Sunday, September 06, 2020

Sunday Snoozers

Let's all wish our friend Melissa a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Both of today's snoozers would be pretty decent images ordinarily, but they are both just a little bit out of focus. Which lowers them to perhaps a B-, or maybe even the dreaded C. These pictures are not living up to their potential! They are both dated "August 14th, 1959".

This gentleman and his wife posed in front of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship, as so many people have done over the years. Well, only four years by 1959. Other folks are taking advantage of those shady concrete benches painted in pleasing Fantasyland colors. As usual, I can't help wondering what souvenir is inside the bag that the man is holding!


Monstro has been freshly buffed and waxed so that he gleams beneath the sun like a new Studebaker. Plenty of kids are taking a gander, I'll bet at least a couple of them are not so sure that they want to go on a ride that requires passage through Monstro's gullet. 


25 comments:

K. Martinez said...

Happy Birthday, Melissa! Hope it's a good one!

Nanook said...

Yes - Happy Birthday to the brightest star among the faithful-!

Major-
I like how the lady in the first image has planted her feet one in front of the other while facing the camera. Definitely a pro.

In the second image, my eyes immediately zoomed-in on the lad standing by the rocks. He seems to be a fashion contradiction in terms - serious cuffed pants, but sporting rolled-up sleeves - just waiting for the day when a pack of cigarettes will be stashed in one of them. He's like Goofus and Gallant all rolled into one body.

Thanks, Major.

JC Shannon said...

That looks like an Air Force officer in his 1505s by the pirate ship. I always liked that uniform. Monstro is showing off his chompers to the kidlies, and why not, he just brushed em for the photos. The Monorail's red, the Sub Lagoon blue, no lines and no waiting, happy birthday to you! Maybe I should leave the poetry to Melissa. Happy birthday! Thanks Major.

Andrew said...

I deciphered those nautical flags in the second picture, and they said "Happy birthday, Melissa!" What are the odds? ;-)

Chuck said...

Happy birthday, Melissa!

I started to write you a poem
But I just ran out of time;
The meter was awful,
and the words didn't sound alike at the end of every sentence.

Jonathan, good eye on the AF officer - I'd missed him. He's not wearing 1505s, though - that was a short-sleeved shirt and didn't appear until the '60s. He's wearing the Army-style long-sleeved, khaki shirt with the AF blue tie and belt. That uniform was phased out 30 Sep 59, so this would have been the last summer he could have worn it. I agree that it was a sharp-looking uniform. I also loved the dark blue, long-sleeved winter shirt. And blueberry waffles. That shirt hid stains well.

"Lou and Sue" said...

In the first picture, I love the dress on the lady on the left, with her back to us. I bet Melissa will, too!

Andrew, that is cool about the flags! And Monstro is leading that group of people in singing "Happy Birthday" to Melissa!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Thanks, Major!

stu29573 said...

All those cannon and they never opened up on anybody. What a shame. If they had, maybe the ol'tuna boat would still be there!
I read somewhere that they were going to have a flume after the boats went into Monstro's mouth. Much cooler idea, in my book. Actually, I think the boats should be launched into a double loop and then a corkscrew, all while the guide describes the scenes they are rocketing past. Classic!

Melissa said...

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! You folks really are the best. The air is kind of dusty in here, if you know what I mean.

I missed the man in uniform, but I did notice the two girls in middy blouses. Helloooo, li’l sailors!

stu29573 said...

Happy birthday Melissa! You're seven days older that me! (That's how it works, right???) ;-)

Irene said...

I think I've mentioned before that as a kid I really loved the Pirate Ship. The best lunch was a tuna sandwich and I would go there to stake a spot to watch the fireworks.

Happy Birthday Melissa! Except for those whose birthday's fell in Jan and Feb everyone's special day is a little off. But I know you will make the best of it :)

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, anyone who wants a birthday greeting needs to tell me when their big day is!

Nanook, if that lady wasn’t carrying that large purse, she’d probably have that hand on her hip, too. That boy’s rolled up sleeves are probably that way because his mom rolled them! She never dreamed that they would hold a pack of Winston cigarettes someday.

Jonathan, jeez, even when you said there was an Air Force officer it took me a minute to find him. He kind of gets lost in the blur. I have no idea what 1505s are. Why not spend the extra money and get 1506s? It’s more cost-effective in the long run.

Andrew, damn, you’re good!

Chuck, I see you learned poetry like I did. Only I always make sure to mention daffodils, the poet’s favorite flower. These photos are dated August 14, 1959, so that uniform would be obsolete in a matter of weeks! I like chocolate chip waffles, but I wouldn’t say no to a plate of blueberry waffles.

Lou and Sue, the girl to the left in the Monstro picture could almost be my little sister, only she wouldn’t be born for years. She’s coming to visit today, coincidentally!

stu29573, it would have been kind of fun if they’d had some of those cannons set to let off a mock firing. A flash of orange light, and smoke, kind of like they do in “Pirattes”. I wonder if they ever considered doing that? There is concept art of a boat plunging down Monstro’s extended tongue into a pool of water - maybe the Imagineers felt like the park needed a few more thrills! I always think that a ride vehicle needs to go upside-down at least once, but nobody listens to me.

Melissa, thanks for all of the fun you have added to GDBs legendary (?) comments section over the years!

stu29573, you forgot about leap years, the Coriolis effect, and humidity. You are both exactly the same age!

Major Pepperidge said...

Irene, with temperatures predicted to be around 115 degrees today, a nice cool, crunchy tuna sandwich sounds just right! Gotta run to the store...

"Lou and Sue" said...

