Main Street Station, October 1967
It's Snoozer Sunday, and you know what that means. Prepared to be bored. You have been warned.
I love Disneyland's Main Street Station, by now it is 66 years old, probably older than some antique railroad stations were in 1955. If you know what I mean. It has that comforting solidity, and manages to look good too. All train depots need a floral portrait of Mickey Mouse in front of them, and if elected President, I shall make this my #1 priority. How many items from Kalamazoo can you see in this photo?
36 comments:
Pretty colors in photo #1. Nice time to be in Disneyland. I’m heading to Pirates.
Thank you, Major.
BAD cellphone! BAD BAD BAD!
Major-
"Population 60,000,000". Judging from the second image, they clearly weren't all there that day-!
Thanks, Major.
#1: Clear blue sky, in focus, pretty good composition, nice color. All-in-all, a good photo of the Station, better than most. Worthy of an "Oooh! Ahhh!" Yays=1, Snoozers=0. (Kalamazoo items=1)
#2: Beautiful lighting in this photo. Just enough people to give a sense of scale. Again; in focus with nice color. The Town Square Cannon, too. Yays=1, Snoozers=0. (Kalamazoo items=0)
Add it all up: Yays=2, Snoozers=0, Kalamazoo items=1. The yays have it! Thanks, Major.
Sue, rub its nose in it again. It's the only way it'll learn!
It's interesting to see that in 1967, there still weren't railings around the grass in Town Square. I wonder when those were added?
And that cannon makes me think of a family photo that I recently came across. It's a photo of my great, great uncle, and he is posing with a cannon in a park, somewhere. So I guess that was a real thing back then!
I would completely EXPLODE with excitement if I could visit Disneyland in 1967!! New Tomorrowland would definitely be my first destination.
For 10,000.00 you can purchase a handcar from the Kalamazoo Manufacturing Co. today …..and you can choose standard gauge or two different narrow gauges …. Custom gauges are available as well. For cheaper you can purchase a crated unpainted , pre-machined “kit” as well.
Sunny perfect October morning. Yes, Octobers WERE that uncrowded, mostly. The rub as an employee was that: no guests=no hours. So in my early employment as a "casual", I would only be filling sick calls and the like- or not so great shifts. As you move up the ladder of seniority things get better...depending on what "better" was for you. Some employees only came into work to fill out their "ADO" forms (Authorized day off) and submit vacation requests. Those employees I wouldn't see for months. On the back side of Train Station I see that boxed train poster that I was referring to the other day. It wasn't a hard core "attraction poster looking" poster. It was very stylized and not too many colors- maybe it was sepia and brown (?) That was the wooden and glass box it was in, and the employees that bought them carried them off the bone yard at the surplus sale for probably not more than a few dollars. Those train things have extra special value as they serve the train collectors and the Disneyland collectors. I'm glad those things made it SOMEWHERE and not into the bin- which is where things landed. It is kind of amazing that Mickey was only 39 in this photo. From Mouse to Juggernaut park in 39 years is kind of an achievement. When you said "66" years Major, I actually had to do the math. The pepper trees in Town Square are pruned so very specifically. As a popcorn vendor I took the shift (we picked our Summer schedules) where I looked at that very tree every day for an entire Summer. The wagon was to the left of the cannon- however, I don't remember the cannon at all. I do remember the tree. That wagon at the time was seasonal- so only Summer and the holidays. It was actually a very peaceful location- even with the parade. Town Square really wasn't THE place to watch the parade. I'm sure that is all changed now...as have the overwhelming crowds. I got an item on my news feed that trees were taken down near Pirates...trees have no scale, so don't know why that was needed...probably for some overly elaborate stagey thing, or a multi-level plush store. ("Bitter" party of one...) I'll end with: Please don't mess with the train station. Please don't paint it pink and gold. Some things are best left humble and simple.
TM!, looking at Town Square photos over at Daveland, it appears that a mix of stanchions and chains and stanchions and rope, depending on the particular grass plot, was in place by March of 1968. The standalone trees on the same side of the street as the train station and in front of City Hall had hard railing around them by June of 1969, and the rest of the flowerbeds and grassy areas on Town Square followed suit by November of 1970. The one exception is the flower bed around the flagpole - it is still surrounded by low stanchions and chains like it has been since early 1968.
Something I had never noticed before is that the railing stopped where there were benches, which presumably made it easy to access the fenced-in areas for mowing and changes to the floral displays - just lift the bench and you’re in. Looking at the place in Google Maps today, the fences appear to be continuous, which I suppose has the advantage of making it easy to remove the benches for special events, to paint them off stage, or to replace them.
