Frubulous Frontierland, July 1979
"Say, Major, howsabout some more photos from the Mysterious Benefactor?". OK! These are all dated "July 1979". And none of them show the Columbia!
Here we are, inside Frontierland, looking out toward the very lush and green Plaza, with the Frontierland Shooting Gallery to our left. POW POW! Man, I love shootin'. I do not miss knee-high white socks, I'll tell ya.
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Guests appear to be biding their time, waiting for the next performance of the Golden Horseshoe Revue. I believe that the show was still basically the classic version that was so beloved, likely with some updates. Was Wally Boag there in '79? I know other talented people filled the roles of Pecos Bill and the Traveling Salesman over the years.
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This last one seems to be "part two" of the first photo... our photographer must have stepped a bit further into Frontierland, and then pivoted a bit to the right (south) with the Pendleton Store dominating the shops. Look at that large grassy area! Long gone. What does grass have to do with the Frontier, anyway? Good point, right? The girl with the red pants is wearing a tube top, a fashion trend that seems to have gone the way of the dodo (or has it?).
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THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
16 comments:
Major-
"I know other talented people filled the roles of Pecos Bill and the Traveling Salesman over the years".
Yes, that was the period when Raymond Burr played the part of Pecos Bill and Tim Conway played the part of the Traveling Salesman. What... you didn't see them at the Golden Horseshoe-?
Thanks to the M B.
I'm kinda surprised that the sign doesn't say "Shootin' Gallery". I guess in real life, signs from the Old West era wouldn't have dropped the 'g', even though folks probably did drop the 'g' when conversing. At least, folks in Hollywood westerns.
I'm with you, Major. Those socks! They look like fancy opera gloves... for feet.
The guy with the camera (dark shirt) is looking right at us. Along with the guy next to him. I think it means something... like Richard Dreyfuss carving mountains out of his mashed potatoes.
Wow, this photo of the Golden Horseshoe is super crisp and detailed! The dad and his son are holding the same thing in their hands. Sunkist orange popsicle maybe?
Lots of 'normal' socks in the last photo; thank goodness. I have no idea if tube tops are still a thing. They probably went away with the knee socks. Interesting pattern on the black & white dress that lady is wearing; looks sort of like birch bark. And she's eating the same thing as the dad & son in the other photo. Meanwhile, that bright pink Mickey balloon keeps drawing my eye to it.
Nanook, I remember that Raymond Burr got so-so reviews as Pecos Bill, "Performance was too stiff". One night, they replaced Mr. Burr with the Main Street wooden Indian... and nobody noticed.
Thank you, Mr. MB. And thank you, Major, for a Columbia-free Frontierland day. Actually, I'm kinda missing the Sailing Ship. [JB wipes a tear from his eye.]
Major, you better trademark "Frubulous" before somebody else uses it!
I like the first and last pics, just because they were taken from not-so-common angles.
I had shirts with very similar patterns as the ones worn by The Knee-High Guys, but none of them were yellow. It was probably my least favorite color.
As for tube tops, has anyone seen that 1977 "blooper" from The Price Is Right, where the contestant's tube top falls down from all the jumping up and down she is doing, after Johnny Olson asks her to "Come on down!"? And she didn't realize her top had fallen down, until a woman in the front row comes over to tell her. For anyone who's interested, it happens within the firs 60 seconds of the show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDxIVNKZgcc
Thank you, M.P. and M.B.!
