Skyway Views, November 1974
Before we get into our regularly-scheduled scans, it's time to wish our friend Peter Bondante (aka DrGoat) a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sue B. has provided a fun scan of a vintage birthday party from September, 1973. You know things are starting to get pretty wild when everyone piles into the empty kiddie pool. And once the cake and ice cream get them sugared up, anything can happen. I know Peter would love to hear from the Junior Gorillas!
Meanwhile, here are two photos taken from the Skyway, circa 1974. We're headed right toward the Mighty Matterhorn, on a warm November day. Howard Johnson paid me $1,000 to make sure that I only featured one turquoise gondola and one orange gondola, and I was happy to take his money and spend it on candy. The yellow Monorail (Mark III) passes by. And there's a bobsled, you know what that means (it means you will have good luck all day).
Next we've passed through the nostrils of the Matterhorn and are almost at the Skyway terminal in Tomorrowland. But first, let's take a quick photo (or a slow one?) looking toward the Rocket Jets and Peoplemover. The jets are in the "down" position, but I will try to be brave and not cry. There's something very cheerful about the primary colors of the Peoplemover trains. As is often the case, we can see the Populuxe Anaheim Convention Center in the distance, looking like it might lift into space at any moment.
27 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our very own DrGoat!
I know it's in the triple digits by you, Peter, so I hope you're relaxing with a tall glass of your favorite iced cold drink, in your favorite tiki glass. Fill up that pool with cold water and make another couple trays of ice cubes - we'll all be over to join you and celebrate! We love ya! I'm bringing the cake and ice cream - see you later!
Sue
Happy Birthday Peter-! If I were you, I'd take a cue from the 'wee set' in the drained pool, and get yourself a "tiny party hat". Heck - the ones seen here are even too small for these youngsters 'still growing' heads.
Major-
"... the Populuxe Anaheim Convention Center in the distance, looking like it might lift into space at any moment".
How come no one ever accuses the Inn at the Park of 'taking flight', and flying off into the heavens-??
Thanks, Major.
Happy birthday, Peter. We're fortunate to have you as part of the GDB family. Goats DO make fine companions, after all. :-)
All these kids have noisemakers of one sort or another. Except the toddler, I don't think she has anything. Nothing weird or creepy about this photo; just kids having fun, which is a change of pace. Thanks, Sue.
What a nice photo of the Matterhorn, etc. (I kept this one!) Seeing the Rocket Jets over there to the right confused me for a sec. Then I realized we're on the Fantasyland side of the Mountain and it all started to make sense... except that white ball with all the spikey things sticking out of it (bottom, center). What the heck is that?
Major, you must be braver than me, I went through half a box of kleenex after seeing those parked Rocket Jets. Actually, it looks kinda neat this way, we get to see the entire Saturn V rocket, looking stately against the sky.
Better than usual pics today, Major. Thanks.
Beautiful photos today, Major!
that white ball with all the spikey things sticking out of it (bottom, center). What the heck is that?
JB, that is one of the stylized dandelion blooms, from the Alice In Wonderland ride.
Peter, a very ♫♪ Happy Birthday To You! ♪♫ We all miss you here at the Gorilla Cage!
HAPPY GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!
The 1973 birthday pool picture is very historic : it’s the last known black and white photo taken at children’s birthday party!!
I forgot to thank Sue for her contribution to today's post. She finds some of the best vintage birthday and holiday pics out there! Thanks for sharing them with the Major and us, Sue!
On second glance, that blonde boy in the pool looks a little bit like Eric Shea of Poseidon Adventure fame. He just told his older sister (who's taking the photo), to "Suck it, suck it, suck it!" And if there had been a door around, he would have slammed it in her face.
We never had a plastic pool like this. We had a larger "above ground" type of pool with a plastic lining, but it was still a "kiddie pool." It was set up on the patio the first summer that we had it, and the metal rim on the bottom of it left a "rust ring" on the concrete, which was visible for many decades. I think all remnants of rust might finally be gone now. The next year, it was set up on the lawn, and of course it ended up killing the grass. And that didn't grow back in for many years.
