More Frontierland Shops, 1978
It's time for more Frontierland shop interiors, courtesy of the Mysterious Benefactor himself. Some of these are a continuation from before.
Leather goods seem to be the focus of this area, and the customer (one of Captain Nemo's crew, judging by his shirt) is watching the genuine frontier cash register (made from genuine pine) with laser-like intensity. He doesn't want to be overcharged, and who can blame him? I'd like one of those fedoras hanging on the wall, but you know they are pricey.
Darlene knows everything about hand-hammered copper goods. I need one of those pitchers to water my collection of carnivorous plants. Did Darlene get special treatment because she had a Mouseketeer name?
Minerals! Fossils! Crystals! Semi-precious gemstones! The nice lady behind the counter is holding a geode, with lovely banded stripes of agate. I told her she should say it's a fossilized dinosaur egg, but she would never resort to such trickery.
You can tell from her smile that the customer has decided to buy it. Her good heart and honesty have won the day. THIS TIME! It looks like there are framed samples of yellow sulphur specimens and blue turquoise, and there are crystal-filled geodes on the shelf, and translucent slices of agate dangling overhead.
Don't you worry, there's lots more from the Mysterious Benefactor!
20 comments:
Those last two pics are real "gems".....with the exception of the man who is giving us the stink eye. Or maybe that look is because he knew that the photographer was a vampire. (His/her image isn't showing up in that mirror in the first pic.)
I love the ceiling and back wall details in the first photo, making a serious effort to put you in a particular time and place. So different from the open ceilings with visible ductwork in the original incarnation of DCA (no idea what DCA shops look like since the $1B makeover).
Wish we could get a better look at the yellow-carded belt buckles in front of the register, which looks as though the wood grain may be painted on. Such a neat detail.
If that horse clock on the wall is set correctly, it's 2:30 in the afternoon.
TM!, that's a Magic Mirror, similar to the one Snow White's Evil Queen/Stepmother had, caught on break.
Thanks, MB!
The guy in the first picture looks like he suddenly saw something that he wanted to add to his purchase. "Wait! I need a genuine leather coin purse, STAT!"
By the looks of it, that register had the guts pulled and then remounted in a plywood body. No cheap sheathing here! Just cheap plywood, by golly!
Darlene looks different than she did when she was with the Mousekateers. The really impressive thing is that she made all of that stuff out of Hostess Ding Dong foil. They had to paint it copper, of course. It's incredibly thin.
I'm pretty sure every kid had an ill fitting nylon ball cap like the one in the last pic. Mine was white.
I'm pretty sure I knew about three of that girl behind the counter in high school.
Everything in these photos is right in your face. With lots of faces. Love it. I'm drawn to that Picture Jasper plaque on the wall behind the red headed employee. I'll bet that was a pretty penny, and cumbersome to boot. We picked up a fairly large jasper table top at the gem show about 25 years ago for only a few hundred bucks. Tons and tons of it at the show.
That guy is giving us the stink eye TM. Better back off. Wonder if he got his belt there at the shop. Is that a giant gold nugget on the wall in the last 2 photos? And I want to know what's in those little bottles behind our red head on the upper shelf.
Chuck, the wicked queen's mirror has an curious reflection in it. I think it's the one ring, sitting right in front of the mirror. With a matching set of one ring earrings.
Thanks MB and Major. Major pics!
A lot is going on in the first photo. Are those bison carcasses in the back hanging in the dark? I see plaques with platitudes like the Serenity Prayer or maybe the words to A Pirates Life for Me.
I think the Nemo crewman is using his telekinesis powers to peruse the pocketbooks while waiting for his purchase. And I want that bag in the lower right and what's in it.
While Darlene improves my shopping experience only the Major can deliver the goods every day.
Thanks M and MB
zach
@ Stu29573-
That's no plywood sheathing - that's the fine practice of 'graining'... the art of imitating wood grain on a non-wood surface.
I notice there's a 'Geology Microscope' sitting on the top shelf in images 3 & 4 - for closer inspection of all those geodes.
