Main Street Station, January 1964
If you're like me, you love Main Street Station. While one could argue that there are other landmarks that qualify as the "first thing you see", somehow, MSS feels like the real deal. It is both comforting (it has been welcoming guests since 1955!) and exciting (this is where we catch the train!).
This first look is from an unusual angle, beyond the ticket booths and a bit to the east (for some reason more photos are taken looking from the west). I lie the planters filled with flowers (and tree), with some benches for those that need them. Look at the flags and banners, it was a breezy January day - I don't mind a bit of chill, but I do dislike the wind. How many attraction posters can you ID?
Now it's later in the day (the sun seems lower in the west), and unfortunately MSS has shows up too dark. But just imagine running (OK, walking carefully because I am a good boy) up those steps. It looks like there wouldn't be much of a wait for the next train (I am partial to the C.K. Holliday, though I love them all). I can't wait to see the Grand Canyon Diorama (though the dinosaurs would not be added for over two years).
16 comments:
Major-
"How many attraction posters can you ID?"
I'm having trouble figuring out what the poster is behind the guy with the blue-green shirt - but I think it's one of the rarest of AP's - The Magic Mouse Gets Fitted for a Truss. See - I told you it was rare.
Thanks, Major.
1) Another photo of the Station taken from an easterly angle. That's two in one week. (The previous one was on July 7th.) I bet there aren't more than two others in your entire collection of photos (posted on the blog, so far), Major.
I'm not sure what kind of flowers those are in the planter, maybe primroses, or pansies.
2) Judging by the direction and elongation of the shadows I would say it's about 1:24 in the afternoon... also, that's what the clock says. :-D
The Christmas decorations are still up. Either this was taken in December or it is indeed January, and they just haven't taken them down yet.
I think the lady in the foreground is using a movie camera of some kind, which is a little unusual; it's mostly men who are the photographers. Sorry ladies, that's just the way the universe worked then. Good for her, though; bucking the trend.
Thanks for the chilly, windy MSS photos, Major.
Nanook, I believe that is a 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea attraction poster. I'm basing that on the colors, the placement of the writing/title, and the appearance of a smaller circle within a larger circle. But it's just a guess!
The placement of the ticket booth on the far right looks odd. I didn't realize the row of ticket booths extended over that far. That particular one appears to be placed at an angle, and not quite in line with the other booth in the pic. It also looks like it is placed directly in front of the exit gate. Now I need to find an aerial pic to see the layout of the original main entrance ticket booths.
Thank you, Major!
Posters in first photo from left to right::
Autopia
Art of Animation
Submarine Voyage
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Exhibit
Frontierland Watercraft
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad
America the Beautiful
Monorail
Alice in Wonderland
Stumper - maybe Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride?
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad/Grand Canyon Diorama
Jungle River
Nature’s Wonderland
Loving the Santa Fe poster to the left of the depot in the second picture.
TM!, the ticket booths were arranged in an arc, which explains why these booths aren’t lined up.
Thanks, Major!
Boys: Cameras, Girls: Shopping bags. Yes. That's how it worked back then. And I'm not so sure 20 years after these photos things changed much. Things changed with cameras that are phones, and now the tide may have shifted. Possibly. I couldn't possibly ID those posters with this group, so I won't even try...I will say that I like them, and if you were to "read" Disneyland like a film, posters of coming attractions (in your day) make sense here...visually and emotionally. Obviously, Disneyland itself is a story, which is part of it's success and it would behoove those "in charge" to not forget that, when you place "futuristic" "lands" smack in the middle of "hard facts that created America" and Dumbo. Just saying....Cinematically, it does not make sense. But neither do churros in 1890. I could go on, but I'm tired of listening to myself. The flowers at the gate look like pansies, and that makes sense given the timing. Those benches are low to the ground and interesting that they are in the planter themselves. There's that chain link fencing with just a hint of the white strip of wood. Looks like Ticket Booth #22 was the end of the line...and I think I have finally spotted that parking lot "your car is here" big sign that used to live in my garage....It's there to the right of Ticket Booth 21...or would it be 20? With each window being it's own number rather than each booth. Someone knows. That big sign could also be "Watch The Wonderful World of Color" this Sunday....which I've seen at the other exit...I would like to see that parking lot sign at some point, and there has to be a photo of it somewhere. Christmas decor is appropriate...and simple...I've never seen those little silver bells before, and now it all seems to be piled on top of piles of sparkly spangly stuff. More is not more. Not everything needs to be in "rodent shape"....just some more POV. The Santa Fe and Timex Atchison Topeka and Disneyland RR. Timex says it's 1:30 and I believe him...or her... It's nice that the station hasn't changed too terribly much in 60 odd years. I like those big topiaries up there: never seen those before. And C and H sugar water fountains at the gate.... I think water fountains are gone the way of horse drinking fountains in general. In commercial construction now, for public accessible spaces, some municipalities require an accessible personal water bottle filling fountain, with chilled/filtered/etc. water. I'm not sure how much more sanitary that is, but know as a kid our mouths would be directly on the metal parts where the water came out....and in parks I trained my dogs to turn on the fountain and drink like that too. Maybe the new "drinking fountains" make sense... Today I see "hydration" everywhere...almost manically. At an airport I saw someone filling up a personal backpack "hydration station" with hoses coming around the back that went to the guys mouth. Perhaps a little over the top, and hope he had an aisle seat. That is a lot of water. Don't know how things like that get through security...maybe he bought a seat for it. Stranger things have happened. Thanks of the lovely cloud free sunny and cool day at the Park this morning Major!
