A Pair From 1971
If your life has been too exciting lately, you probably need to calm down. Congratulations! Today's photos will put you right to sleep. And best of all, they're not addictive.
First up is this fairly uninspiring image of the Disneyland Band performing near (or for?) the flagpole in Town Square. The composition is weird, the colors are strangely muted (maybe you left your dark glasses on again, did you think about that?), and somehow we don't get a good look at anything. That's not easy when taking photos in Disneyland, but by golly, our photographer did it.
This one's not so bad I technically, but let's face it, it is boooooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnng!
12 comments:
Major-
Yes, but... they're both so sharp in all their "mutedness". And - that's a fairly good shot of the flagpole base, which as we all know, was originally the base from a streetlight formerly on Adams Street in Los Angeles. (The same style base was used @ WDW's Town Square, too). Which begs the question: Just how many of those bases were 'picked-up' by Imagineers when planning Disneyland back in 1954/55 - and at least one 'extra' was still around come 1971 for WDW's flagpole-!
Thanks, Major. Now I can go right back to sleep. Zzzzzzzzz…..
I think the composition in the first picture is perfectly lovely! I like how the the spreading chestnut or oak or whatever is lined up right behind the flagpole. The leafy tree limb softly framing the top is a nice touch, and the dappled sunlight on the band uniforms in the foreground is nothing short of charming. And I love the effect of peeking at the scene over the band members' shoulders. Sorry, Maj, but what you got there is a pretty picture.
Nanook; the correct answer; only one: Disney made Aluminum copies of those street light flag pole bases and not the originals!! Same goes for the Baltimore City Gas lights and the San Francisco park bench “cast iron” ends.....sometimes an origin story goes a long, long way!!
As far as I'm concerned, there are not enough pics of the backs of peoples' heads. There is alot going on here as well. Betty Boufant and her beau Biff are posing for the camera, "Smile and say bad hair day." Wally Whitewall is enjoying a smoke on the bench, and another photographer is is taking our picture, wierd. In an effort to become more relevant, the Band is playing Knock Three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn and the crowd is singing along. In the second photo, I think the photographer is going for artsy, none of those pesky 70s outfits are getting in my boring shot. Love the scans today Major, thanks.
Whaddya mean? That's a great shot of the Ernest S. Marsh in that first photo!
@ Mike-
I should've known there was an even more-interesting story than what I related - AND you'd be the one to tell it-!
So... does that mean the base at the Disneyland flagpole is the original one; or the Imagineers used their LADWP base as a "control" for both parks-?
And as usual: many thanks for sharing what you know-!
Nanook, I must have a better shot of the old flagpole base than today’s example! I do like that it is an authentic antique from early Los Angeles. Yes, go back to sleep, it’s the best thing!
Melissa, gosh really? It seems so unremarkable to me. But I appreciate your positive attitude! The tree is nice, but it’s sort of blurry and in the background. As Rod Serling reminds us, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Mike Cozart, ah, another interesting fact! Thanks. So the gaslights on Disneyland’s Main Street are copies of genuine old ones? Somehow I thought they were the real deal.
Jonathan, “Wally Whitewall”, ha ha. Mmmm, cigarettes, is there any greater invention by mankind? I can’t think of one bad thing to say about them. Was “Knock Three Times” a hit in 1971? If so, you either have a great memory, or actually did the research. It’s so funny, growing up, I always thought that my mom loved the song about Sweet Gypsy Rose (by Tony Orlando and Dawn of course), only to find out recently that she did NOT like it after I put it on a mix for her.
Steve DeGaetano, I couldn’t even tell which locomotive it was!
Nanook, sounds like your question is similar to mine. We know that the dedication plaque has been replaced over the years, so maybe the flagpole base has been, too. I guess once they have a good mold, it’s much handier to be able to cast them whenever they want.
Well, you know me and blurry photos. As long as everything doesn't look like a perfume bottle I consider it a crashing success.
Around the time Walt Disney World was being prepped a casting mold was made for the flagpole base. Eventually the original at Disneyland was replaced with a casting. Many castmembers think and are told it’s the original - but it is not.
Disney purchased vintage gas lamps from the city of Baltimore - they had been in storage and the city was getting rid of them ( incidentally that model of lamp was used by many cities) I understand only some of the on Main Street are originals but most have been replaced with aluminum castings - these castings were used fir the other Magic Kingdoms. Disney now purchases the lamps from a company that also makes replicas of the same gaslight. The original park benches cane from San Francisco - and Disneyland used aluminun castings - but some of the vintage bench ends were used at the Disney Studios.
@ MIKE COZART-
Thanks again for all the info.
The current park benches on Main Street , Town Square , The Plaza etc. were purchased new by a supplier in 2005 for Disneyland’s 50th. Sadly all the original Disneyland benches were scraped and sold.
The second photo is not dull at all. I could spend hours studying the details on the Castle, and savoring the differences between crockets and finials.
I keep looking for the village smithy in the first picture, but nowhere to be found.
Thanks Major, and Mike Cozart.
JG
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