River Belle Terrace, December 1978
It's MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR TIME! More selections from a massive group of scans that he shared with me (and YOU). Today I have some photos relating to the River Belle Terrace, in the building previously occupied by Aunt Jemima's Pancake House. As you can see from this sign, it was initially sponsored by Oscar Mayer. And yet you couldn't buy hotdogs or bologna (come on, it's "baloney"!) there.
From the outdoor dining area you could enjoy your food while taking in the bustling Frontierland scenery along the waterfront. If you like to people-watch, this was the place to be. In the distance, you get a better sense of just how busy the park was during this holiday season.
"Honey, don't turn around, some strange man is taking our picture", the woman whispers to her husband. "He's also not wearing pants!". I was going to make yet another "hard facts" joke, but maybe that's going too far? No kids are reading this blog, let's be real. If we direct our gaze across the water, we can see that the queue for the Haunted Mansion is what might charitably be called "outta control".
Guess what? There are three additional photos from this batch, but I'm a parsimonious bastard, so you'll just have to see those on another blog post. A big thank you as always to the Mysterious Benefactor!
26 comments:
Major-
"Baloney" and "outta control". I must wonder out loud if this can still be considered a 'family blog'-!! Wait until the Women's Temperance League catches wind of this. Oh, the horrors-!
Thanks to the M B.
Does anybody pronounce it "bologna"? I'm sure there must be some.
In the second pic, I see that people still smoked anywhere they liked in 1978. At least, the guy in the blue sweater is. Like Tigger, he's "the only one".
Major, took me a second to get your "hard facts" joke. Then it came to me, "Ohhhhhh. That's what he means... har,har,har."
In the last pic, It's kinda neat how one of the kids is blond, like his mom. And the other is brunette, like his dad. I have no idea what the significance of that is, but like I said, it's kinda neat.
Thanks, Major, and MB.
Major: at lunch The Riverbelle Terrace offers children “THE PADDLE WHEELER” : a Oscar Mayer hotdog and potato chips. For breakfast you can eat Oscar Mayer bacon and ham steak , but alas no bologna.......
JB, don't forget about the sister, who the dad appears to be deliberately blocking out of the photo.
Don't those two little boys look about the same age? I wonder if they're twins, but fraternal. Or maybe they're identical cousins and "a hot dog makes them lose control."
I like to eat bologna every day. And if you ask me why, I'll say, 'cause Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A. How's that?
The Great Debate (I’m referring to the “baloney/bologna” pronunciation kerfluffle, of course) has split families, communities, and nations into opposing camps. It’s even cited as one of the secondary causes of the Civil War by some scholars (although not by any reputable ones). The controversy and confusion is so great that even Oscar Meyer is unable to pronounce it consistently within the same commercial.
Baloney: "NO", Hotdogs: "NO". Very gratefully, my parents were also anti baloney and hotdogs. Tuesday in grade school was "Hot Dog Day". We did not have a cafeteria. We brought our lunches, and I was usually happy with my jelly sandwich (NO peanut butter- it might as well be mashed hot dog). I dreaded hot dog day. I figured that if I completely smothered the hot dog with yellow mustard it would block out the hot dog taste and texture so I could choke it down. To this day, I choose starvation over a hot dog. I've never tasted, eaten, felt, purchased or have had bologna in my home. It is not allowed by anyone. No visitors, no ner' do wells...no one...no bologna...not ever. Now you all know. I DID however enjoy the River Belle Terrace...and it was a go-to for breakfast. Never for lunch. The Oscar Meyer label only denoted Hot Dogs and Bologna...I am just finding out today that they were not sold. Good to know 45 years later. The crowds in these photos gave me visceral anxiety ridden reactions. I remember turning that curve and seeing "those" crowds. If you saw this before noon...2-3pm became untenable. I can see the red umbrella of my ice cream wagon there in the distance...surrounded by humans that crowded the cart and would refuse to organize themselves in a line, and verbal fights often broke out when someone was served "out of turn". People would also climb into the planters and wave cash in my face from behind saying "can I get a couple of ice cream bars?!" You learned quickly that for guests to become organized, that you must be aggressive and organize them. "CAN EVERYONE PLEASE FORM A LINE BEGINNING AT THIS POINT? (indicate with hand and slap down on top of ice cream wagon) THANK YOU". Very miraculously, if this speech was done well, people organized themselves, worked it out with each other ("were you first...ok..you can go", etc.) After that point, you were golden. Generally, Americans like to be organized and prefer a line to a mob. Unless you are in a NYC deli prior to the pandemic, and then the mob is compulsory. Busy days at Disneyland were not days for "sweet and timid." Firm yet polite. Or else...the wild west...with guests reaching in over the dry ice thinking it was self serve...or worse, moving the dry ice saying "OWWW!" OK...going to do a meditation now...thanks for reminder that at 60 I am not built for my 18 year olds job. Bless those in public service.
