Sunday, April 15, 2018

Frontierland Views, June 1958

Every batch of slides will have a few better-than-average photos, some "decent but not exciting" photos, and a few that are hardly worth mentioning. Today I have two that fall into the latter category!

This isn't a terrible photo, by any means - it's just that we've seen a jillion pictures of the Burning Settler's Cabin by now, and this one doesn't stand out, really. I suppose one could admire the landscaping, which is still years a bit scraggly, having only been planted a few years earlier. And the cabin is blazing away cheerily. Otherwise... meh.


Next up is this photo of the landing for the Mark Twain and the Columbia; it's kind of a long shot, so we can't see too many details. I like the stacks of crates and casks, and there are a lot of bales of cotton. The small blue-green structure was known as the ice house. The Golden Horseshoe is way in the distance, as is the roof of the Red Wagon Inn. 


10 comments:

Patrick Devlin said...

Well on first glance the shot of the settler's cabin stands out for making it look like the cabin and yard were hacked out of the surrounding forest. Which is to say it has a very cozy built-in look. I like it plenty.

And I could sure dig seeing the loading area piled high with bales and crates and every such thing. After all, both of the ROA's vessels are modeled after cargo vessels...

Jonathan said...

I love the picture of the dock. You never get to see it, with all the very cool props. The foliage around the cabin is a window to 1958. I agree with Patrick, it looks as though he cleared the land and made a cozy home in the frontier. Thanks Major.

dean finder said...

I agree - The settler's cabin is very early Disneyland. The trees growing between the cabin and the river add an element that helps it feel real rather than a just a theme park attraction.

Melissa said...

"Did I remember to unplug the iron? Oh, well. Sooo sleepy..."


Somebody was supposed to lift those bales. I wonder what happened to him?

Patrick Devlin said...

Well, Melissa nobody may have lifted the bales but at least the barge got toted...

Anonymous said...

Still amazed as to how the fire looks so realistic. Clearly those are not real flames, but you have to wonder how they look that way.

Major Pepperidge said...

Patrick Devlin, you are right, it does look like the land was freshly cleared, which is a cool detail. The docks along the river should be piled high with cans of creamed corn - the corn that tamed the west.

Jonathan, I don’t even know, are there any props like cotton bales anymore? Seems a shame to get rid of that nice and authentic feature.

dean finder, you are right that the tree feels more natural, but you’d think that Walt would want people to get a good look at that blazing cabin!

Melissa, the Mark Twain has a sort of “crane” thing on it, I’ve always wondered if that was supposed to help load heavy crates and bales??

Patrick Devlin, I’ll bet Mike Fink “lifted” a few of those bales in his day.

The Magic Ears Dudebro, those ARE real flames! There was a gas line that went to the cabin, which was actually built of steel and cement.

Patrick Devlin said...

I think the boom and tackle over the foredeck of the Mark Twain looks funny because the thing it's supposed to be lifting isn't there: the gangplank. The gangplank would be taken with the stern-wheeler wherever she went and could even embark passengers from an unfinished shoreline.

Melissa said...

Well, as long as nobody got a little drunk and landed in jail.

At least as late as 2012, there were still prop crates around the steamboat landing in Florida. I noticed one addressed to Master Gracey at his Mansion in the Hudson Valley. I guess the Hudson *is* one of the "Rivers of America."

Anonymous said...

Major, I learn something new with every post. I have never before heard of or seen the ice house. How cool a detail is that (humor).

Reading the addresses on the prop cargo has always been a fun pastime. Lots of inside jokes. Recently, I have noticed some of this at the Jungle Cruise too. I don't know if it's an innovation or if I just woke up to it.

Dad always enjoyed the bales of cotton on the wharf since he was a cotton farmer. As a kid, I did my share of time on the end of a hoe, chopping weeds in the cotton field, so the prop bales were close to our hearts.

Thanks much.

JG