The Dapper Dans on Vintage Viewmaster
Today seemed as good a day as any to post some more scans from vintage Viewmaster reels! All of these images feature the lovable Dans who dress well. They're good at singing too.
I tried to put these in order, oldest to newest, but there weren't a lot of clues. This one, with the little princess in her poofy dress, seemed like the earliest. There are the Double D's (!), performing outside the Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner. Everything goes better with Coke, even barbershop harmonies. And Cheetos.
In this next image, the Dans pose with their bicycle built for four with the Opera House in the background. There's Goofy!
There's something you don't see every day. Four Neat Guys, with straw boaters and spats. Again with the bicycle! Balloon Boy looks uneasy, and I can't blame him. The door to the Bank of America is blocked by these weirdos... I'll come back later.
This final image is post-1970. GAF has replaced Kodak, but they know that we will never love them as much. I don't think I ever knew that this shop became the "Photo Salon". Most folks seem to be avoiding the DDs. We need a major motion picture about them, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as all four fellas.
12 comments:
Major-
"The Double D's". I see you're on a first-name basis. (I AM impressed-!!)
And as for a "Photo Salon", personally, I prefer a Photo Saloon-!
Thanks, Major.
As a side plot in your MAJOR motion picture, you could have the Double D's designing bras in the Main St. Intimate Apparel Shoppe (Chuck, I added a "pe"!).
TM! - I appreciate that extra bit of class. Now, if we could only convince Adobe to follow suit with their flagship software...
I think what I love most about the second photo is Goofy in the background. While the Dans are obviously posed, I don't think anything else in the shot is. It hearkens back to a simpler, less-crowded time when costumed characters and French cannons roamed the Park for photo-ops with guests.
I have to smile at that last image. Since GAF acquired Sawyer's, View-Master's parent company, in 1966, I guess they couldn't resist plugging their licensing presence in the Park in one of their tourist reels. Strange to think of something as pure as Disneyland being tarred with the brush of cross-promotional commercialism...
The Double D's. Main Street USA's first boy band. Let's hope they didn't have the same behind the scenes drama/in fighting that usualy follows such a musical group.
I thinks I'll step into the Photo Saloon for a shot of developer and a quick dip in the stop bath. Hang me out to dry.
Thanks for posting.
Nanook, the Double D’s owe all their success to me! The bicycle was my idea. Without it they’d be nothing. NOTHING!
TokyoMagic!, your suggestion is a good one, especially in 3-D, with CGI dinosaurs!!
Chuck, that particular photo of Town Square (with Goofy) looks a lot like it was taken in a genuine small town; I wonder if people who’d never been to Disneyland saw photos like this and thought, ‘This is an amusement park?”. And yes, GAF; it’s a shame they didn’t make better products. Their Pana-Vue slides have all faded, and they eventually made changes to Viewmaster, changing it from something that adults liked to buy to more of a toy for children.
Alonzo, the true story of the Dapper Dans is filled with debauchery and jealousy. Way more interesting than The Beatles!
Fun stuff, Major. Barbershop harmony was never a favorite of mine, but I still prefer it to the Beatles.
I often think that Main Street is as much my childhood home town as where I really grew up, since I remember Main Street more.
JG
PS Chuck, I will never be able to think about Photoshoppe ever again without cracking up.
@TM!-
That 'Major' motion picture is gonna need a great advertising campaign. So as long as we're talking 3D here, we may as well "steal" from the best, and borrow a tag line that truly deserves some sort of shrine in the advertising hall of fame - that which was used to plug the 3D-version of The French Line, starring none other than that "full-figured girl" herself, Jane Russell: "J.R. in 3D - it'll knock both your eyes out". Need I say more-?
Ha, ha, Nanook! I remember Jane Russell's "Full Figured Gal" commercials, but what was up with that 18-hour bra? Did it really stop working after 18 hours? As for this Double D's movie project, can we film it Underwater! and in "Superscope"?
Major, I'm not sure how the dinosaurs can be worked in, but I'm sure you will come up with something. Maybe the main characters can take a train trip and it breaks down in the middle of Primeval World? And while they are there, they run into Sandy Duncan and Lorne Greene?
I can only hope the supporting characters are cast wacky, just like in Lee Daniel's The Butler. Here's what I came up with:
Steve Buscemi as Walt, with Lucy Liu as Lillian.
John Cusack as Nixon, opening the Monorail.
Roger Rabbit as Mickey.
Viola Davis as Bob Gurr, with Kerry Washington as Rolly Crump.
Current-day Steve Martin, as young Steve Martin.
And, of course, a CGI-reincarnation of Orville Redenbacher as the AA Mr. Lincoln.
Now, if we can only raise $20 million, we can't possibly go wrong.
Mark H. Besotted, you made me laugh out loud! Thank you, for that!
It's good to feel like I fit in here in this, the most magical of all comments sections. I was proud of that one.
With that said, I always end up laughing at The Major, and this Peanut Gallery, so I'm all too happy to return the favor.
JG, my dad loved to sing, and loved to play records by The Buffalo Bills, so I grew up hearing barbershop harmonies… I still enjoy that kind of singing today, when done well of course.
Nanook, I didn’t know that Jane Russell was in a 3-D movie! Hilarious. And yet… I want to see it!
TokyoMagic!, I wondered the same thing about the 18 hour bras. As for the movie idea, I think that the Dapper Dans should be sent back in time, and they discover that they can soothe an angry T-rex with a rendition of “By the light of the silvery moon”. And YES, Sandy Duncan should definitely be in it.
Mark H. Besotted, I like that you have cast the movie in an unconventional way. My big complaint is that you have ignored the Amish actor community.
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