Good catch, Chuck! MSS did feature actual Santa Fe travel posters--all part of the "veneer of reality that made the fantasy better," to quote Gordon and Mumford.
Main Street Station was such an enticing structure, perfectly Victorian and stately. Lace widow's walk, imposing clock, perfect color palette. The quintessential "railroad station."
Today, the clock tower flagpole has been replaced by a monstrosity of epic diameter (I think I read about some recent CA code calling for beefier flag poles), and solid backing appears behind much of the widow's walk, to better hide parade lighting fixtures, but erasing the laciness. And don't get me started on the non-original colors it now wears...
I can hear the train bell and the Announcer now. These are perfect. Thanks Major!
One stalwart trash can on the podium inside.
Yes, new rules for flagpoles, spurred by the mad epidemic of injuries from flagpole accidents. “Facepalm” someone think of the children!
I vaguely remember the dinosaurs being new, that was a long time ago. Heh, I’m older than the dinosaurs. My kids were right.
JG
I remember during our Disneyland trip (exactly a year ago) that "Casey Jr." was playing on the BGM when we walked up to the front gate for the first time. It was quite a different experience compared to walking right off the parking lot, but I also would have loved to have been there on this chilly off-season day. The House of the Future is waiting! That's all I need.
Sorry about my absence yesterday, I was pretty sick - I always brag that I never get sick, and I guess I was asking for it. But I’m lots better today!
Nanook, I have to admit that I have never seen “The Magic Mouse Gets Fitted For a Truss”, but know that it was one of Walt’s rare failures as far as attractions go!
JB, thanks to aberrations in the Earth’s magnetic field, more photos of Main Street Station were taken from that angle than ever before. Some say it’s because of a passing comet, others because of UFOs. I say… why not both? I have nothing to say about the flowers, you’d think I would have picked up some knowledge from my mom over the years, but no such luck. Good eye on the Christmas decor, it’s so subtle (compared to these days) that it’s easy to miss. I think you’re right about the movie camera, and I give that lady props for being a Future Fellini!
TokyoMagic!, hmmm, I was going to guess that the obscured poster was for Dumbo, but admittedly it is very hard to tell. Reflections off of the glass (did they use plexi back then?) aren’t helping. I believe that the ticket booths did extend quite far on each end.
Chuck, you did a great job! The partly-obscured one isn’t very fair, see TokyoMagic’s comment. I’m unaware of a Mr. Toad poster until just a few years ago. Still, you get an A+ with a smiley face. And maybe even a star!
Bu, now that everybody has a camera on their phone, it’s an equal-opportunity free for all! I’m sure that back in those days, it was generally assumed that the ladies would do the shopping - a shirt for Timmy, and Tinker Bell figurine for Margie. The best thing about the current exhibition of Joel Magee’s Disneyland collection is the nearly-complete selection of attraction posters - I can only think of a few that he does not have. When I first saw some posters in a local auction, the memories of them came flooding back. It was not too long after that I decided I needed to attend the next auction. The “hard facts” line is in reference to Frontierland, in a sense Tomorrowland was just a more streamlined “Fantasyland”. All dreams and optimism. If only we felt that way about the future now! It’s kind of surprising that they had 22 ticket booths, that sounds like a lot. Maybe they added more as the park’s popularity grew? I’m sure on a busy Summer day, they needed every one of them. I actually do think that the sign advertised the Wonderful World of Color. Somewhere I have one or two photos of it, as does Daveland. Not sure what parking lot sign you are referring to? Funny that you mentioned mouths on drinking fountains… I used to see kids putting their mouths right on the metal, and it would make me ill. And a piece of gum in the drain? Yuck, I’m not thirsty anymore. I guess I was a sensitive child. I’ve never seen anyone with one of those “camel back” things on an airplane, I agree, you’d think it would not pass the 4 ounce rule. Maybe that person had a medical condition?
Steve DeGaetano, about two years ago I was contacted by somebody who has two of the Santa Fe posters that were reproduced for Disneyland. Super rare! He was having them restored, I should see if I can find his email and ask how it went. I forget how he got them, they might have been in the trash bin. Free is always the best! I don’t think I really paid attention to the beefier flagpole, but now I’ll always see it!!
JG, “Your attention please…!”. Love it. One of my favorite sounds at Disneyland (along with the whistle and the ringing bell). I once got a terrible case of flagpole chafing, it is no laughing matter. Ointments were of little use. Is it possible that even ONE flagpole fell over in a stiff breeze?? Seems hard to believe.
Andrew, wow, good for you for being observant enough to remember which song was playing! I would have been too overwhelmed. Or else I’m too dumb. Probably the latter. I do sometimes love to imagine what I would do if I could go to the park on a random day in (for instance) 1964. What a time I would have!
