Color Snapshots, September 1971
I've scanned another batch of vintage color snapshots; these date from September, 1971. Disneyland had just welcomed its 100 millionth guest two month earlier. I was the 100,000,001st guest, and I would have been the 100 millionth, but I stopped to tie my shoe. Which is why I never wear shoes anymore. I may share the story of why I don't wear pants, but that will have to wait for another day.
I like this neat shot of the Carnation ice cream parlor on the corner of West Center Street; the milk truck is sitting nearby. Tiny children were working the delivery route that day. Ah, the good old days, when you could use child labor. Thanks for nothin', do-gooders!
Next door is the Sunkist Citrus House, where you could get a glass of OJ or a lemonade popsicle. I suggested that they should serve cups of lukewarm gravy, but they wouldn't listen.
You hardly ever see cops playing saxophones in real life. Maybe if we gave policemen saxophones, ukeleles, kazoos, and banjos, there would be less strife in the world. Lookit that itty-bitty sax (probably a "sopranino"). It's adorable, and is probably made of candy. Well, I guess I'm going to go into the Emporium and see what's for sale. Laters!
11 comments:
My favorite thing to get at the Sunkist House was the frozen orange juice bars. Major, maybe frozen gravy on a stick would have been a better suggestion.
I remember sitting on the curb in front of the Ice Cream Parlor in the summer of 1971, drinking Carnation milk from a tiny carton and watching the Disneyland Band march by. I was two and a half. This is my favorite Disneyland.
That stroller at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor entrance is so small compared to today's strollers.
I loved the Emporium when it felt like a real store. I used to buy the Disney character ceramic figurines "Made in Japan" from here or the Character Shop in Tomorrowland. I loved seeing all the figurines lined up on glass shelves in neat rows for each character with so many to choose from. Since the interior was remodeled I don't care for the place as much as it feels too modernized. Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic!, I also remember those juice bars, but went mostly for the orange juice and donuts. The problem with frozen gravy-on-a-stick is it's very oily and what drips down the stick onto your fingers makes for greasy hands. Not good when handling those Disneyland souvenirs.
Chuck, You have amazing memory recall. I do remember many moments of my first visit to Disneyland in summer of 1963 when I was three and a half.
Ken, I remember those figurines that were sold at the Emporium, The Character Shop, and the China Closet! I always had to buy one to add to my collection at the end of each DL visit. I remember a smaller selection was also available at the store that was to the right of the Fantasyland Theater. There were two kinds of figurines, the ones with the flat/matte finish or "bisque" and the ones with the brighter, shinier glaze (which were the the ones I collected....they also cost less). I remember the Mickey, Minnie and Donald figures came in various sizes and poses. The Candy Palace and Castle Candy Shoppe used the smallest figurines to glue onto the tops of those clear plastic cubes of candy. I also remember from time to time, you would be in a store and hear one of the figurines fall off the shelf and hit the ground. A cast member would always come over and assure the guest that they didn't have to pay for it. Now figurines like that are made of painted resin, which I think is an ugly medium to use!
TokyoMagic!, I bought and collected the shinier glazed figurines too. Even though they were cheaper, I actually liked them better than the flat matte finish/bisque figurines. And yes, the painted resin figurines are awful and are actually more fragile as the details break off too easily. I've seen many a broken figurine not removed from inventory for some poor guest to buy unwittingly.
I also remember those clear plastic tubes of candy with the character topper at the Candy Palace. One of my favorite memories of the Candy Palace was when I purchased a large elaborate peppermint candy stick and as I walked away from the counter after purchasing it, I accidently dropped it and it shattered to pieces. I was bummed, but almost instantly I received a tap on the shoulder and as I turned around a cast member working the Candy Palace had a replacement ready for me free of charge. That put a huge smile on my face.
It's all sax and violins in the Disneyland Police. At least they reed you your rights, otherwise they woodwind up getting in trouble with the brass.
Best one yet, Melissa.
TokyoMagic!, well sure, there is no reason to not have gravy on a stick, but try telling THEM that!
Chuck, wow, I wish I had memories like that! I don’t recall anything from before I was 30.
K. Martinez, yes, I have also noticed how relatively tiny strollers were in the old days. That was before they were intended to be SUVs for the kids, and catchalls for everything that the parents wanted to carry. As for the Emporium, I too liked those ceramic figures. I used to have a group of Jungle Book figures, but most of them broke during an earthquake. I still have my Cheshire Cat, which was always one of my favorites. It is true that frozen gravy will drip, which is why the savvy shopper will also buy a pretzel, place it at the base of the stick, and let the gravy soak it.
TokyoMagic!, do you still have your ceramic figures? I never cared for the bisque ones, which is ironic considering that I started collecting the old Borgfeld bisques from the 1930’s at some point. Don’t the stores have any affordable glazed ceramic figures anymore? Painted resin, YARG.
K. Martinez, great minds think alike! It sounds like those little figures must have fallen off of the candy about 1000 times a day, the cast members were so ready for it!
Melissa, don’t squeal to the fuzz. (PS, I have looked and looked and can’t find the origin of the term “The Fuzz” for cops. Does anybody know?)
David Zacher, you might be right, but Melissa has had a lot of good ones.
@ Major-
The only things I could turn up in regards to the origin of "fuzz" are these:
Evan Morris, The Word Detective, suggests the word "arose as a term of contempt for police based on the use of 'fuzz' or 'fuzzy' in other items of derogatory criminal slang of the period. To be 'fuzzy' was to be unmanly, incompetent and soft. How better to insult the police, after all, than to mock them as ineffectual?" That explanation seems as good as any, and better than most.
And there's this one: Fuzz derives from the Wolof word for horse, "fas". It was initially used by by Wolof-speaking plantation slaves to indicate to each other that horse-ridden patrols were nearby. Further explanation found in David Dalby's " Americanisms That May Once Have Been Africanisms".
Webster's cites a use from February, 7, 1969, in their example for that meaning of the word.
Major, I never cared for the bisque ones either. I do still have my figurines. They are all wrapped up and packed away, except for the "villains." And those are all "stuck down" to the shelf with earthquake putty! I seem to remember Disney News Magazine doing a story about ceramic Disney figurines dating back to the earliest ones.
In the dark this morning, I grabbed the wrong Tupperware container from the fridge, and found myself with a cup of lukewarm gravy for lunch a few hours later.
I'd have loved some OJ or a lemonade pop, despite the cold in the Northeast today.
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