El Zocalo, July 1963
Here are two photos from Frontierland's old "El Zocalo" area; there was the little bandstand where one might see The Gonzalez Trio performing, or you could go to the right where rustic souvenir stands sold wondrous Old West gewgaws. It looks very nice here, with flowers everywhere. If you were wondering what that sign to our right says, I will quote it here:
"In the early days of the Aztecs the focal point of all activity was the marketplace or El Zocalo. All roads led to El Zocalo and people for miles around brought baskets, pottery, glass and other wares to sell. During the development of the great southwest before the Gadsden Purchase, and down through the years the custom of El Zocalo has been preserved… and here in El Zocalo of Frontierland you will find the quaint and colorful products of Mexico".
From the upper deck of the Mark Twain, we see the little bandstand again. Casa de Fritos (now known as "Rancho del Zocalo") is in the upper left. Notice that the flags in the foreground are all of the US variety, not international flags as was seen in this photo.
3 comments:
I love in the first picture how the Matterhorn in the background stops looking like a Swiss mountain and becomes something out of the Sierra Madres. The word “Zocalo” always makes me think of the TV show Babylon 5, since that’s whet they called the marketplace/food court area on the space station.
And, as always, I’m in love with the cute and comfortable cotton print dresses of the women and girls in the second picture. They make the whole twilight scene look so festive.
Nice set today!
The flags in the linked picture seem to be a display of flags from American history, beginning with the flag of England, followed by the pre-1801 Great Union Flag of Great Britain (incorporating only the flags of Scotland and England), followed by what looks like a variant of the Bunker Hill Flag/Flag of New England and the Pine Tree Flag, flown by Washington's Cruisers and the Massachusetts navy during the Revolution. The flags in the second image today appear to a be a progression of the history of the United States flag. Since they are both at opposite ends of the building, they might be part of the same historic display. A similar historic flag display was on the palisades at the entrance to Frontierland in the 90's (and may be there still), as well as at the entrance to Liberty Square in WDW's Magic Kingdom.
Melissa - I agree that here the Matterhorn trancends its European origin. Is that Fred C. Dobbs standing in front of the Assay Office?
Long shadows from the West, the setting sun splashes across the rooftops. That second picture is so inviting, I am resisting the urge to climb through my monitor. I'd probably just end up in the Rivers of America even if it did work. And they didn't have LCD monitors back then so I'd have no way back... never mind.
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