The Flower Market, June 1963
The Main Street Flower Martket is mostly forgotten, unless you are talking to a real Disneyland nerd - of course by 2016 it's been gone for a long time. But it sure was a popular subject for shutterbugs! It must have been hard to resist all that color - especially all of those not-quite-natural blues, purples and teals. Flowers from Venus?! Fitting right in is the pretty lady in her robin's-egg blue dress.
Same group of photographs, different day (I think) - lots of women and girls are enjoying the faux blooms, while the guy in the middle is patiently working his way back to the bathrooms (far left)!
9 comments:
Major-
Colors, colors, colors. In spite of them all, it's hard not to miss a wonderful example of 'flood controls' on the young lad admiring the bright red flowers. And those slits in the cuffs make me wonder if those are "girls" pants-?
Thanks, Major.
There appears to be some interesting patterns on the two dresses to the right of the lady in blue, as well as on the little boy's shirt.
Nanook, the boy's family was going to the beach later that day, where they were going to put him to work digging for clams.
Speaking of Disneyland nerds and mostly forgotten things of Disneyland, I think the first time I really became aware and conscious of Disneyland as history was when I purchased a little book in 1980 called "Disneyland - The First Quarter Century". Before that I had no knowledge of a "Viewliner" or "Conestoga Wagon". From that point on I really paid attention to Disneyland history. It really drove home the concept when shortly after the original Fantasyland passed into history to make way for a new one.
The colors really make today's images. Absolutely beautiful! Thanks, Major.
Nanook, it seems like that kid is too young to have started a “growth spurt”, so I guess we can just blame his mom for not getting him some dungarees - ones that fit.
TokyoMagic!, when I lived in Huntington Beach, my mom and dad actual did take us digging for clams. And we found some! I refused to eat them, however.
K. Martinez, now that you mention it, “Disneyland: The First Quarter Century” might have been my introduction to Disneyland history too! I bought the book at the park (I was there with my friend Kevin) and still have it. Seeing photos of things such as the Viewliner and the Monsanto House of the Future blew my mind! The next time I go to my mom’s house, I’m going to have to look at that book again. Glad you liked today’s photos - I know that the Flower Market can be boring to some.
Nice reference, TM!, regarding the pants. I recall one Summer all six of us got a pair. Ours had a little red stripe on the outside, though. Très chic.
The Flower Market is never boring to me. It was my Mom's favorite part of Disneyland, after Its A Small World, anyway. Spending a few minutes here on the way by was a must-do for us. Seeing pics of the Market always makes for good memories. I can't remember if she bought anything or not, but probably did. We had plastic flower arrangements in all the rooms at home. Mom liked things to be "nice."
For my Dad's part, the only reason he would ever be seen in the Flower Market would be while heading to and from the Men's Room in the back corner. But he was always forbearing and patient with Mom and would wait for her quietly on the curb while she browsed.
She would always wait while he admired the shops in Frontierland. I remember Pendleton was one of his favorites. It's how they got along.
The flower colors were often garish and unrealistic, not always completely tasteful by my standards today, but it was the look of the times and we thought it was fine then.
Thank you, Major for these photos. I really appreciate them, makes those memories real again for a moment.
JG
JG, I think the Flower Mart was made for moms! I like that "It's a Small World" was your mom's other favorite... that ride gets a lot of ribbing, but I genuinely love it. Any smart husband learns that it's better to wait for the shopping bug to subside! As for the colors, look at those crazy blue bunches - as far as I know, there are no real flowers of that hue.
@Major, you're right about all of it, bugs and blue flowers.
Whenever I see pics of the Flower Market or IASW, I seem to get some dust in my eye. Can't figure it out.
Thank you.
JG
I though they could have a working flower market in Walt Disney World. They could have sold real flowers and delivered them to the rooms in the many hotels.
Alas, it too was sacrificed to the merchandising opportunities of an expanded Emporium
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