Tuesday, July 02, 2013

New Orleans Square Snapshots

Instead of the usual slides, we'll be looking at a couple vintage snapshots, undated but almost certainly  from the later part of the 1960s. 

I love this picture of what I believe is the Delta Street Ramblers as they were making their way (rambling) through the riverfront area of New Orleans Square. The guy in front is showing off by only using one hand, but I will only really be impressed if he uses NO hands.


I'm sure Walt must have been very happy with the way his New Orleans turned out... it looks so great! There are details aplenty. In the foreground we have a group of four young ladies in matching paisley tops and blue jackets, for whatever reason. The rest of the street is bustling with activity; you can see the sign for the Blue Bayou restaurant, to our extreme left is a shop, "Pirates..." something. Is that part of the Pirates Arcade? There is a woman at a cash register, and next to her are some striped Disneyland bags, with a design that I am not familiar with. I'm sure that one of those, empty and in good condition, could fetch $20, $30, or more.



8 comments:

Nanook said...

Yes, Major - that is correct. That would be the Pirates Arcade (& Museum).

Thank God my mother never dressed me in a matching outfit. (Of course, I don't have a twin, or for that matter, a brother or sister with whom to "team up" my wardrobe). I was perfectly capable on my own to dress as a ragamuffin.

K. Martinez said...

And the alley between Pirates Arcade and the Blue Bayou is the exit to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Raimundo said...

Wasn't that the coolest arcade in the world? The most imaginative games ( one where you blew out candles held in bony hands); doubloons for sale; Marc Davis paintings of pirates all around; Fortune Red heaving his matted chest and the route on his treasure map glowing blood red!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, thanks for the confirmation on the Pirates Arcade; the closest I ever got to wearing a matching outfit with my brother is that he would be Batman and I would be Robin. We even flew on a plane to California in our mom-made costumes when I was around 4 years old.

K. Martinez, wow, I am all discombobulated, I need to look at a map to see where the entrance and exit for Pirates is!

Raimundo, I remember a few cool games in the Pirates Arcade, but you have much more lucid memories. I wonder what happened to all of those one of a kind games?

Nanook said...

Major-

K. Martinez got it correct. The Pirates Arcade Museum was off to your right, as you exited from the attraction, thru 'the alley'. Now, it's Pieces of Eight. Lookie here for a link to the Arcade and “Fortune Red”…

Fortune Red

Nancy said...

Always enjoy a lively song when the musicians come around :)

The striped Disneyland shopping bag is the same sort of stripes they use at on the little shopping bags at Marceline's Confectionery; I have one of them from our first visit in 2001, and I saw today on the Disneyland website that it looks like the shop still uses the same bag
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/shops/downtown-disney-district/marcelines-confectionery/

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, as a true Disneyland geek, I am very familiar with the Sorcerer's Workshop website! Great stuff there.

Nancy, the photos are so tiny that it is hard to get a good look at the bags, but they do look similar. Maybe the new ones have a gray border of some kind?

Nancy said...

yes they do, Major. I was just noticing how the stripes are kinda sorta the same color palate

thinking about the dressing alike, I remember that my mom bought us all the same red shoes when we were young (I was 7, my two sisters were 5 and 3) and we loved them!