Wow, Major, we're veering into strong "PG13" territory! What's next? Tatoo parlors? Liquor stores? Salvation Army gang fights???
I think they should have not only served balony (I'm sticking with this version, by gum!) but it should have been FRIED balony! If you haven't had fried balony, then you are missing out on at least half of life. Oh, and mac and cheese. I'm hungry.
I wish I could eat there now- fried balony or not...
I’m with Stu, I wish I could eat there now, just not baloney.
My wife had glasses, haircut and fair isle sweater much like the young woman in the photo, but I think Mrs G was prettier in hers.
It’s the Best River in the background, but those crowds, egad.
People in Bologna pronounce it bologna, with a not-quite-silent g, but the stuff they make is utterly unlike any Oscar Mayer thing. You haven’t lived till you have had first rate mortadella with pistachios. Italy basically runs on sliced salt meats and it’s all wonderful.
Major, you are getting salty in old age, like many of us. Thanks to you and The MB for good pics today.
JG
'Hard facts'? Parsimonious, ahem, 'bastards'? Have I somehow wandered onto the After Dark edition of GDB? Thanks Major and Mysterious benefactor. I must say, the winter fashions are awfully muted for 1978.
Lots of great memories of having breakfast at the River Bell Terrace.
I love M.B.'s "FRO"series. Are there only 3 pics left of that series? Thanks, Major.
Nanook, as of today, GDB is “clothing optional”!
JB, as kids we used to say “bo-LOG-na” as a joke. We had fun. Ah, sweet, sweet cigarette smoke, the aroma that makes everything better. Why breathe fresh air when you can smoke it up? My joke had to do with carborundum, one of the hardest minerals. I don’t know what YOU are referring to! And clearly, the blonde little boy is good, while the boy with dark hair is evil, and when they get older, they will have to fight for the future of the planet.
Mike Cozart, I guess it’s no surprise that there would be hot dogs for kids. I seem to remember (in the pre-Oscar Mayer days) that children’s menus at the park offered frankfurters for picky kids.
TokyoMagic!, “You can take all the photos of my sons that you want. They’re expendable. But don’t you dare take a photo of my little angel!”. The boys do look to be the same age. See my comment to JB. I prefer a nice ham and turkey sammich, myself.
Chuck, let’s not even get into the “catsup/ketchup” debate. Too many tears, too many friendships ruined. That commercial you linked to is the one I always think of when I think of Oscar Mayer, which I do every day. And HEY, the announcer zigged when I thought he would zag!