@ Bu-
"... but know as a kid our mouths would be directly on the metal parts where the water came out...."
That's called the bubbler - sometimes the body. Bubbler sounds more fun, though-!
I the mid 90’s Disney held its first Official Disneyanna Convention- prior it had been always held at Walt Disney World. One of the BIG things to see was MICKEY’S ATTIC - this was the exhibit room Disney stuffed with concept artwork for merchandise , WDI building color boards , costume concept sketches … park signs , props , banners , ( no real costumes yet - those were still verboten to be out in the public) mailboxes , attraction pieces … ( no ride vehicles- these were used for the big conventions auction) and attraction posters!!! I worked the first two days of the convention because The Disney Gallery had a display in the Disney business groups exhibit hall … those two days I next ate … each 15 minute break and lunch I spent in the Mickey’s Attic Room. And because I had employee exhibit badge I could freely enter all exhibit halls and areas without being a convention attendee. All divisions of the company were asked to submit items that could be sold at the Mickeys Attic … and arc the time the original Penny Arcade had been mostly removed and added to the ice cream ( yogurt ) parlor … so ALL the evicted Arcade attraction posters were for sale!! Mounted on Masonite and the newer 70’s posters were attached to plexi ( technically LUCITE) With black frames if they came from the walls towards the back and white or blue frames towards the front. Some frames were missing because they had been damaged during removal … the SKYWAY terminal attraction posters were there too. The “mansion”,”pirates” and “Railroad” were sold before my first 15 minute of day #1 …. All the attraction posters were $475.00 each - with or without frame …. There was also several Florida posters .. 1978 Small World… 1978 Tropical Serenade , 1980 Crystal palace .. and 2 WDW monorails… I couldn’t purchase any of the posters because I had no way to get them home … but I did by a CIRCLE VISION title sign .. the one you see from the PeopleMover “ now showing “American Journeys & Wonders of China” … this sign is before it was changed to “world premier circle vision “. It slighty smaller than a attraction poster but it was only 50.00.
The prices were amazingly cheap then but also not many people collected things like that from the parks ….. YET.
Bu, maybe the guy at the airport, with the water pack and tubes, was wearing a "stillsuit", and on his way to the planet Arrakis (a.k.a. Dune).
Nanook, “bubbler” is such an appealing name, no wonder they used it. But watching my fellow classmates drinking from the fountains was like watching dogs eat dog food. BLARG.
Mike Cozart, wow, it must have been amazing to be at the FIRST official Disneyana convention! Do you remember what year that would have been (roughly)? I have a Sotheby’s catalog that is from their first auction that featured Disney collectibles - watches and things like that. The prices seem ridiculously low, but when you adjust them for inflation, they are actually about the same as what you might expect to pay today. Surprisingly. I sure wish I could find photos of MICKEY’S ATTIC! I’ll bet it was incredible. Back when I used to go to the Disneyana shows in Anaheim, I remember seeing items that I passed on due to price, but wish I’d purchased. Tickets with the “conductor’s check” still attached. Rare paper ephemera. I don’t remember seeing posters for sale, and those probably would have been out of my range at that point, but i would have loved to see them! I still remember the first time I saw a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea poster in person, because the colors were so completely different from what I’d imagined. It’s still one of my all-time favorite posters. It sounds like you managed to get some good stuff, the thought of only paying $450 for a Haunted Mansion poster is mind blowing. I got some of my posters for $300, but those were exceptions, not the rule.
JB, hee hee, if he’s wearing a stillsuit, he’s drinking his own pee. Yes, I can’t help laughing like an 8 year-old.
I believe the mostly-obscured one I was stumped on to the right of the Alice poster is for the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Do I rate the star now?
The first official Disneyanna convention in ANAHEIM was 1994 …. I think it might have been 1995. Previously it had been held in Florida each year … I think starting in 1991 or 1992.
I remember I would take the day off and my friends in Florida would call me when they got to Mickeys Attic … they would also take photos go back to the hotel room and download the photos and email them to me… remember this was before cameras were on phones … and I don’t think there was texting yet… I remember there was so much stuff …. The prices were pretty inexpensive … boxes and boxes of things cleared out of the Disneyland offices and warehouses … that’s when I started buying lots of the costume concept sketches … they were 45.00 each at first …. And there are BOXES and BOXES of them so it was really overwhelming to select ones and think … towards the later years of the Disneyanna Conventions the original attraction posters from the Disney Gallery were sent to Mickey’s Attic… fist 50.00 each ( from 300.00 at the gallery ) then eventually a remaining pile of “unwanted” posters marked $5.00 each !! (FIVE DOLLARS) $5 yes $5 … AMERICa the beautiful , inner space , Disneyland hotel , space station x-1….. 1956 Dumbo …. People just wouldn’t spend 300 …. On those .. they were the lest popular at the time .
Major/Mike-
The 1st Disney, Disneyana Convention was held at the Contemporary Resort at WDW on September 24-27, 1992. The 2nd convention was held at the Disneyland Resort on September 16-19, 1993.
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