Friday, April 25, 2014

El Trio Gonzalez & Guatemalan Weaver, August 1960

Here are two terrific photos from Frontierland circa 1960!

I love this unusual shot of the little bandstand (and I do mean little) that I don't believe was around very long. And I think this might be the only picture I have of the bandstand in use - in this case the wonderful "Trio Gonzalez" is performing there. I wish we could see the Trio a bit better, but what can ya do. I admit it, I have a retro-crush on the female member of the group! To our right, two servicemen (Navy, I presume) look for suspicious characters ("No commies here, sir"). Thanks, boys! In the background we can see the outdoor market known as "El Zocalo".


Hey, there's one of those crazy woven hats (extreme left) for sale… see one on the guy in this slide! You could watch a genuine Guatemalan ply his craft - but you couldn't talk to him, which is too bad. I hope he wasn't lonely or bored at work. Don't you wish you could walk those aisles and see what else you could buy?


8 comments:

K. Martinez said...

At first when I read "Guatemalan Weaver" in today's header, I thought it was going to be about the cool shop between Sunkist "I Presume" and Big Game Shoot. Adventureland.

The "El Zocalo" market is a great example of when there was variety in the merchandise at Disneyland. That sure looks like Cascade Peak to the left rising behind the market. Nice post today. Thanks, Major.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

Imagine that. The hat weaver "Elfego" has the same first name as a popular Disney character from the same era. Just a coincidence I'm sure. ;-)

Great pictures to start off tgif. Thanks Major!

Chuck said...

I love photos of El Zocalo, and I agree - the female lead was a cutie.

I think those are Marines in the first photo - they're too young to be Navy chief petty officers (the first Navy rank that would have worn khakis in 1960) and the tie and cap details are wrong, although the black devices on the collars are throwing me off a bit. They might be the "Eagle, Globe & Anchor" (EGA) insignia, which is what I think (hard to tell with the resolution) is on their caps. Marines don't wear the EGA on the collars of their khakis today, but I don't know whether they did in 1960.

This pair might be cadets at a local private military academy, which often wear uniforms that are very similar to those of the US military.

PsySocDisney said...

Fab El Zocalo photo! I love photos where it just looks so supremely different than anything there today. It looks kind of like a festival I used to volunteer at here in Arizona. Which reminds me, you know what would be a great snack item to feature in Frontierland is Indian Fry Bread. I wonder if it was ever served there? It's one of my favorite southwest snacks!

Melissa said...

Nice going, Major - I can't wolf-whistle at the handsome young Marines because I'm drooling over the gorgeous cotton-print dresses! It's not doing much for my elf ego.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, was there a Guatemalan shop in Adventureland? And that is definitely Cascade Peak back there!

Alonzo, I didn't think about that, but I suppose it COULD be a coincidence….

Chuck, if you can't tell for sure what those uniformed dudes are, then I don't feel so bad!

PsySocDisney, I've never had Fry Bread… I'll bet it's delicious, but all I need is more fried stuff while I'm at Disneyland! "I think I'll skip the Teacups this time".

Melissa, I guess I need to develop my eye for fashion… those cotton print dresses look pretty ordinary to me!

Dean Finder said...

You can have cheap
have cheap
have cheap

Major Pepperidge said...

Dean Finder, huh?