo of this show recently, but this one is much better. The curvy showgirl is smiling so sweetly that I'll believe anything she says. You can see the Doc himself to the left, which is rare. I wonder if folks could actually buy some sort of souvenir bottles of snake oil? What an amazing artifact that would be!
From the same lot comes this rare interior of the "Little Red Schoolhouse" (see the exterior here). This genuine Kansas schoolhouse, built in 1879, was purchased by Walter Knott and relocated to the berry farm, complete with all of the original paraphernalia inside. Teacher stands near the cast iron stove while two young ladies look like they have done something naughty! The picture is a bit blurry, but considering how dark it was, it's a miracle that it came out at all.
6 comments:
Hey Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington is unfinished! Give me a crayon and I'll fix it.
As a kid, that "little red school house" made quite an impression on me. It was (to an 8 year old) dreary and forbidding, and actually made me grateful to be going to my modern, Jetsonic Mid-century school built just a few years earlier.
I'd love to know if there was any audience participation in the Medicine Show.
Is that a banjo the Doc's holding? What is a musical medicine show? I wish I had seen it.
Hey Katella - where'd you go to school?
Debbie V: I was thinking of my Elementary school when I wrote that, Edison Elementary in Torrance CA at the intersection of 182nd st and Doty Ave. If you google it I hope you're not disappointed; is the standard school of the period, but at least there were plentiful windows and indoor privies.
These are delightful. Doctor Mal De Mer has been electrified. Wouldn't trust either of those naughty girls hehe
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