Bu, my mom made baloney sandwiches for me and my brother OFTEN, and I never really liked it. I ate it because it is what I had, but what I really wanted was fresh carved turkey with truffles and a home made aioli and baby greens. “Oh papa, whatever shall I do?”. That’s how I talked back then. That being said, I liked hot dogs, and still do. Especially grilled, but I’m not that picky. My best friend hates them with a passion, when we were roomies, and I made hot dogs, he’d always remind me that he hated everything about them, but mostly the smell. I finally got so sick of his griping that I switched to Trader Joe’s spicy chicken sausages, and he shut up. “At least those smell like FOOD”, he’d say. Those crowds are incredible, I admit that my heart would sink if I showed up and saw the kind of thing that is over by the Haunted Mansion. I like the story of how you managed some crowd control, it’s nice to know that people behaved. Funny that some don’t know that dry ice is not something you want to hold in your hands. I guess they lived under rocks.
stu29573, I am going to start a “Go Fund Me” because I want to have “Gorillas Don’t Blog - AFTER DARK”. For adults only! I’m mostly going to use a whole lot more cursing, which I am good at because my Dad was in the Navy. It used to crack us up when we had friends over, and their eyes would bug out hearing my dad yell at the football game on TV. “You miserable pile of ****, you’d have to improve 100% to be unsatisfactory!”. Ah, my Dad. I’ve never had fried baloney, but maybe frying it would improve it?
JG, yeah, I could go for a nice ham steak, or of course the usual breakfast offerings are always welcome. It looks like everyone in that family goes to the same hairdresser (barber?). “Gimme what she got!”. I can forgive folks in Bologna mispronouncing that word, how are they supposed to know? They’ve never had Oscar Mayer products, they only heard about them during the war! Sliced salt meats, yum, I think i need to go to Cavaretta’s, my favorite Italian deli! I’ve been salty all along, I just hide it well for this blog.
Pegleg Pete, oh man, I swear I made my “After Dark” joke before reading your comment. GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!
K. Martinez, oh no, there are still hundreds of photos left from the Mysterious Benefactor! I skipped a lot of Columbia shots because there were often 10 shots of the anchor, or 10 shots of the masts, etc. But there are still many great images to come!
He snap them here, he snaps them there,
He snaps those photos everywhere.
Is he on a skateboard? Is he on s tractor?
That elusive Mysterious Benefactor!
Make, my sister and I also used to pronounce it “bo-LOG-na” just for fun. It’s the simple pleasures in life.
When we were kids, it was a big treat to get the luncheon meat variety pack that came with baloney, salami, olive loaf, turkey roll, and I don’t remember what else. But mostly, we’d get the “ends and pieces” bag at the local supermarket deli. You never knew what you’d end up with. We ended up trying stuff we probably never would have chosen. It was our family tradition that you got to choose what the family had for dinner on your birthday, and I would always choose vegetable soup and Mom’s platter of assorted sandwiches. She’d make each one a little bit different, and then cut them into quarters and pile them on a platter, so you got to have a little bit of everything.
Tokyo!, I didn't even notice the sister! Maybe she's half-n-half: blonde and brunette.
Chuck, if even Oscar Mayer can't get it right, what hope does the world have? All is lost.
Bu, yer weird. ;-)
Maybe getting guests to line up would've been easier if you had used one of the Tour Guides riding crops to slap the wagon top. With the implication that they're next!
Major, umm, carborundum... yeah... that's what I was referring to as well. (What else?!)
The same people who pronounce it "bologna" also pronounce it "catsup".
Major, I'm still trying to process the information that you've never had fried baloney. It's like trying to determine the square root of 2.
Melissa, ah yes. The long lost verse from The Cat In The Hat!
Count us kids as another family who used to sometimes pronounce it "bo-LOG-na", just to be funny. That must be a fairly common thing.
Melissa, luncheon meat... Don't you mean "lunch meat"? ;-)
Several years ago I saw a thing on tv regarding the debate as to whether CATSUP or KETCHUP was correct. Manufactures even spell it different on bottles depending on where you live. But the show co concluded there was no correct answer as both spelling use elements of the condiment’s original pronunciation and spelling. What we know as ketchup today originated in japan and us old as soy sauce . The tangy red colored sauce was made red from a type of fish. The Portuguese traders who brought the tangy vinegar red sauce back to Europe couldn’t use the red fish that gave it its color .... so tomatoes were used and the ancient Japanese sauce evolved into what we know of as Catsup / Ketchup. I can see a whole Carousel theater show in Tomorrowland “ The Heinz Carousel of Catsup” and each time the theater rotates it moves VERY VERY SLOWLY .... like viscous ketchup pouring from a bottle.
