Disneyland Entrance, July 1958
I have one really great scan for you today (with a second one that is average)!
It's a beautiful Summer day; a clear blue sky, and a slight breeze, judging by the flags. Perfect! I am guessing that the park opened at 10 o'clock (as it commonly did), so the mad rush has already gone in, and only a few families wait in short lines at those awesome little ticket booths. I'm sure those painted lanes were necessary on busy days.
As always, I get a kick out of observing the people. I wish I could decipher the ticket prices, but even zooming in on the high-res file didn't help a lot. Let's just say that it is less than $100.00 per person!
Next we have this shot (possibly from a different day?) of Main Street Station. It's like the pilot episode of "The Twilight Zone"... where is everybody?! I think I see Earl Holliman up on the platform.
20 comments:
Major-
Is that a "Pre-Arranged Coupons Only" sign above the booth in the background on the left-? And if so, just what sort of coupons-?
Thanks, Major.
That last pic is giving me a bit of a Nara Dreamland vibe for some reason. Maybe it's the absence of people...or maybe it's the large expanse of gray concrete.
These are some fun friday fotos for sure. Thanks for posting.
It appears that pale blue, pink an yellow clothing ruled the day in 58'.
Whatever the prices were a ticket book was probably less than a bottle of water now.
If they ever made that sensory deprivation box (from the Twilight Zone) an attraction (next to the tower of terror for sure) they would have to fit the guests with Depends beforhand. That episode always scared the poop out of me.
No, no, that last picture was obviously taken after the forced-evacuation during the Martian Invasion of the 50's.
I love the old-fashioned Jalousie windows on the ticket booths. They must've provided much needed ventilation on a hot stuffy day in those confined booths. Also like the "D" from the D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D that is spelled out on top and across the Main Gate. The second image sort of reminds me of photos from Bill Cotter's "Disneyland without People" set. Thanks, Major.
Thanks for these. Takes me back.
TokyoMagic! It does indeed have a bit of that “Nara Dreamland” kind of thing going on. It just needs the weeds coming up through the pavement.
I’m sure we all have our “Where Is Everybody?” fantasies from time to time. In mine, the first place I am always heading to is Disneyland. But I can only imagine how boring the park will be without someone to share it with, not to mention operating the rides for me. My friend Lynn and I are always talking about it, so I only imagine he’ll be there too, so that’s not so bad I guess. I just hope there’s still electricity by the time we get to D-land.
Major, I didn’t know that “Where Is Everybody?” was the Twilight Zone pilot. My friend Casey got me the complete series for Christmas one year (she’s so awesome!) but I don’t recall that fact being mentioned on the set. I must have missed it.
From a GDB post in 2011, Jumbo adult was $4.25, Big 10 was $3.25 for adult, and $2.25 for child.
My favorite version of the 'floral Mickey'
MRaymond, I'm with you on that. It's my favorite version too! I like how it's framed by the low hedge and ground cover.
Nanook, the fact that you could decipher that sign in the low-res jpeg is impressive. Didn’t you know you could bring Kool-Aid coupons and get into the park, as long as you called ahead?
TokyoMagic!, I see what you mean; I think it is the concrete that makes it look like Nara Dreamland!
Alonzo, isn’t it funny how certain colors seem to really be prominent during certain years? I’ve noticed that too; sometimes you’ll see six ladies wearing tomato-red coats in a single photo in the late 50’s or early 60’s.
Kenneth Lane, oh yes, I remember the headlines!
K. Martinez, “Jalousie” windows! That’s a new term for me, I had to look it up. They said it couldn’t be done, but I’ve learned something. The second photo would be even more like Bill Cotter’s photos if there was a muscle car parked in front!
DrGoat, you are welcome.
Monkey Cage Kurt, it kills me to think that, in theory, I could have actually gone to Nara Dreamland. What a trip that would have been!
Monkey Cage Kurt, in a way I guess that’s related to my childhood dreams of hiding in some corner of Disneyland until after the park has closed, and then wandering around, exploring. Of course I didn’t know that there were people at the park all night long doing maintenance and stuff. Maybe if I brought a dustpan, a white jumpsuit, and a broom with me I would blend right in. A 12 year old sweeper! Wow, the complete set of The Twilight Zone, that is a pretty sweet gift. It is amazing how well much of that show holds up over 50 years later. Even the “not great” episodes are usually watchable.
Anonymous, you did the research I was too lazy to do!
MRaymond, me too. I don’t get why they changed it to a more contemporary, less cute version.
K. Martinez, I especially dislike the Halloween version, with Mickey wearing a mask. Or I should say I like the idea, but not the way it is done.
Monkey Cage Kurt, "Where is Everybody?" is also the only TZ episode that was shot on the Universal lot. All the rest were shot at MGM or on location.
Next time you watch it, when Earl Holliman is wandering around the town square, note that the "High School" is also the courthouse from "To Kill a Mockingbird" and some obscure time-travel series whose name escapes me at the moment.