Interesting to note that the original 1970 fencing is probably still there; if you look at the 1970 picture, there’s a little, decorative detail on top of the fencing where it ends by the taller drinking fountain. That detail shows up in other photos of other benches from that era, presumably to make it easy to find the end of the fence and to dress it up a bit. If you look at the modern Google image, that decorative detail is still there, even though the fence has been extended to our left.
Chuck, wow....thanks for that timeline for the railings! Now I'm wondering what film scene we are seeing in that one Emporium window (in the 1970 pic with the Omnibus). The Aristocats was released in 1970....I bet it was for that. Also, we can see what looks like a stone bridge in that one window, and the film does have a scene that takes place out in the country, with a stone bridge just like that.
It’s a handsome building, replete with authentic details. Notice the decorative coursing in the roof shingles etc.
The park in my hometown had cannons too. Disneyland felt so familiar in some ways, right down to the Santa Fe signs.
3 trash cans in photo 2.
Thanks Major.
JG
Yay, it's Cat-Swinging Day 1967!
The lady in the red and white top is clearly the gal from "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo."
JB, let’s hope it worked this time.
Bu, I bet you now have days when you wish you were a popcorn vendor, again.
The waste can in photo #2 is patiently standing by the hitching post with its dime, waiting for the next horse-drawn street car. On slow days, not as many waste cans were needed for work duty.
No snoozers at all. Two pleasant photos of a beautiful structure. And 1967 yet. A good year for our family. Got 2 whole days in the park if I remember correctly. We kids were getting older and being teenagers and I think Mom and Dad knew our family trips like this were coming to an end. We weren't those fun, crazy kids anymore. We stopped going as a family in '72 I think. It was sporadic after that.
Melissa, I'll keep that in mind and duck when I need to.
JG, we had a park with a cannon and a locomotive to boot. It was huge and you could climb all over it. They removed it in 1975. Was a sad day.
Thanks Major, wish we were there.
Chuck, you're comment about the single volume copy of Lord of the Rings cracked me up. It did get a bit heavy after a while.
Just remembered the name of the park with the locomotive. Himmel Park, which is now a giant food truck park.
Lou and Sue, imagine being one of the first people to see “Pirates”! It must have been mind-blowing.
Lou and Sue, imagine being… er… nevermind!
Lou and Sue, you need to take your phone to an exorcist.
Nanook, you’re right, there can’t be more than 10 million people there.
JB, I know that the photos aren’t necessarily bad technically, but it gets hard to appreciate the zillionth photo of anything. For me, at least! But I am always happy when the Junior Gorillas appreciate the images!
TokyoMagic!, I’m afraid that I have no idea when railings were put around the grass, but I’ll bet it wasn’t for years after these photos were taken. They just wanted to believe that the public would be respectful. I think a lot of small local parks had cannons from the Civil War (or maybe specific local battles) in honor of the folks who were killed. Either that, or it’s because cannons are cool.
Mike Cozart, ME TOO. What would I do first? Probably the Peoplemover. 5 times in a row. You can actually buy a handcar from the Kalamazoo Manufacturing Co. for $10,000? That seems pretty reasonable, actually. I’ll buy two, one for every day use, and one for special occasions.
Bu, I never thought about how those low-attendance days affected the cast members, but it makes sense that they would not want to pay all of those salaries when there weren’t enough guests to justify it. Must have been tough during the many slow winter months. I think Van Eaton Galleries had one of those posters you referred to, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen for sale. Wish I could recall what it went for. A lot! I think Disneyland became a juggernaut in less than 39 years. What is a juggernaut anyway? ;-) Do they have pepper trees in Town Square? I always think of those things as pretty, but messy. They drop so much crap! My friend Mr. X manned a popcorn cart up at the Plaza, I believe, he has nothing but fond memories of the experience. I’m sure the trees that were removed had to go because there are just too many people in the parks.
Chuck, well, so much for my theory that there weren’t railings of any kind for years! Only one year later, by golly. I notice that all of those railings you mentioned happened “post Walt”, I wonder if he frowned on the idea? We’ve seen a few photos in the early years where people would just take the opportunity to sit or even lay down on the grass when they got tired, just like folks do in regular city parks. I don’t think I could take a nap at the local park, it would be too weird. Good observation about the railing stopping at the benches, this is why you will go far. And the observation about the 1970 fencing with the “little decorative detail” is good too!
TokyoMagic!, I vividly remember going to see The Aristocats in the movie theater when I was a kid. Maybe I am mistaken, but I think I “liked it”, but didn’t love it. That was a very odd time for Disney animated features, they were working with tight budgets and just weren’t as impressive to see. The only time I ever wrote to the Disney studio when I was a kid, I wondered why their features didn’t look like “Pinocchio” anymore! Everyone I know who wrote to the studio got some sort of response, but I didn’t! “That damn kid, what a jerk!”.
