Sunday, March 03, 2019

Native Dancers & Fred Gurley, November 1958

Today's photos are not the worst things I've ever seen. How's that for damning with faint praise? 

Here's the dancing natives, celebrating their successful hunt. Lion fricassee is my favorite! It's interesting to watch one early "Disneyland" program in which they show a gentleman enduring a full-body cast for use as a mold for the natives. I believe that they still use the same basic mold to this day (though I wouldn't bet the farm on it). 


It's a shame that this photo of the Fred Gurley is basically a silhouette. I love pictures of the Disneyland trains! I give this one a "D" because I am mean.


Based on photos in Steve DeGaetano's "Welcome Aboard the Disneyland Railroad", I believe that the  Engineer is Harley Ilgen; As Steve says, Harley was the Chief Engineer of the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad - when Walt wasn't in the park! I wonder what he and the other men are discussing?


17 comments:

  1. Major-

    "Native Dancers & Fred Gurley" - it conjures-up so many wonderful images. Fer instance - what if all the conductors on the SF & DL Railroad were native dancers-? (You just know that was one of the options Walt was considering-!) Or... what if Fred Gurley had a [not so] secret desire to be a native dancer, and he's actually one of the native dancers in the JC, right now - in disguise, of course-??!! The possibilities seem endless.

    Thanks, Major.

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  2. Nanook, Fred was a native dancer? I had no idea. Was it a Gurley show?

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  3. K. Martinez - ouch!

    I think that photo of the train engine is gorgeous.

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  4. I actually think that's one of the better "dancer" pics I've seen! It's amazing that they're all the same guy! That probably helps with coordinating their more complicated routines...

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  5. Good snap of the native hunt, I hope you're not lion about the fricassee. I wonder if the Gurley pic is a shift change briefing for the on-coming engineer, that's my train of thought. Wow, this post is really going off the rails. I'm just blowing off a little steam.
    OMG, I can't stop. See what you started Ken? Thanks to Major for the photos and the chance for me to make a fool of myself.

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  6. @ Ken-
    ("A Gurley show") Too funny-!

    @ JC Shannon-
    Actually, I think the gents are discussing cigarette brand preferences: 'Viceroy's got the taste that's right - (That's right - that's right...)' OR 'Come all the way up to KOOL' OR 'More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette' OR 'L&M - just what the doctor ordered'

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  7. Nanook, personally I would have liked to see the Disneyland RR manned by native dancers. In fact, if I was in charge, I would have promoted you!

    Ken Martinez, he was more of an interpretive dancer, just like me. And you know that Fred heard every joke imaginable growing up with that last name. But he went on to be the president of the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe!

    Melissa, it’s not a bad photo, just a little to silhouette-y for my tastes.

    stu29573, I guess it’s sort of like the reuse of the same figures over and over in the Haunted Mansion & Pirates… if you dress them up differently, put different wigs on them, etc, nobody is going to be able to tell for the 10 seconds that they can see them.

    Jonathan, I was definitely wondering what those men were talking about. Maybe it was just a quick smoke break. Your railroad puns are worthy of Wally Boag! That Ken, always stirring things up. I’m kind of suprised that Melissa didn’t continue with the puns, since she’s good at it!

    Nanook, how can anybody have a favorite cigarette? They are all so delicious and smell so good. I sometimes glue four of them together and smoke them at once.

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  8. Major, do you glue them end-to-end or in a bundle?

    "Native dancers & Fred Gurley" - that's a phrase I never expected to see. "Gandy dancers & Fred Gurley," maybe, but not "native dancers." Just two things I'd never tie together.

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  9. Nanook, I think one of the gentlemen is telling the other two, "You've come a long way, baby!"

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  10. @ TM!-

    Or perhaps just: Come up and 'taste me', if you want to get really kinky-!

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  11. Nanook, I wasn't sure if you were kidding with that last one or if it was a real slogan, so I looked it up. Gee, a lot of those slogans had a double entendre......."Taste me! Taste me! Come on and taste me!" "Blow some my way!" and "Where a man belongs." And then some are just ridiculous, like "For Digestion's Sake - Smoke Camels." What the heck???

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  12. I don't think I could digest smoked camel.

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  13. @ TM!-

    And let's not forget: To taste me is to love me.
    As Harry Shearer is so fond of saying: We don't have to make this stuff up.

    @ Melissa-
    Don't knock it 'til you try it.

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  14. Chuck, I glue them into a bundle… if you glue them end to end, the Elmer’s glue blocks the flow of air! I love Elton John’s song, “Gandy Dancer”.

    TokyoMagic!, I’d rather fight than switch, personally.

    Nanook, was there really a cigarette brand that had “taste me” as their slogan??

    TokyoMagic!, ha ha, I wasn’t sure Nanook was on the level either. You should really try smoking after dinner, you digest food like crazy.

    Melissa, I went to Cairo (really!) many years ago, and supposedly we were served camel. Part of me thinks that the waiter just wanted to see if we would turn green.

    Nanook, I wonder if “Spud” cigarettes had a slogan? I love the dumb name of that brand. Time to visit Google!

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  15. Major-

    I'm afraid Doral Cigarettes entire campaign was based around the "taste me" slogan. Introduced in 1969 by R. J. Reynolds as a low tar cigarette, that still packed the flavor punch without all those "nasty" 'other things' the competition contained. Obviously, the connection between cigarette smoking and sex - a staple long before Doral made the scene - was hardly lost on this campaign; one might say the opposite were true.

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  16. Dang... I miss all the really funny stuff on Sunday... and have to enjoy it on Monday. My gosh you people are funny... and remember wonderful obscure references. As I was reading these comments, I actually burned my tongue by holding in the laughter while holding in a mouth full of hot coffee. NOTE TO SELF: Finish drinking morning coffee before reading Gorillas Don't Blog Comments. Thank you everyone for the laugh this morning... I needed it.

    Always your pal,
    Amazon Belle

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  17. Anonymous11:16 AM

    What Matthew said.

    Brilliant thread.

    Amazing to see so much spun from so little.

    The lion sure looks relaxed, he probably did some yoga and then a spa treatment.

    Thanks Major and the Gorilla team.

    JG

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