Sunday, January 25, 2015

Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship, August 1961

The ol' Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship (aka the "Tuna Boat") was one of my favorite features of old Fantasyland. And it was a favorite of guests too, because I think that about 47 gazillion photos were taken of this fantastic eatery.


I love the Chicken of the Sea mermaid figurehead; but part of me wishes that StarKist Tuna had taken over when CotS stopped sponsoring the restaurant in 1969. A Charlie the Tuna figurehead would have amused me (and probably outraged everyone else)!


5 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Ask any mermaid you happen to see... ♪ I'm also thinking the woman in the first image with that ample purse is eyeing Little Ms. Mermaid - perhaps a beheading - it would easily fit in that purse. (Talk about your cool souvenirs...)

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

I wonder if sometimes a cast member working the tuna boat ever did something subversive like sneaking in some StarKist into the tuna burgers.

"Sorry Charlie, StarKist doesn't want tuna with good taste, but tuna that tastes good!"

Thanks, Major.

Chuck said...

I love the fact that there are no less than three cameras in operation in these two photos (not counting the one that snapped the photo).

There's a wind-up Kodak Brownie movie camera aimed at the ship just to the left of the out-of-focus redhead in the first image, and behind the woman with the handbag at the extreme left in the same shot there's some sort of camera in use, although I can't tell what type. There's another unidentified camera in the third shot as well, with our photographer apparently winding his film after taking a shot of Skull Rock.

It would be interesting to see the imagery these cameras took.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

Kind of blurry but it almost looks like straw hat lady is wearing a surgical mask to hide the stench of August tuna winds.

I like Chicken of the Sea as it is the only certified Mermaid free tuna. And according to Jessica Simpson it might even be Chicken....

Good post Major, thanks.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, that would be a cool souvenir, but a little bit weird! I've always wanted to try to sculpt my own mermaid - more along the one seen on the stern of the boat - but I probably don't have the chops to do it justice.

K. Martinez, as long as no Soylent products made it into the burgers, I'm good.

Chuck, see what I mean? 47 gazillion photos wasn't an exaggeration! Nearly every batch of Disneyland photos has at least one picture of the pirate ship, and often two or three.

Alonzo, it's so funny, I was JUST talking with somebody about how Jessica Simpson thought "Chicken of the Sea" was chicken. She's not so bright, but from what I've heard, she's extremely rich! I guess she has the last laugh.