Horse Drawn Streetcar, September 1966
As modes of transportation evolved, older types of vehicles vanished. Horse Drawn Streetcars, carriages, and buggies gave way to motor cars, electric trolleys and gasoline-fueled buses. And now we fly to our astro-jobs with our personal hover cars. But for kids these days, the idea of a streetcar running on tracks and pulled by a horse is so old-fashioned that it's fun! Look at the blond lady behind the driver, she's smiling. Or maybe she's squinting. Either way, she's having the time of her life.
The horse and I are both wondering what is going on here. Is the man with the coat and tie a park supervisor? "Dammit, we need to get more butts in these seats! Could you dress as a Wookie?". "What's a Wookie?" - a question for the ages.
11 comments:
Major-
The horse is merely wondering what time it really is, after attempting to determine it using the Clock of the World.
Thanks, Major.
In that first photo, is that Gilligan wannabe eating an ice cream cone on an attraction???!!!
Luckily the mid sixties suggestion of turning Main Street into a drag strip to appeal to teens was shot down. Such would not be the case today. Expect speeder bike races soon...
Ah! The second image reminds me of a couple of postcards I have with the "FARE $.10 ONE-WAY" sign on the Horse-Drawn Street Car. One has the sign complete with wordage and another with the sign completely yellow with no wordage. I believe there are other variations of that same postcard.
Always appreciate photos of any of the Main Street Vehicles and have always ridden them on my visits to Disneyland. Last visit I rode all four types of vehicles in a row, one after the other. That's two-round trips on Main Street. Thanks, Major.
Nanook, horses are known to do math, but they prefer digital clocks. Maybe that’s what they should put in Tomorrowland, a giant red LED clock. When it’s on the fritz it will just blink 12:00.
Chuck, I’ll bet the ride operator wanted to kick that kid to the curb, but he’s been put “on notice” too many times already.
Stu29573, you joke, but I once heard (from a very credible source) that they were considering changing Main Street’s theme from the turn of the last century to a 1950’s theme. Not sure what they would have done with all of those vehicles, but I’m glad it never happened.
K. Martinez, I know the postcard you are talking about! “The Nickel Tour” lists four varieties of that card, and I think there might actually be five, though one of the versions might just be a slight difference in inks. You were smart to ride the vehicles… they feel like the kind of thing that will go away someday. And with the “Galaxy’s Edge” crowds, they might not even be able to run the vehicles on many days.
The designer of bell bottom slacks must have taken a gander at the legs of a Clydesdale horse. The first photo is as fine a motion study as any Muybridge photographed. Now I appreciate how powerful an animal this is; and a vegetarian! Let's see a meat eater pull several tons behind him for 5 hours a day.
Don't give them any ideas. With Galaxy’s Edge, they marketing people will have carnivorous velociraptors pulling the streetcars.
The man in the second photo is obviously one of the men-in-black. The conductor and all the passengers, who have fled in terror by the way, witnessed a UFO jetting out of Tomorrowland. He is telling the conductor that it was either swamp gas or a weather balloon, and if he blabs, they will bury him in the Painted Desert and he will never be seen again. The sighting later became known as the Streetcar Incident. Those pesky aliens are just everywhere. Thanks Major.
Big props to the lady on crutches in the second picture: I've been there, but not in a dress, handbag, and high heels! (Of course, I had twenty-first century crowd levels to slow me down, but I also had twenty-first century crowd levels to try to knock me over, so maybe it all evens out.)
I spied that li'l flower child with the precarious ice cream, too - better get lickin' or there'll be tears before midnight.
What's a Wookie? An inexpewienced basebaw pwaya!
Stefano, I noticed the Clydesdale’s feet too! It’s sort of fun the way the fringe around the feet move. Interesting, I never really thought about it, but it is interesting that so many powerful animals subsist on things like grass, hay, and alfalfa.
Graffer, I would pay to see that!
Jonathan, somehow that Man in Black doesn’t seem so sinister with that little cap. He’ll neuralize you, but you’ll enjoy it. I’ve never understood how weather balloons were the go-to explanation for UFOs - a balloon, even a big one, moves too slowly. We all remember The Streetcar Incident!
Melissa, hoo boy, a day at Disneyland on crutches sounds miserable. Props to that lady. And as you said, with today’s crowds, no thank you. I once took a date and her kid to Disneyland, and he dropped his ice cream. I immediately handed him mine, and looked like a real hero!
Melissa, Ouuuuucccchhh.
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