Thanks, Major.
Cool! I think I would have made it look a little less "plywoody" though...
I love seeing the interior shots. The detail of the times is superb. Back in the day with NCR registers and the CMs manually determining sales tax. Those were the days.
In that second shot, I think the gentleman is showing his displeasure of enduring a flashbulb. KS
I don't know about anyone else, but I would buy just about anything made out of copper from Darlene. The kid in the red hat has his pants pulled up so high he has a permanent wedgie. The guy in the first photo is thinking "Mirror, mirror on the wall, whos the skinniest guy in the mall?" Looking good. Thanks to the MB for these photos, and Major for sharing. I may try the high pants look today, it speaks to me on so many levels.
Really loving the imitation plywood cash register, rotary-cut pine veneer for the win!
Two very pretty salesfolk, for certain. Copper and gems, a Pirate's Life indeed.
Dr. Goat, you noticed the jasper plaque too. That one is a real gem for sure. (Laughs in pirate accent). I've never seen one that big, if you had a table-top size, that would be amazing.
Are those bolo ties behind the red-haired girl? I would want another to go with my collection. I always wear one with my Aloha shirts.
Thanks Major and MB. I've rarely had more fun shopping at Disneyland.
JG
TokyoMagic!, that man is just upset because he heard us say, “What a piece of schist!”. He can be forgiven for not knowing a lot about minerals. I often suspect that people are vampires, or sometimes werewolves, which is why I always wear a necklace of wolfsbane and garlic.
Chuck, I sure didn’t pay any attention to the ceiling! As for anything over at DCA, you can chalk it up to whatever cost the least. Like you, I also haven’t been since they spent all that money! I kept thinking I would go “pretty soon”, but it hasn’t happened; I can’t bring myself to spend that much for DCA. Wow, good eye, I would have never noticed the belt buckles - even looking closely you can barely tell what they are (the diagram helps!). You’re right, the grain on that cash register does look suspiciously like it was painted on - I know they did wood grain for things like trash cans, so a cash register would be no problem. And I’ve learned a valuable lesson in my lifetime… horse clocks are never wrong!
Stu29573, ha ha, I guess some people actually used coin purses, but otherwise I think they were just cheap things to give as gifts. I had a leather one from Olvera Street when I was a kid, and another one with a drawing of the theme building at LAX (that one was vinyl), and never used either of them. Of course, I usually just carried my black AmEx card around to impress the chicks. It’s kind of funny that (assuming the grain on the cash register is painted, which I think it is) they basically made it look like it was made from cheap pine instead of something a little fancier. How about pear wood? Walnut? Balsa (the funnest wood in the world)?? “Hostess Ding Dong foil”, ha ha. Now I want a Hostess Ding Dong… I haven’t even thought of those for maybe 30 years. Anything with cream filling is OK with me. I sure would love it if that girl in photos 3 and 4 saw this blog post!
DrGoat, yeah, that large piece of stone (I didn’t know it was jasper) in the frame is pretty neat, I wonder if they ever eventually sold it? Sure it was heavy, but just ask mom to carry it in her purse. Your jasper table top sounds pretty neat; handy for bread making? I would buy all the giant gold nuggets they had… but I think it might be a chunk of stone with yellow sulphur. Buy it for the looks, keep it for the smell! Did you know that sulphur burns blue? The things you learn when you set everything on fire.
zach, I am not seeing the bison carcasses, but who wouldn’t want one of those? 1,001 uses. The plaques don’t have the Serenity Prayer, they have the lyrics to the song, “Dust In the Wind”. I’m getting a tear in my eye just thinking about it. Maybe the Nemo crew member if realizing just how much he spent, and realized that all he has is seashells, since they don’t use money on the Nautilus. It’s the third time that’s happened to him that day! Darlene, we love you.
Nanook, see Chuck’s comment, and my comment to his comment! I went to a wonderful exhibit of folk art furniture at the Huntington Museum, and it was fascinating to see some of the hand-painted “wood grain”, completely divorced from reality, but still beautiful in its way. Swirls and curlicues aplenty.