@ JB & Bu-
... getting guests to line up would've been easier if you had used one of the Tour Guides riding crops". Why stop with a mere 'riding crop'. I say go full tilt with a full-on Whip-!! That'll learn 'um good-!
Love the Carousel of Catsup! They can have a smellitizer full of garum in the holding area.
Mike, many years ago I read another explanation of "catsup" in (I think) a Time-Life cookbook: The word (and sauce) "catsup" comes from India. A very spicy tomato-based condiment. WHO'S RIGHT?!?! This must be settled today! Or the world will come to an end!! ;-)
What I remember about Ketchup- and it’s a Disneyland reference (in my memory anyway…) Coke Terrace had the most delicious crinkle fries. They were served with what I remember was Hunts tomato CATSUP. Heinz was used at home and was Ketchup. We didn’t get Hunts Catsup (even though I liked it much better- it wasn’t as thick and a bit sweeter) it was probably more expensive. In England we had “tomato sauce” (very sweet) in Norway we had “sennup” (excruciatingly sweet). This truly is a case of “tomato” “tah mahto”. I have made my own ketchup from tomatoes in my garden. It is quite a process, but with fresh fruit from your garden taste sooo much better than anything in a bottle. However, I would like to experience those crinkle fries and catsup again. I normally do not have ketchup anymore on fries. I like potato taste. Onion rings however need ketchup! Or Catsup and yes…I agree…I am weird. I, like the roommate do not allow the cooking of hot dogs in the kitchen - only at the BBQ which is at least 50 yards from the main house so that no hot dog odors can so much as linger in a closed environment. Chicken sausage is fine and at least smells like food. I also agree that a crop would have helped on those busy days. Boys did not get crops.
By, my Mom used to make homemade catsup when I was little. It was delicious.
So ketchup originates from an area of Asian known as Tonkin ( now Vietnam) as a fermented red fish soy sauce. The Chinese word for it was
“ketsiup” which basically translates into pickled fish sauce. The basic sauce was popular through Asia by the 1600’s. Eventually variations were introduced to Europe and then brought to the New World. The version closest to what Americans eat today has its recipe appearing in 1723. It would have had more of a brine taste then and less sugar. I couldn’t find anything regarding the use of tomatoes but I remember from the tv show the reddish color was absent from the type of fish the Europeans used and so tomatoes were added to create the expected red coloring of the fermented fish sauce.
It seems KETCHUP is the closest to KETSIUP.
Melissa, yes, sometimes all you need is to say stuff in a funny way. You know, like my mom said “leftuggies” when we had leftovers, it stuck with me ’til this day. I was an annoying picky eater as a child, and didn’t like olives (still not crazy about them), so when we got olive loaf, I would literally pick them out. I could still taste them though, yuck! I loved salami, and my mom occasionally got Lebanon bologna (baloney!) which I loved. Very “Minnesota” to me. In a way, it’s cool that you got to try things that you might never have, otherwise. Sometimes I wish I had a more adventurous palate, though I have had things like frog’s legs and snails.
JB, are you saying that the sister is Cruella De Ville? I guess Disney would frown on using mace to control those rowdy crowds, sometimes they are just too soft on the guests. I’ve never met anyone who said “catsup”, and if I do, I will know that they are untrustworthy, and probably Commies. Fried baloney sounds like something my dad would have liked (his father - my grandpa - worked at the Hormel factory, so they always had lots of meat!), but I don’t remember him ever making that for lunch.