Stu, yea!! Now we have a reason to celebrate, again, next week!

Major, 115 - wow! It's 65 here, now. (Though it's supposed to reach 82, later today.) Keep cool!

Melissa said...

The cannons could fire rounds of tuna pot pies into the crowd! Wait, maybe not.

Kathy! said...

Happy birthday, Melissa!

I bet the people in the first photo were so disappointed when they saw it came out blurry, that was going to be a keeper. I like the little girls to the left posing in a bush, and the fun surprise of a flower(?) print inside the striped umbrellas. In the second picture, do you think all 6 of those kids are from the same family? The backs of their heads seem related.

Chuck said...

Major, I think they has a similar effect for at least the first 10 years that Cedar Point had The Pirate Ride (that was their inspired name for the former Buccaneer that they had acquired from Freedomland). There was a pirate ship in a lagoon out in front of the attraction that you could walk around on and a corner of the ride building was designed to look like a colonial fortress in the Caribbean.

Periodically, you'd hear a cannon shot followed by a big splash in the lagoon as the round impacted the water. I last saw the effect working in the '70s, so I'm not sure if there was a flash of light and/or blast of steam that accompanied the cannon sound, but I have a vague memory that it didn't. Maybe somebody out there can verify one way or another.

By the time my fresher memories came along in the '80s and '90s, the splash effect wasn't working anymore, although you could see the water cannon still under the water. Oddly, the water was always clear, like a swimming pool.

And I agree - the Mark Twain desperately needs at least one inversion.

Melissa, as long as they removed the aluminum pie pan, I see no down side to your idea. None whatsoever.

Nanook said...

@ Kathy!-

Ahhhh - the mark of the true sleuth: The ability to identify an entire family merely from the 'stern' of their heads. Your work is definitely cut-out for you on this blog-!

stu29573 said...

"Give 'em a broadside of albacore, Mr. Smee!!!" I like the sound of that...

P.I. said...

Major and Stu, it would not have ended well for the "Chicken of the Sea", if the SS Mayo had seen it.

That whale looks great. It reminds me of the space whale from an old animated movie - called Pinocchio in Outer Space.

Happy birthday....

Sunday Night said...

Happy Birthday Melissa! Thanks for your unique contribution to the gathering here. Some of your posts are extremely witty and fun. Wish I could find the Dark Main Street Noir post but no luck!

Melissa said...

Kathy, I agree about the kids; in addition the hair, they all seem to be orbiting that one couple.

Sunday Night, if I ever run across that comment I’ll make sure to let you know!

Dean Finder said...

Happy birthday to our poet laureate, Melissa

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I don't understand Haiku
I did this wrong.

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, it actually got up to 117, not that two degrees made that much difference. Parts of my mom’s yard look like somebody took a flamethrower to it. Tomorrow’s supposed to be almost just as bad. 65 sounds wonderful, and even 82 sounds pretty swell!

Melissa, I would probably like a tuna pot pie, but it sounds a little weird to me.

Kathy!, that one little girl is wearing a red hat of some sort, I can’t tell if it’s a souvenir hat or something else entirely. I need to know! The truth is out there! I think the pattern inside the umbrellas is actually a collection of Disney movie scenes - seriously! Years ago I showed a much better look at what they looked like.

Chuck, it’s funny, I feel like I’ve heard so much about Cedar Point, but actually know very little about that place, other than that it is a legendary park. I’d love to know more about it’s history, but I don’t know how to read. The Pirate Ride sounds pretty neat - Disney set a standard that others felt that they had to try to match, with varying success of course. It’s disappointing when parks have effects and features that break down (this includes Disney), and they just never fix them. There’s no profit in it! I wonder why they didn’t dye the water like they do at so many parks?

Nanook, gosh, I guess I don’t have the secret power that can recognize children by the backs of their heads!

stu29573, what a terrible waste of good tuna!

P.I., it’s almost like we’ve all created our own sequel to Peter Pan, involving tuna sandwiches instead of the Lost Boys. I’d say it’s an improvement! I remember the whale in “Pinocchio in Outer Space”, didn’t he have two antennae on the side of his head? That’s how you know he’s from space!

Sunday Night, the Dark Main Street Noir post? I feel bad that I have no idea what that was! My brain.

Melissa, yes, I’d say that the “orbit” is what would be the hint for me. None of them can quite escape the gravitational pull of the parent.

Dean Finder, that’s the best damn Haiku I’ve ever read! And the only one.

JG said...

Melissa, many happy returns of the day! Very much enjoy your poetry and sharp eye for twins & babushka scarves!

I love the GDB Family, wish you well.

Major, these pics make me happy and that is all they must do.

Best to everyone.

JG

Chuck said...

Major, the funny thing about that outside area of the Pirate Ride is that it opened in the summer of 1966, something like 10 months before Pirates of the Caribbean did. And the guts of the ride go back to Freedomland's opening in 1960. I think this may be a case of a cool idea occurring to two different design teams at the same time (although the overall idea of the ride was probably inspired by concepts C.V. Wood saw for Disneyland before Walt fired him).

That undyed water always reminded me of the "pond" that the Jolly Roger sits in at Fairy Tale Towne in Sacramento; that water is clear, too. Maybe it was just easier to keep clean that way. Both of them reminded me of swimming pools, and I always wanted to jump in.

I'd recommend Cedar Point: Queen of American Watering Places for an overall history of the place. There may be a copy at your local library (my wife discovered the book in a library in North Charleston, South Carolina). Your friendly librarian can help you find a copy. You may not be able to read the text, but it's full of great pictures and the pages taste just like salt water taffee.