Classic Main Street Vehicles, October 1963
Main Street had its share of vehicles that guests could ride - Fire Trucks, some Streetcars, Horseless Carriages, Omnibuses, and Surreys. There were also two vehicles that generally stood still for photos. This first example is the Global Van Lines truck (parked near the entrance to the guest lockers), in various shades of blue. If you told me that this was a genuine vehicle from, say, 1920, I would believe it. It is a thing of beauty! I'd always wondered what had happened to it, so it was pretty amazing to get to see it up close at the Richard Kraft auction in 2018, restored and looking as new as the day it first arrived at Disneyland.
Parked one block north, on West Center Street, was the Carnation Ice Cream Truck. It's sitting near bunches of flowers (West Center Street was also home to the Flower Market of course), and was sort of an older cousin the the Global Van Lines truck.
For those of you who are relatively new to GDB, you might enjoy looking at THIS POST, in which I got to reveal the happy fate of this beautiful vehicle.
6 comments:
I'm so glad there are individuals who care enough to restore these wonderful vehicles as well as some of the passenger/combine coaches of the original DLRR.
Nice post today! Thanks, Major.
Nice photos! I used to love me a pretend drive in bluey whilst dad was putting jackets in the lockers. Looks like some others did too as the paint was pretty worn on the floor. Thanks for posting.
I remember both vehicles, parked in their respective places, but only recall sitting in the Carnation truck. I wish I had a picture of that. Never saw them move.
How fun to be able to build your own town and all the traffic too.
The second photo almost looks like a tilt-shift or a model shot.
Thanks Major. Hope you had a nice time away.
JG
It's funny how the memory works. I vividly remember the Carnation truck, but I can't remember the Global van at all. It is good to know that some of the old props and rides are preserved for future fans to see. I seem to remember seeing this woman in another post, I recognize the dress and the tour tag. She is also sporting sensible shoes and some far out frames on her specs. Thanks Major, I hope you enjoyed your trip.
K. Martinez, I agree… plus it would just be cool to have the skills to restore old vehicles. I used to love to watch various shows on The Learning Channel (or was it Discovery?) with cars being modified or restored.
Alonzo, think of the thousands of people that sat at the wheel every week! I’ll bet the upholstered seat wore out regularly. I honestly don’t ever remember seeing either of those vehicles personally.
JG, I am super curious about whoever purchased the Global Van Lines vehicle at the Van Eaton auction; $100,000, not including the buyer’s premium, taxes, and other random fees. Zoiks. The second photo reminds me of the dreaded “wiggle-vision” pix I used to post - I’m getting a headache just thinking about them.
Jonathan, Global was a sponsor through 1979, so I certainly must have seen the van, but… I probably strolled right past it without a thought. That’s how I do things. And yes, you’ve seen “Smiley” before - I choose to believe that she was having a great time even though she is stone-faced.
I also don't remember seeing the Global Van Lines truck parked outside the lockers building, but I must have. I have a family pic of my brother sitting behind the wheel. I remember the Carnation truck being parked on the little street that lead to First Aid, roughly in the spot where the corn dog wagon sits today. I even have a pic from 1981 of my grandfather sitting behind the wheel in that location. I'm assuming it was moved over there when they got rid of the Flower Market and/or expanded the Carnation restaurant out into Center St? I wonder what year that was?
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