ELEVEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Believe it or not, as of today "Gorillas Don't Blog" (such a dumb name, I know) is ELEVEN years old! Where were you in 2006? If you are bored, check out the first post - there's not much to it. Back when I started this thing, I had no idea that it would go on for so long, or even that it could go on for so long. I've added and added to the collection of photos (though I rarely buy stuff these days), and I've widened the scope of the blog (with the "Anything Goes Saturdays" for instance), and I've had some much-welcome contributions from people such as Nanook, Ken Martinez, Alonzo P. Hawk, Chuck, the Devlin family, DrGoat, Kurt Raymond, Bill Youmans, Huck Caton, Mr. X, Patrick McGilligan, Doug Baker, Scott Heinz, Mike Guerena, and more (I apologize if I did not mention a contributor here - please chime in with a comment!

I might as well mention that I haven't missed a day since October of 2009 - well over 3000 posts in a row. I had a theory that if I posted every day, readership (viewership?) would steadily increase, but that hasn't really been the case, which is a little discouraging. Perhaps blogs are too old-school. But you guys still check in, so thanks! I've predicted the imminent end of GDB so many times that I'm not going to do it again, but... let's just say that nothing lasts forever. Anyway... let's look at some photos!

Here's a beauty from New Year's Day, 1957! That was a Sunday; the park was open from 10 AM to 10 PM; the high temp was 64 degrees, but it got down to a low of 38 degrees; and attendance was at 22,122 (according to Jason's Disneyland Almanac!) - fairly busy for those days. I never grow tired of the wonderful Clock of the World - a classic piece of mid-century design. Notice the nearby hill where the Matterhorn would eventually be - I like to think of it as the Matterhorn's larval form.

Our photographer came back later for a dramatic and beautiful night shot; the clock seems to indicate that it is only around 5:00 in the evening, but it gets dark very early in January. And with the cold, it looks like most people went home, too. Either that, or the long exposure made them all vanish as they continued to move. Still, it's a gorgeous shot.

I wanted to zoom in so that you can get a better look at the lobby of CIRCARAMA, with a diagram of the round theater, and a giant, staring Eye of Sauron in the center!

Next comes this fun photo from November, 1961, featuring a guest goofing around with the Tomorrowland Spaceman and Spacegirl. I think she's flirting with the Spaceman! But the adorable Spacegirl knows it's all in fun. She reminds me of Sandra Dee; the rose pink lining of her cape is very striking, and I love her "atomic" headgear.

Some of you might remember this great photo that was originally shared over on the Vintage Disneyland Tickets blog (raise your hands if you miss that blog!); the picture shows the same young lady, standing in an almost-identical pose. 

Here's a very nice photo of the Matterhorn under construction - almost half of it is covered with stucco and is painted as the workers moved from top to bottom; exactly the way real mountains were formed. The Yacht Bar looks kind of sad and neglected here, but it will be selling hamburgers, hot dogs, and lemonade soon enough.

I wanted to zoom in because I get a kick out of seeing all of those construction guys swarming over the scaffolding. Notice the blue Skyway bucket passing through the tunnel! There is a bicycle in the foreground - could it be Walt's? Yeah, probably not. Imagine seeing this amazing structure for the first time, before everyone was used to it being there.

One of the long-gone features of old Frontierland was a corral that contained miniature horses. Walt loved miniatures! Some of you may remember that there was a tiny mule named "Lilly Belle" (see a photo of it at this post) on display in this corral - I'm sure Lillian Disney was thrilled.

And I might has well finish things up with this lovely photo of the blue Viewliner pulling into the station. A pair of giant fuzzy dice would be just the thing to make the Viewliner even more perfect.

That's it for this special post. As always, thank you to everyone who continues to visit the blog, whether you have been here since 2006, or are a relative newbie. And a big THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to comment - it's a small but vocal community (I have friends who have never commented in 11 years!) and it helps to keep me going more than you know.