Stu29573, see my comment to YOU! ;-)
KS, huh, so cash registers didn’t have a function to include sales tax? I’d be in trouble! “Listen, just take it for free and get out of here before I change my mind!”. And what’s wrong with a blindingly bright light flashing 10 feet from one’s face over and over??
Jonathan, those were probably the days when copper was cheap, too. I’d like a nice hat made out of copper, since tinfoil is so flimsy. I was just thinking, “Why is that kid wearing his jeans so low?”. I wear mine at about ribcage level. Try it, you’ll like it!
JG, a while ago a friend and I observed that sometimes just the beauty of youth in young women was enough to make them look like radiant beings. Of course they were pretty anyway, but… well, you know what I mean. I would love it if Disneyland still had a store that sold quality minerals, ever since I was a kid I’ve enjoyed browsing shelves full of polished rocks, chunks of malachite and tigereye, geodes, crystals still in their matrix, and all that stuff. I owe it to my grandfather, who appreciated the beauty of those things too. I’ve never owned a bolo tie, because my burgundy tie from 1972 (it is 7 inches wide) has served me well.
No digital displays on anything (including cash registers) in the westside of the park back when area theming was actually a thing at Disneyland.
I'm not sure how long after I quit that Linquist decided the heck with all that.
Sigh…
~Huck
Huck, at least you can count yourself lucky that you worked there when it was still great for employees. From all appearances things have changed drastically, sad to say. Hope you are well, Huck!
I see a white rabbit fur pelt on display (hope it's not THAT white rabbit), just like the ones they used to sell in the early 70s. I still have a few, but can't part with them because they bring back vivid memories from Disneyland trips.
I also see a rock Tumbler on the top shelf. I can smell leather goods and hear the Tumbler tumbling, in my head, now. (My cousins had a tumbler and it would annoy the heck out of you - clanging for hours in the attached garage.)
Great pictures! Thank you MB & MP!
@ KS-
Make that a 'Sweda' cash register. I don't think Disneyland used any NCR cash registers in the 70's, or later. (I presume DL started out with NCR's...)
Major, I loved rocks as a kid. I had several coffee cans full of weird rocks and many geodes and similar items. I still have some of these specimens. My living room looks kind of like Captain Nemo's salon on the Nautilus, without the organ or all the pipes. Bits of rocks and seashells, and books.
My Uncle Hal, who you sort of know through research, was big into collecting and polishing specimens for jewelry and knick-knacks. I have several bolo ties, belt buckles, and my Mom's letter opener, all with cabochons of various semi-precious stones that he collected near Coalinga or the southern deserts and polished.
Sue, that rock tumbler reminds me of Hal's garage too. Constant rattling noise.
JG
Lou and Sue, you should sew those pelts together into a fur coat (or maybe a stole)! Like Cruella de Ville. You should also dye half of your hair white, and the other half black. I’m full of ideas! I used to have a little rock tumbler, I still remember the whirring noise - not too bad because the stuff to grind them into rounder shapes kind of cushioned the rocks. And it was thrilling to open the tumbler and see the rocks polished and so pretty!
Nanook, I don’t know how you can tell when the thing is covered in planks of wood!
JG, I especially loved geodes, the first one I owned was tiny, but it amazed me that the inner hollow was full of microscopic crystals that twinkled in the light. Like it was full of stars! I eventually got one or two larger ones, but they seem to have vanished. Maybe they got incorporated into my mom’s rock collection. I also had a bunch of shells, but many broke after several moves, so those are all gone except for an abalone shell. Your Uncle Hal sounds like a man after my own heart.
Cruella de Ville is my favorite Disney character, btw, so I like your idea, Major!
Lou and Sue, Cruella is a great villain, I love the way Marc Davis drew her, with her flamboyant gestures and angular features. She reminds me of those old-time movie stars like Bette Davis or Talulah Bankhead.
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