Sunday, November 08, 2020

Sunday Snoozers

I'd like to wish our good friend Irene a very happy birthday!

Here are two photos that are not amazing - but they are just fine for a lazy Sunday.

From May 1963 comes this look at the Autopia, as seen from the Skyway steps. I am guessing that the photographer was trying to catch that girl in the blue vehicle. Granddaughter? Daughter? Either way, she's heading on out onto the highway of the future. The three cars in the lower left are out of commission - maybe it wasn't that busy. We can just see a small portion of the Tomorrowland train station in the upper right. Am I the only person who likes those miniature street lights? I can only assume that they were custom-made for the park.


Next, from November 1967 we have this shot of the marching Dwarfs from "Snow White". The crowd seems too light for it  to be part of a major parade, so it is possible that this was just something that happened a few times a day; perhaps they were following the Disneyland Band (which would have been playing "Heigh Ho")?


26 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
I'm quite fond of the Autopia's 'miniature street lights', and they do seem to be unique to Disneyland, too.

Thumbs-up for the matching shirts in the second image-!

Thanks, Major.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Happy Birthday Irene!!! Hope you have a wonderful day—you deserve it!

Melissa, there are a couple little boys in matching shirts!! Am texting this on my little cell phone and, thankfully, proofed this before sending it...as I had left the “r” out of “shirts.”

Major, I remember the dwarfs roaming freely, without a parade, at times. Thanks for today’s fun pics!

Sue

"Lou and Sue" said...

Dwarves??

TokyoMagic! said...

I also remember the Dwarfs just walking through the park like that, in a line!

Happy Birthday, Irene!

JC Shannon said...

Happy birthday Irene! The match kid seems to be saying "Let's get matching Grumpy hats." That sea foam Autopia car belongs parked next to my side of the bed. I want it. Thanks to Major for the most excellent scans.

Melissa said...

Happy birthday, Irene,
Happy birthday, Irene!
All the Junior Gorillas
Think that you’re pretty keen!

It kinda looks like the matching boys went to the park in their pajama tops. Dig the yellow Keds on the girl between the first two Dwarfs.

K. Martinez said...

I get a kick out of those corrugated shade structures in the Autopia load area. Nice pics today. Thanks , Major.

Happy Birthday, Irene!

Andrew said...

Happy birthday, Irene! I always like your comments. :-)

The picture of the dwarfs really shows how hard it must have been to walk around in those costumes.

stu29573 said...

I like the railess cars, but can see how it was a nightmare to constantly fix them. There seems to be quite a bit of oil on the ground in both lanes. Usually when you see that pattern on a real street, it means there is a dip (or series of them). The bouncing cars lay down their oil in pretty much exactly the same spots and over time you get the patterns. Wow, that was a lot of talking for a pretty unimportant observation. Maybe I should be a sports announcer.
Anyway, Happy Birthday, Irene!!! Have a great one!

"Lou and Sue" said...

On second glance, I just noticed that great 60s pattern on the gal behind the matching-shirt boys.

Thanks, Stu, I learned something new today.

Chuck said...

Happy birthday, Irene!

Sue, either spelling is considered acceptable today, although dwarves is considered "more correct" when dealing with fantasy creatures and "more correct" in other contexts, like talking about small stars or real-life little people (although the term dwarf in that last context is often considered offensive nowadays). That said, dwarves didn't really go mainstream until Tolkien's works became popular. Thus, the 1937 Disney film (released just three months after The Hobbit was published) was titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Interesting factoid, Stu. Thanks!

Chuck said...

Whoops - left out a key word which renders my comment nonsensical. Let's try this again...

"...dwarves is considered 'more correct' when dealing with fantasy creatures and dwarfs 'more correct' in other contexts..."

[Added word in bold italics.]

zach said...

Happy Birthday, Irene! I'm wishing you all the best.

Happy looks, well, happy today. I don't know how what with that dislocated knee in his pocket.

Clean cut Steve, the Autopia CM is the epitome of the 60's Disney hire, right down to his polished shoes. I always wanted to be him. And drive the railless Autopia all day.

After all these years of GDB my computer still thinks Autopia is misspelled.

Thanks, Major

zach

Sunday Night said...

Hey Irene Happy Birthday!! I always enjoy the comments you share here. Hope it's a happy day for you today.

Ken M. - Dang, I missed yesterday's post on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Back in the mid 60s I did go to the funhouse there and have fun memories of it. It was like being back in the 1920s!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, maybe they bought those at “Tiny Streetlights ’n Stuff”.

Lou and Sue, you’d think that by now I would think to point out kids in matching outfits! But I didn’t. Ha ha, I have *almost* typed some bad words, and I think “shirts” was one of those, just like it could have been for you. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing the Dwarfs roaming free, without the shock collars that they now have to wear.

Lou and Sue, I have always thought that it should be “Dwarves”, but the title of the move says “Dwarfs”. No idea.