Happy birthday, Peter! I pray your day is filled with peace, joy, hope, and happiness. We are so blessed to have you as a member of our Fellowship.
Internet communities are often an exercise in anonymity - you don't know half of the people half as well as you should like (and probably like less than half of them half as well as they deserve) - but I truly believe GDB is a different place. We really do know each other, even if we’e never met in person.
All of us share a love for a certain time and a place, a Neverland of pirates and Indians, of grottoes and ghosts, of spaceships and submarines, of the Past and the Future all wrapped up together and given to us as a wonderful Present.
As Walt once said, “That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget.” Not this group! “Adults are only kids grown up,” and there’s a little Peter Pan left in all of us. That’s why you fit in here, and our lives are richer for it. Thanks for being one of us.
Here’s a roadmap for enjoying your special day - make for the second star to the right, and straight on ‘til morning. See you there!
Peter Pilot and Peter Pan: the pickled Peoplemover pilots, piloted and plucked a pair and peck of plucky pernicious pickled Peoplemovers, properly proclaimed and presented as "Plucky Peter Peoplemovers"...I'm trying to work "Goat" into this melange, but can't seem to make it rhyme with all the pickled Peoplemovers. GREATEST OF ALL TIME! Happy birthday Peter, and hope it's wonderfully plucky. I had to look up the acronym for GOAT as well. My millennial helped me out. She speaks "interwebs." Glorious Goats Got Generically Grafted, Gullywhumped, and Gorrila-ized, here on GDB. I could go on, but I will stop: happy birthday! What a perfect photo of Yellow Monorail sailing past the Skyway. Im not sure Skyway was completely TRE, I think it was all unavoidable without considerable expense from my inside knowledge at the time...these stories do morph, and I do miss the peacefulness of that particular ride. Yellow Monorail is my favorite, and I am not a fan of making monorails look like moving advertisements and run of the mill busses sailing down Wilshire Blvd. There. I said it. I am enjoying the photo of the top side of Coke Terrace, the backside of the Ad Bldg and the real Disneyland Fire Dept behind the Opera House. The Inn at the Park looms there in the background in all of it's Wrather glory....or was it Wrather in this space and time? Will have to look it up. The trees in the background mark the wondrous world of Garden Grove, a stones throw from Anaheim. I learned that Central Ticket Booths were at one point the communication system for supervisors out in the park prior to radios, beepers, and cell phones. A light on the top of the building would be turned on if a message needed to be transmitted to the Area "Sup" where they could retrieve it from the ticket seller. Interesting factoid. I wouldn't mind NOT having a communication device attached to me 24/7. Give me a lightbulb if you want to tell me something...Many happy returns of the day Dr., and thanks Lou and Sue and Major for the photos. I need to get a tiny hat to put on my enourmous noggin....
Happy Birthday Peter!
As we've said in the past, you and I are cut from the same cloth and would have spent a lot of time hanging out together back in the day.
Virtual friendship is the next best thing and all of us here are richer for knowing you.
My band's name is Goat Hill Gamblers. I'm officially making you, the good Dr. Goat, an honorary member.
Happy birthday Peter! Even if you don't check in today, we all know that your youthful self is alive and well with every comment you leave. I hope you have a spectacular day!
Happy Birthday Peter! Many Happy Returns of the Day! Thanks for being you! I’ve enjoyed and learned a lot from the stories you share! Wear a funny hat and celebrate another spin around the sun!
Also. What. Chuck. Said!
Major and Sue, great pictures for celebrating! There’s so much in that Matterhorn view, I’ll leave it at Power Lines!
Maybe the next time they repaint the Tomorrowland murals, they will include the convention center blasting off? JK, I want the Mary Blair murals back. Photo 2 has no less than four trash cans in view, because yesterdays future was going to be cleaner. Also “pylons!”