Frubulous. TM. 1979...was a great year...I think it was anyway...I started my work life in '77 so I could buy my own tube socks and such. I actually was never a tube sock guy, I wore socks back then which I was chastised for, mockingly called "ankle biters". The cool kids wore those tube sock things. I did buy OP shirts and Hang Ten shirts like the guys in the photos...also many Hawaiian shirts...all of which were in CA style of the mid to late '70's. I was happy to be independent back then buying my own clothes and my wardrobe did include yellow cord Levis AND yellow cord Keds. (For another time), back to Frubulous TM. Yes...Wally Boag was there doing his teeth spitting in '79. I never saw this show until I was an employee. His understudy was Dick Hardwick, and did the same schticky things, with some adds. After Wally retired, Dick became the new Wally until they fired everyone. That line in the last photo looks like the line for the Golden Horseshoe. Another reason why it didn't hit my radar as a teen. Pendleton was such a very nice genteel shop, and the smell of wool I can still smell today when I really concentrate. Does everything have to be fraught with noise, plush, bags of candy everywhere, or bubble makers? Give me a quiet woolen shop. The grassy areas give a nice cooling effect to the dusty west. I suppose I don't mind frontierish plants and bushes, but this makes Frontierland a bit more open and breathable. The Shooting Gallery probably would be called Shootin' at Knott's. Usually there was always a gaggle of guys in there shooting away...this was before the "new" shooting gallery...so still lots of "pinging" and painting every morning. Even today, I'm not sure if this is the best use of real estate for "them". I do remember and like the knobbly posts that hold up the porch. Tube tops. They are still around. I see them in Airports. Ladies: I don't really get it, but I do get it. Thanks for the link to the disturbing video Tokyo. I was in Bob Barkers house once, and that is for another time. Bob wasn't there. I am surprised that in 1979 "Farrah" was allowed in. To the right of Farrah is mustache/beard Frontierland looking guy...not an employee, but a guest. He has his Passport pinned to his vest on the left. I can see those from space. In this day of "A-E tickets", Passports were available to Magic Kingdom Club members. In order to not pull out your passport or lose it, people would pin them to themselves. I did too. When ticket books went bye bye...it took years for people to drop the "pinning". At some point in time, prior to the exit of tickets, they put string on the passports to attach it to a button. which is why in some interactions of old tickets you will see a little hole in the top of the Passport. When you wear tube tops, there is no button. Tube tops and Tube socks. A fantastic start to Monday! Thanks Major.
Yeah, what were we thinking with those socks??? Mine had to have a blue and yellow stripe at the top (school colors, of course). And my bell bottoms had to be BIG bells, that completely covered my shoes!
A big part of Mr. Burr's problem with the role was the wheel chair. He refused to do wheelies on request so he was OUT!
Thanks MB&M!
That was Stu29573....
Thanks Major & MB!
Knobby posts are the best. Loved my shooting, this gallery was better than Adventureland, IMHO. I was a good shot, but as Bu says, for another time.
I might have been the guy in the yellow shirt in photo 1, but 1978 was my last visit. I saw Wally Boag in 1977, my only time seeing that show. My socks were basketball team leftovers and also blue and gold. 3 cheers for tube tops, somewhat fewer for tube socks. I prefer socks shaped to one’s feet, but the tops appear to conform to the underlying topography and that’s just fine.
By 78-79 we were back to a regular rain pattern after the 76-77 droughts, so the greenery is quite green, I can’t say I remember it this way though.
A fun look back.
JG
Post script: the knobbly burlwood posts outside the Shooting gallery: apparently Walt acquired himself.
Nanook, I would sure love to see vintage film of Raymond Burr doing the “Pecos Bill” bit!
JB, using words like “shootin’” is only for those of low intellect. Case in point: I did it in today’s post! In many Westerns people speak without contractions (see: The Coen Brothers’ version of “True Grit”) sort of like Data in Star Trek TNG. It makes them sound old-timey. I wonder if our photographer had a fairly fancy rig (tripod, etc) that made people look at him? Or maybe he wasn’t wearing pants, that always works for me. Sunkist juice bars sound like a good guess for what’s in the hands of the father and son. Maybe the company that made tube socks also made tube tops, and it went out of business? Raymond Burr, too stiff?? What about his famous break dancing video?
TokyoMagic!, my gosh, you’re right. Coca Cola will probably start using “Frubulous” and they will make billions! Funny, I know a number of people who don’t like yellow. It’s a nice color! Maybe not so much for clothing, but still. My last yellow shirt (that I remember) was a Benetton shirt given to me by my then-girlfriend in the mid-1980s. It was sort of a terrycloth fabric. I have seen that blooper, and always thought that it seemed rigged somehow. How could that lady not know that her top had fallen down?? It’s like when they would sometimes show something on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and you could tell that the whole situation had been staged.
Bu, I was still in high school in ’79, so it was a good year, just because life seemed relatively carefree by later standards. I admit that my mom and grandma still bought a lot of my clothes - I didn’t have much money. Luckily for the most part they didn’t buy things that were embarrassing. No Hawaiian shirts though. I still regret never seeing the original Golden Horseshoe Revue gang, we easily could have. And as I have said before, the corny humor and old songs would have been right up my dad’s alley. But we never went. Oh well. I sometimes look on eBay for Pendleton clothing from Disneyland (they have their own tags), but assuming something is for men, it is never larger than “medium”. I’m not crazy about the current shooting gallery… there is lots going on, but it isn’t very satisfying to basically shine a light at a target, no matter how much nutty animation goes on afterwards. Wow, I must not be paying attention to tube tops, and in high school it was hard to NOT pay attention to them. Funny how I now miss the A-thru-E tickets, even though I certainly understand the appeal of doing whatever you want, as many times as you want. Having never had a passport, i am ignorant of the ways of the lucky holders.