TokyoMagic!, I’ll bet your are just saying that you remember seeing the Dwarfs like that so that you will be cool, like Sue! ;-)

Jonathan, that kid is pointing out the Dwarf that he thinks looks weakest. “I could take him!”. He did that all day long, looking for people he could beat up. Like we all did at that age.

Melissa, I would wear pajamas all day, everywhere, if I could get away with it.

K. Martinez, I do kind of like the use of those corrugated awnings, though it reminds me of garden sheds!

Andrew, ha ha, I see what you mean. Think how tired one would be by the time they got to the end of Main Street.

stu29573, yes, knowing how little boys especially love to cause mayhem, I’m sure they bumped and crashed as much as they could. I still remember when I was a kid, a boy behind me constantly rear-ended me when the traffic got gridlocked. I don’t think it was because he couldn’t handle his vehicle either. By that time the rail was probably in place. But still! Interesting theory about the dip on the roadway!

Lou and Sue, I remember when my mom wore clothing with patterns like that.

Chuck, as always, you did the actual research, while I watched more cartoons. Not even good cartoons either. Terrytoons. I didn’t know that “dwarves” became more of a thing until Tokien’s work, that’s interesting!

Chuck, I guess I was mistaken, I always thought “red dwarf” (describing a small, cool star) was correct. Maybe I’m thinking of the British TV show.

zach, what, don’t you walk like that? I know I do. I learned everything I know about walking from John Cleese. I’ll bet that Autopia CM (with the "Everly Brothers" hair) got the chicks!

Irene said...

Wow! I wasn't expecting that :) Thank you all for your Birthday wishes. They mean a lot especially when so many things are shut down and there isn't that much to do. If we want to dine indoors, we have to go over to Orange County to find something - or I could eat under a tent in a parking lot!!! LOL.

And just a brief update - I am doing very well on my maintenance drugs. My cancer markers are going down, down, down which is a very good thing. I am tolerating the drugs well and what little side effects I have are a small price to pay for the outcome. My doctor says my tumors are shrinking and I'm heading toward remission. Compared to this time last year, I could not be more happy!!!

There is one place open where I can go to have fun and that's Knott's Berry Farm. Last Sunday as a Birthday gift from my daughter she paid for my ticket to go to the last day of Taste of Fall-O-Ween there. Now I have Christmas at Knott's to look forward to and again thanks to my daughter and son-in-law my Christmas present this year is four times spend at the Taste of Merry Farm event.

Thanks once more for your Birthday wishes and thoughts which I truly appreciate.

stu29573 said...

Major gets extra points today for working in a Red Dwarf AND a Monty Python reference in the comments. Bravo!

stu29573 said...

Irene that's wonderful news on your health!!! Great to hear it!

Chuck said...

Irene, I am so happy to hear your news! And the "cancer in retreat" thing's pretty neat, too. ;-) We'll keep praying for your full recovery.

Major, I guess even with the correction I'm still not getting across what I wanted to. Some days I don't English too good. You are correct - the plural of a red dwarf star would be "red dwarfs" (not sure about multiple episodes of the TV series).

Anonymous said...

And a happy birthday coming in a bit late to you Irene. The news on the markers is the best present of all!! KS

Anonymous said...

Also...thinking back to the days of the 'railess' Autopia. It was a big deal for me to drive the car without hitting the curb. If I did it for the entire run, I was very proud 10-12 year old! KS

TokyoMagic! said...

Zach, ha, ha! I didn't see that knee sticking out, but now that you've pointed it out, it is very obvious. But perhaps it's not a knee. Maybe Happy moonlighted as a ball boy and he was just coming from a tennis match? Or maybe he just spotted Mae West in the crowd?

Major Pepperidge said...

Sunday Night, I hope you have learned a valuable lesson, which is to adjust your entire life around GDB!

Irene, I’m glad you checked in today! So glad that your cancer markers are all going in the right direction, that is such great news! I have to say that you have been dealing with this in such a brave manner, I’d probably be a mess. I know how much you love Knott’s and how much you are looking forward to going. Did you notice that I wished you a happy birthday in “boysenberry purple”?! ;-)

stu29573, I wish I could think of a way to work in a Benny Hill reference!

Chuck, ah I see. I was pretty sure I was just not “getting it”, as usual.

KS, a bit late? It wasn’t even noon when you commented! That still conforms to the Geneva Convention!

KS, interesting, I never considered that maybe it would be tricky for kids unaccustomed to driving to stay between the cement curbs!

TokyoMagic!, listen, I’m the one who gets to make naughty jokes around here!

Nanook said...

@ Irene-
Cancer markers going down, down, down... that's the stuff of great birthday wishes-! Carry-on-!! 'Many happy returns of the day', indeed-!!

Dean Finder said...

A late "happy birthday" to Irene from the east coast.

Anonymous said...

Belated Happy Birthday, Irene. Good to hear good news too.

Like others, i recall the dwarf(v)es traveling in packs.

I think we have seen those corrugated covers before, pretty sure those covered the work benches for the repair area.

Anyone know how the Autopia cars were taken backstage? I thought there might be a route behind the Skyway, but it would have to cross the walkway to the train station?

Thanks for this post, Major.

JG