Chuck, I kind of got on a little “Where Is Everybody?” kick today, I ended up finding out about a lot of that trivia. I plan on watching it again pretty soon for the sake of the town square from that obscure time travel flick you mentioned.
Yeah Major, that Twilight Zone set was one of thee VERY best gifts I’ve ever received from a friend. My friend Casey’s gift is the gift of gift giving. The set is awesome! And even though I thought I had seen every episode tons of times each there were still many I had never seen nor even heard of before, although most of those were of the “not great episodes” variety.
Oh, and sorry you didn’t get to go to Nara Dreamland Major. I guess it closed down about ten years ago, so how long ago were you in Japan, and under what circumstances were you there?
Monkey Cage Kurt, for me, half of the fun of watching old movies and TV shows (and even some newer ones) is trying to recognize the shooting location. With Universal, it's even more fun than most, because I'm familiar enough with the backlot and its history that I can often identify camera placement and other movies/TV shows that were shot there. I'm glad my wife was also a film major or I'd drive her nuts.
Chuck, I do the same thing too. I love being able to spot the old back lots or old locations from vintage LA and whatnot. Lots of that in the Twilight Zone.
Film Major aye? So, do you work in the film/TV industry? I use to work in TV animation. For a time I worked at the old MGM (Sony) studio in Culver City. So now whenever I watch the old Hal Roach Little Rascals on DVD (another awesome gift from Casey) I’m constantly looking in the background to see if I can recognize any of the hillsides. And they do look a bit familiar.
Sad to say, I no longer do. I spent five glorious years (two in SoCal) as an Air Force Combat Camera officer, which was sort of like being a combination TV producer-director, motion picture 2nd assistant director, still photo assignments editor, and backup camera operator/photographer. That all went away when they merged the tiny career field with larger Information Management (admin) and the humongous Communications (radars, radios, telephones & computers) fields, which, as you might expect, was a terrible mishmash of temperments and skillsets.
Rather than get out and go into the civilian portion of the industry, I elected to stay in after my initial commitment was done, always trying to get back into the community, but the Communications overlords wouldn't let us go back, fearing we'd "ruin our careers" outside the mainstream of the new career field. After ten years, leadership finally acknowledged it had been a mistake and transferred the function and the enlisted personnel to Public Affairs, but didn't let the former Combat Camera officers go with them, citing manning concerns in the Comm field (at a time when they were also downsizing the career field - I don't pretend to understand).
So now that I'm retired from the AF, that portion of my resume is terribly dusty. While I'd love to do it again, I have financial commitments that would make it hard to start over, it would be hard to get hired at my age anyway.
I admire people like yourself who have worked in animation, and I think it would be a hoot to work in a place with such a history like that. And then I remember the traffic the last time I was in LA, and I think maybe I'm OK where I am... :-)
Chuck, I have been reading about The Twilight Zone very recently, and I did know that “Where Is Everybody” was filmed at the Universal Lot. Some episodes of the show really betray their backlot origins, although I find that fun, actually.
Monkey Cage Kurt, I had a couple of seasons of The Twilight Zone on DVD, and they were EXPENSIVE! For comparison, you can have the complete set of “The Outer Limits” for a pittance. I still occasionally catch an episode of TTZ that is unfamiliar, which seems hard to believe. The hour-long season four episodes are aired much less frequently.
Monkey Cage Kurt, I guess I gave the wrong impression… I’ve never been to Japan! But I was aware of Nara Dreamland, and was certainly an adult when it was still around (there was an article in the L.A. Times about it). I even thought about how strange and fun it would be to go, but obviously I never did it. Phooey.
Chuck, I didn’t know you were a film major!
Monkey Cage Kurt, the girl I am dating right now works at Sony, so we sometimes meet up in Culver City. It has changed a lot of course, but there are parts of the lot that still look rather old fashioned.
Chuck again, even though you did not pursue a Hollywood career, it sounds like you have led an interesting and rewarding life. Showbiz can be fickle! Maybe if one gets into one of the stronger unions, regular work would be more of a sure thing. I know that one of our readers and occasional contributors works in the movie industry, and he has some great stories. Soon he’ll be in France working on Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk”.
I worked at Sony Studios for about 5 years, it was nice. I always loved walking around the studio stages on my lunch breaks, so I got to see a lot of films being made. Sadly the films they were making at that time were kind of rank in my opinion, Men in Black, Starship Troopers, the Fifth Element, and that REALLY BAD Mathew Broderick Godzilla. But it was fun being there, behind the scenes and all.
I moved to Oregon to care for my elderly father, that’s where I am now. I still think about going back to So-Cal someday. Animation has its draw (no pun intended, really!) but I think D-land has a stronger pull on me. But like you said Major, that industry is indeed very fickle, and I’m not as fast as I once was. Then like Chuck said I start thinking about that horrid LA traffic, not to mention I hear Disney is phasing out the annual passes, that is the biggest kick of all. If I can’t go to D-land three times a week what’s the point? Yeah, I guess I’ll just stay in Oregon. Even if the rivers don’t have robotic pirates.
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