Aboard the Mark Twain, 1962
You might remember today's trio from some previous photos. Mom has her famous dark glasses in hand, so you might not recognize her! This time, she and her boys must have raced to the top deck of the Mark Twain so that Dad could take a nice picture. Slowpokes are still making their way up. I think Mom should take that life preserver and wear it around her neck so that she can sneak it home, and then sell it for $10,000 decades later. The pilot is just visible, glaring down at us while he chews his tobakky.
Moments later, Dad took a second photo, and our speedy family is no longer alone. Why must they share Disneyland with other people?? I remember standing right about where they are, and being just about deafened when the bell started to ring. That thing is *LOUD*. I only cried a little though.
11 comments:
Major-
I remember that family extremely-well, as the image with the three of them posing inside Frontierland is now a screensaver gracing my work computer. Mom's wild sunglasses and the boys sport coats are real head-turners providing joy on a daily basis. It's nice to see them all out and about.
Thanks, Major.
I wonder how much of the Mark Twain is actually left as far as original components and materials and how many parts, wood and such have been replaced over the 64 years of operation. Nice pics. Thanks, Major.
I was thinking the same thing about the speaker right above their heads!
That ring of the Mark TwIn bell is the sound of Disneyland to me if anything ever was.
I hope the dad wasn't so preoccupied with taking those pics, that he missed the boat and then had to be helicoptered to it, to join his family.
Oh, these make me long for an adventure on the river - any river.
Ken, you make a good point that over time components on the Twain (and other vehicles) need to be replaced as they wear out or rot. Only about 10-15% of USS Constitution is original material from the 1790s. An old joke about the KC-135 fleet - all built and delivered before 1966 and about half of which are still in service with the Air Force, having been modified and upgraded and undergone service life extension programs over the past 50 years - is that the only thing original on the airplanes is the "Boeing" plate on the yoke.
Mom and her two little future business majors. We never get a look at dad, I bet he is wearing the same sport coat. @ Penna, I had forgotten about the sound of the bell, it really does say Disneyland. @Chuck, the same can be said of the B-52. It's funny about the Boeing yoke plate, I only ever saw one on a Buff, they were all "relocated" immediately after depot level maintenance. Like the 135, it is one of the only aircraft you can say "My grandfather flew this one." Great stuff today Major, thank you.
Every time I see a picture of the Mark Twain, I am amazed that Walt not only built his own steam boat, but his own river to sail it on. Just splendid. And then he shared it with us, which is truly amazing.
Compare this with today's media and software moguls who can literally own their own worlds, and build huge walls to keep out all the people who give them the money to carry on that way.
What a great man.
JG
Nanook, we’ll be seeing more of the boys in future posts, though this may be the last we see of Mom (I sort of forget). I could almost see wearing a sport coat at Disneyland if it was overcast and cool, but any other time… no thanks!
K. Martinez, hmmm, interesting question. It’s like the old thing about Abraham Lincoln’s axe. Maybe none of the original steamboat has survived 60+ years of wear and tear!
Melissa, I think I’ve only been near the speaker when Dixieland music was playing; it didn’t deafen me like that bell did.
Penna. Andrew, yes, that sound, and the Disneyland Railroad whistle (and maybe to a lesser extent, the Monorail air horn).
TokyoMagic!, I assume it was one of those 1880 helicopters that I’ve heard so much about?
Chuck, now that I think of it, I haven’t really had a river adventure of any kind. Time to inner-tube down the Amazon! Bare dangling legs in that river, what could possibly go wrong. I think my mom has a commemorative coin supposedly cast from bronze that was part of the USS Constitution. How much bronze could have been on that vessel?? Interesting that so much of those airplanes had also been replaced.
Jonathan, it is not unusual to never see the dad in these lots; years ago I had an amazing, large lot of slides from 1958, featuring a mom and her son (who was dubbed “Chip” in the comments), and I think the father showed up in a single image. As for old planes, we just had an air show locally, it had a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator, a P-51 Mustang, a B-25 Mitchell, and more - you could actually take a ride in those amazing historic aircraft, but it cost a FORTUNE.
JG, not only did he build his own steamboat and river, but they look so great too - in spite of low funds, it doesn’t look “low budget”. I wish I was one of those moguls who could afford to live in my own little world, and keep everybody else as far away as possible!
@ Melissa-
Only the Captain is allowed to use that loudspeaker for reciting bedtime lullabies. I remember with great fondness my last journey around The Rivers of America, when the Captain was reciting 'Goodnight Moon'. It was so relaxing I almost fell asleep...
The closest I've been to a river adventure outside a Disney park is getting stuck in traffic on the Tappan Zee bridge. Been on plenty of canal boats, though, which were always fun.
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