JG, I think they just kept running out of various kinds of shingles for the train station. “Just tell them that it is decorative coursing!”. It could happen. There were cannons in a local park in Austin, Minnesota where my dad grew up, not sure if they are still there now.
Melissa, gals from Kalamazoo are the best!
Lou and Sue, I’m telling you, you need an exorcist to splash holy water on your phone. Now I want to see a waste can somehow boarding a streetcar.
DrGoat, I’ve mentioned it before, but I always dreamed of having more than one day in Disneyland. It didn’t happen until I was well into adulthood. I’d always hoped that we might stay at the Disneyland Hotel, and really luxuriate in having ample time to do everything, and do our favorites over and over. I wonder why your local park removed the locomotive? Maybe they were afraid somebody would fall and hurt themselves? Too bad.
DrGoat, when the Lord of the Rings movies came out, the bookstores were full of new versions of those wonderful books, including massive single-volume versions, I always kind of liked having the three-volume sets with their different covers!
”Do they have pepper trees in Town Square?”
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town? Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
Is it just me, or has the floral Mickey become increasingly "off model" over time? It's still attractive, but it looks like Mickey's face was based on a verbal description of a happy mouse.
Here Mickey has a classic look, straight off a period sweater or birthday cake.
The Disneyland Floral Mickey was updated by a newer design in 2005 for the 50th by John Hench. As many of you heard , Mickey is currently replaced with Minnie Mouse.
A few days ago some of you talked about the big Michael Eisner Muppet additions to Disneyland in the 1990’s…. Including painting the Matterhorn “miss piggy pink” the one muppet promotion that almost actually happened was switching out the floral Mickey with Kermit the Frog!!?!?? I like the muppets : BUT KEEP THEM OUT OF THE DISNEY CASTLE PARKS AND EPCOT CENTER!!
The muppet show thing in Liberty Square is tacky and embarrassing.
@ DBenson-
NO, it's no just you. The current "Mickey" seems to resemble that of a Halloween mask more than a mouse. And in THIS VERSION, he looks more like the Hamburglar-!
Post Script: Pepper trees ARE messy...but when you have all those lads in their "whites"- leaves barely hit the ground. #2 Sue: YES! I think about being a popcorn vendor EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Most times NUMEROUS times a day. Adulting is taxing. I want a bumper sticker that says "I'd Rather Be popping Corn" with a "D" and a Orville Redenbacher logo. #3: The Plaza popcorn position was the ONLY guaranteed 40 hour a week position for ODV. All others were part time and casual/seasonal. Strangely, or not so strangely, I may actually know Mr. X. if our 1980's stars aligned. #4: I discovered an hour ago that the Newark AirTrain is a monorail. A very Monoraily Monorail. I wouldn't have known, but I was in the front car. However....why oh why is this Monorail...where there is nothing really too hold on to inside...soooo bumpy? Or am I remembering that the Disneyland Monorail is smoother than it was? It seems if you are making a transport system where people are carrying bags and kids and whatever it would be kind of "stable". Maybe they don't use the fancy Goodyear tires. DBenson: Yes, I agree that Mickey has become "off model". I'm not sure how you can take 3 circles and screw it up. Things like this shouldn't be messed with- like trees. "Let's take out those trees that WALT picked out..." not related: Mrs. Disney's Club 33 card came up for sale and sold immediately for $4500.00. I honestly don't get it, but if it makes people happy...
@ Melissa-
I wonder if Alan Jay Lerner first toyed-around with 'pepper trees'-?
@Nanook, I'm sure he did, but "lilac" is easier to sing without spitting.
I remember having the impression that the proposed Kermit flowerbed was always going to be temporary, but it's been a while since I did any real reading on the subject.
Sue, if it doesn't work, you may have to send your cellphone to obedience school. I'm sure there's an app for that.
Nanook, surely that isn't Mickey??! Tigger, maybe?
Melissa, thank goodness he steered clear of the Peter Piper rhyme.
@ JB-
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that 'Hamburglar' was really supposed to be Mickey. LOOK HERE
OMG! Hideous! TRE!
Melissa, wait - are you suggesting that Eliza Doolittle lived on Main Street, U.S.A.?
DrGoat, I can imagine it would get heavy. Sort of like carrying the One Ring all the way to Mount Doom, but with an option to ride Pirates of the Caribbean along the way.
Melissa, I can’t answer your rhetorical questions!
DBenson, apparently the floral Mickey has been recently changed to Minnie! I think you are right though, they changed Mickey, I think he was looking more like the WDW version.