Mike Cozart, I had NO idea that ketchup originated in Japan of all places! Not that I would have even considered such a thing, but the tomatoes, being a “new world” fruit, would have thrown me. I’ve had various fish sauces, which are actually great to add to certain foods for that umami enhancement. I still go to the local 99 Ranch market (an Asian supermarket) for stuff like that. I’d love to see a Heinz Carousel of Catsup! One of my favorite advertising figures is the Heinz “Aristocrat Tomato Man”.
Nanook, yes, a bull whip, and maybe a shotgun filled with rice!
Melissa, each guest could scoop a handful of catsup on the way out.
JB, if only we could call Susan, our Time-Life operator, to settle such a controversy. If anybody would know, SHE would.
Bu, I remember when I was in England they had ketchup potato chips (or “crisps” I guess) instead of BBQ potato chips, they weren’t bad, but I missed that smoky BBQ flavor a bit. They went very well with deep-fried cod! I don’t think I have a strong preference for brands of ketchup, but we always get Heinz out of habit. If somebody gave me Hunts, I’d be fine - though I usually like tangy things over sweet things. I once read that deep-fried shrimp were merely a vehicle for ketchup (or cocktail sauce, if you are lucky), and it is true.
Melissa, I have never had homemade catsup (KETCHUP!), I’d be very curious to see if I could tell the difference.
Mike Cozart, I had no idea that I would learn so much about ketchup today! You are a true scholar. If I ran Harvard, I would bestow an honorary doctorate to you. Did Thomas Jefferson like ketchup? It’s hard to imagine a ketchup that was not mostly tomatoes, but hey, I’d be willing to try it.
Continuing the funny names meme: I sometimes refer to macaroni and cheese as Mickey Rooney and cheese. It rarely gets a big laugh.
Traveling internationally, I found it fascinating how different things with the same name tasted different in different parts of the world. Ketchup/catsup was one of them. I fell in love with a particular flavor of the sauce in Thailand of all places, which I assumed to be a local variation, and then was surprised to find bottles of an identically-flavored condiment at our local village Co-Op (think “IGA”) when I was living in England (I later discovered that several food items - like that red sauce, several types of sausage, and a different Kit-Kat recipe and packaging - that I associated with trips to Thailand were actually Thai copies of English recipes). When we left after two and a half years, we bought a flat of ketchup/catsup to bring back to the States with us. We also grabbed several flats of Walker’s crisps, to include such wonderful flavors you can’t get over here like “prawn.”
My parents’ NW Ohio hometown had a Heinz factory for many years, and it was always fun to visit during tomato harvest. The whole town would smell of sweet tomatoes. There was also a potato chip factory at the other end of town, and that had its own wonderful odors while it was cooking a production run. I’m glad I just finished breakfast or I’d be pouring a dish of ketchup and a bowl of potato chips.
The best ketchup ever, though, was my grandmother’s cousin’s wife’s homemade variety made from home-grown tomatoes. Man, could Velma cook and can and bake! We never left their farm hungry.
JB, when I was a kid, my dad would make “hammerburgers.” I naturally continued the tradition with my kids, although I added “snot dogs” to the menu.
I think Herr's is more of a Mid-Atlantic brand than New England, but they make a ketchup-flavored potato chip that my sister and I have always called "ketchips." Not very creative, but it gets the job done.
Chuck, ha! Snot dogs (giggle, giggle). According to the Major, that's only the second time that "snot" has appeared on GDB. I'm guilt of the first, about a week or so ago.
Melissa, I don't think we have any ketchup-flavored chips here on the west coast. At least none that I've seen. Plenty of BBQ though. I think I'd like to try ketchup flavor. I prefer my BBQ chips less smoky flavored.
Am very late to this party, but here's my two cents:
I always eat my regular potato chips with ketchup. Am not a big fan of baloney, but a grilled hot dog with lots of chopped raw onion and a little ketchup - Yes!
I learned some new words today.
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