Anonymous, I don’t remember caring which colors my tube socks had, but my brother was really into tennis at the time, and he loved Adidas and Puma, so we both owned a lot of clothing with those logos on them. Also: Head tennis racquets. Did old west wheelchairs have wagon wheels?
Anonymous, I don’t believe you! I’ll need three forms of ID.
JG, the knobby posts are so “Disneyland” to me. Too bad they don’t have knobby posts today. Animatronic knobs. You were on the baseball team? My best friend was on the team, but I disliked the other guys so much that I never wanted to try out even though I was pretty good at baseball at the time. I have a sock problem: I go to Marshall’s and buy a six pack of socks whether I need them or not. Now I could open my own store.
Bu, I think I’ve heard that story. Not sure why Walt thought that knobby posts were a “plus”, but here we are talking about them long after they vanished.
Maybe the guys in the first picture were staring because the MB was *not* wearing striped tube socks.
Tube tops have been replaced by "athleisure" wear - lululemon yoga pants and associated things.
The grassy street divider gives a Walt Disney World vibe. No doubt an easy thing to grow back then with the extreme rains California experienced during the late 70’s and early 80’s. If fact the rains delayed the completion of the complete redo of Disneyland’s main entrance that was to be ready for the park’s 25th. I almost exclusively wore OP clothing during this time : corduroy shorts and pants that made a “wushing” noise when you walked. All the pant and short colors were color coordinated with the shirt colors that usually featured color bars and abstract sunset and palm tree silhouetted patterns …. Hang Ten was was kinda on the way out by this time …. Izod was catching on on the East Coast but didn’t take hold as strong on the west coast as OP reined. OP was rather expensive … but WALKER SCOTTS & JC PENNYS had sales often and on sale days … at opening time moms and their sons would be waiting outside for the stores to opening up and get the best selection.
“GENERAL WINCHESTER’S PATENT- MECHANICAL SHOOTING GALLERIE” ( gallerie was the 19th century spelling ) “ST. LOUIS & KANSAS CITY TRAVELING TARGET MENAGERIE - test your marksmanship against wild jungle beast! Majestic American Animals! Blood Thirsty Red Skins!!! ….. oh maybe too period correct for Disneyland. “BOONE’S PENNY SHOT TARGET ARCADE - most accurate west of the Great Basin” , “Penny Shot Rifle Parlor - for ladies”
Major-
"Raymond Burr, too stiff?? What about his famous break dancing video?"
Why stop with his break dancing video... wait 'til you see his Lindy Hop & Limbo videos-! They defy all the laws of gravity-! Just check out his Lindy Hoppin' HERE. He may be hard to ID (especially using his alias), but...
Ah the never-ending hearing of pings at the Gallery...the ricochets..the sore thumb after loading countless guns during an 8 hour shift. Oh I miss it...NOT!! KS
Major, I just checked Street View of the shooting gallery, and the knobby posts are still very much in evidence. Not sure that these are the originals, or even if they are still wood, not resin NuWood.
I remember OP clothes, but never bought any. Not sure why.
JG
Dean Finder, “He’s not wearing striped tube socks! GET HIM!”. Starring Vin Diesel.
Mike Cozart, I had some OP shirts, but don’t think I’ve worn corduroy pants since I was a kid. I like them, I just never think to buy them. Remember Quicksilver clothing? I used to like that a LOT, and had some great quality shirts that lasted forever. I liked the little alligator on IZOD shirts, but otherwise thought they were kind of a snooze. I REALLY miss Hang Ten, I think I read that they were purchased by some other company, and that was the end, really (even though there is somebody making Hang Ten clothing now, it’s not as good though). “General Winchester”?? So funny. I wonder if shooting galleries ever used actual bullets (I’m not counting the pellets used at Disneyland, even though those were plenty dangerous)?
Nanook, I think we may be talking about different people named Raymond Burr? ;-)
KS, your thumb may have been sore, but was so strong that you could lift a small car with it.
JG, hmmm, now I really do wonder if the current knobby wood posts are genuine. Maybe the place where Walt originally got his wood posts still had some?
Those knobby posts are probably original underneath but are so heavily shellacked or urethane coated we are probably not really seeing their original finish anymore. Like lots of things in Disneyland much of what Walt’s era footprint has been rebuilt, reskinned or replaced so many times very little “original” Disneyland actually exists… it’s like that story about George Washington’s original cherry tree axe: the axe head was so worn it had to be replaced … but the axe arm wore away and was also replaced … then the axe handle was repaired a few times then had to be completely replaced… but other than that it’s George Washington’s ORIGINAL axe!!
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