Mike Cozart, ah, it was changed for the 50th. Kind of an odd decision, but they make lots of those these days. Ugh, can you imagine the Matterhorn painted “piggy pink”?? How horrible. And weirdly disturbing. I appreciate that they were excited about acquiring the Muppets, but for a while their ideas were definitely OVERBOARD.
Nanook, good grief, that looks awful!
Bu, my mom and dad finally ripped out their pepper tree because it dropped so many leaves and jillions of peppercorns. It smelled nice though! Now there is a bottlebrush that is on the short list for removal, but the hummingbirds like to nest in it, so it is probably safe. Mr. X was way before 1980, so it is doubtful that you knew him. He was more “late ‘60s”, maybe into the early ‘70s. The Disneyland Monorail is pretty smooth! While I have never been on the Newark AirTrain, I have been on the Seattle Monorail, which was also very smooth. I think a certain amount of movement is expected on most forms of transit, but of course you don’t want people falling over or teeth falling out. Hey, if I had $4,500 to spare, I wouldn’t mind having Lillian’s Club 33 card.
Nanook, these are mysteries of the Universe.
Melissa, “lilac” is a weird word, let’s not fool ourselves. I guess I’m too much of a die-hard, but I am not in favor of replacing Mickey with Kermit, even for a temporary amount of time. I have a hard time with the philosophy that says “Disney bought it, so now it is DISNEY!”. See: Star Wars. The talk of making Princess Leia a Disney Princess was just dumb.
JB, I never know how to respond to comments that address other people!
Nanook, even considering that they adjusted for the weird perspective, the newer Mickey is just plain bad. HOW?
JB, I didn’t know you spoke French.
TM!, good call on the Emporium window display. I’ll bet that is for The Aristocats. I remember that bridge scene well, where O’Malley sets the charges and Obi-wan Kenobi tries to stop him, then gets shot and falls on the detonator just as an enemy train comes across. Classic cinema at its finest, and no CGI nonsense - just good, clean TNT! Man, I wish Disney would make films like that again.
Major, The Aristocats is the first movie I ever saw in the theater. I remember exactly where in my bedroom I was standing when my mother told me we were going to go see it and being really excited all afternoon. I already had the Disneyland record and a Whitman Aristocats counting book, so I was well acquainted with the characters and general outline of the story. My dad met us at the Base Theater, and I remember sitting in the middle of the theater in the middle of the row.
What I don’t remember that my parents have told me about since is that I would not stay in my seat for the supporting feature, the True-Life Adventure Seal Island. They were really worried that I was going to be a problem during the feature and were considering leaving early when The Aristocats started. They said I suddenly sat up in my seat, eyes glued to the screen from that moment on. I was less than 2½ years old. Not one of their best films but still a beloved memory. And the Disneyland record is about 45 minutes long, so once I put that on CD for my kids, I could turn that thing on at “lights out” and they would be asleep before it was over.
Chuck, if I remember correctly, wasn't Obi-wan wearing his indestructible white suit in that classic scene?
Spending a lot of time on Main Street, Bu, you’ll especially appreciate this...
This afternoon we went to a Ragtime 12-piece band/orchestra concert that was wonderful, as all I had to do was close my eyes and I was instantly transported back to Main Street in Disneyland. I sure hope Disneyland hasn’t changed their music style for Main Street. To me, ragtime = Main St.
Chuck, I also saw "The Aristocats" when it was first released. My brother and I still have some film-related childhood items, and I am currently working on an "Aristocats" blog post.
Mike, I also seem to remember a press release stating that the Matterhorn would be painted green, during the "The Muppets Take Disneyland" promotion. Thank goodness none of that happened. Who comes up with horrible ideas like that? Was it the same people who came up with the idea for Tomorrowland '98? Light Magic? And a California-themed "second gate"?
Nanook, that 2007 Mickey is supposed to be wearing a mask. He was redesigned for the Halloween season, and if you look closely, he was mostly made up out of pumpkins.
The earliest that I saw them try to do a Halloween version of the floral Mickey was in 1997 (Sorry for the ugly "double watermark" on the photo):
Floral Mickey - Halloween 1997
Major, I agree. The current floral Mickey is HIDEOUS! And as Bu said, "how can you screw up three circles?" Who designed the current one? Was it the same "person" who chose the current colors for the Castle?
Tokyo: yeah there are several versions of the announcement along with the Muppet All Star Motorcade Parade, the Matterhorn and Castle being painted miss piggy pink or Kermit Green … the muppet 3-D in the opera house … the Kermit floral … the “muppet mr Rushmore” on the Matterhorn and some kinda muppet balloon - zeppelin contraction stuck on the the top of the Matterhorn…. Along with other really , really bad ideas.
Major, I tend to think your idea of allowing people to just take a moment and rest on the grass was something Walt didn’t mind so much. Scroll down a ways on this article and you’ll see why.
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