JG
Happy happy birthday, Peter! Hope your day is fantastic! I had some plastic pools like that; you just sat in them or laid down, no real swimming, but they helped cool you off. I remember eating fresh-picked nectarines off the tree in the backyard in my kiddie pool in summer! The bobsled is taking a ride on top of the Monorail, wee! Thanks, Sue and Major.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER!!!!
I hope you have a great one! Even better than being tanked up on sugar in a kiddie pool! (Although, admittedly, that would be difficult)
The pics today are pretty "you are there-ish!" And that's always a good thing! Soaring on the Skyway was the best way to get a cool breeze and rest those feet, while soaking in the great scenery! Although Mike told us why the state made them close it, I still wish they could have figured something out (insert heavy sigh).
Thanks, Major!
Happy birthday to the good Dr. Goat!
When Sue mentioned "triple digits" in her birthday message to you, she meant temperature, right? Just want to be clear.
Lou and Sue, my grandpa used to like to drink cold beef bouillon. Yuck! I wonder how that went with ice cream cake?
Nanook, tiny party hats are good, as are those blowers that unroll (what do you call them?) when you blow on them, and maybe even some sparklers. I’ll never forget when my sister went to a kid’s party, and they had bags of party favors, including erasers that were shaped like soccer balls. “Trachea plugs”, she called them. It has stuck with me ever since.
JB, “Goats DO make fine companions”… on my way to take my mom to the gym (she’s 87!), we pass a yard that has llamas and goats. It’s cute to see passing kids feeding carrots to the animals, and I’m sure the critters love all the attention. The white ball with the spikes is a virus that was very close to the camera. Watch out! (I see that TokyoMagic! answered this one, so now I get to be a smartass). You use Kleenex? I just blow my nose on my shirt.
TokyoMagic!, “Beautiful photos today”… I’ll take the compliment! Than you for ID-ing the mysterious spiky white ball.
Mike Cozart, oh I don’t know, my mom used black and white film in the early ‘70s. I never understood why, though I’m sure the price had everything to do with it.
TokyoMagic!, good grief, who in the world remembers the name of that kid actor from The Poseidon Adventure? You do! I am the world’s biggest Red Buttons fan, so that movie means a lot to me. What charisma! I’m glad he would never be so crude as to tell someone to “suck it”. We only had crummy little kiddie pools that would get full of grass clippings, and the water would eventually get hot from the sun. Luckily we had a safe, barely lethal Water Wiggle to knock us unconscious.
Chuck, aw, what a nice comment! Here I am being a Rodney Dangerfield wannabe. But I gotta be me.
Bu, whoa, that’s a lot of alliteration. TOO MUCH? For some reason I’ve always liked the word “pernicious”. Yes, “Goat” - Greatest Of All Time. Very apt! You have a millennial? Do you keep her in a terrarium with a water bottle and wood shavings? I’ve never really felt as if we got the whole story re: the Skyway, but it makes me very sad that it was removed. Given that Skyway-type rides are now scarce as hen’s teeth, just think how much more people would have appreciated it! I also hate the “wraps” on the Monorails, it looks tawdry (another good word). Belonging to the Disneyland Fire Department sounds like a sweet gig; two or three times a year, extinguish a few fireworks embers. Otherwise, watch TV and eat hoagies all day long. I’ve heard about the lights atop the ticket booths being used as a secret way to alert security that they were being robbed. Did anyone ever actually try to rob them? At gunpoint?? “Put the money in the bag, and no funny business”.
Grant, we’ve got a good group here, for sure, thanks to you and all the Jr. Gorillas!
Andrew, I’m expecting Peter to check in, I hope he sees all the love!
JG, yeah, it’s pretty hard to top Chuck’s comment. But I’m OK with just being positive and friendly! Not a bad way to go. I honestly wonder how many Anaheim visitors passed the convention center and assumed it was a part of Disneyland? A lot, I’ll bet.
Kathy!, we once had a metal thing, not a pool exactly, sort of like a giant curved hubcap. Big enough for a kid to sit in, but it also rolled around. We’d fill it with water, and it would all spill out, and then we’d fill it some more. It kept the metal from getting hot! It finally rusted out. Oh man, there is nothing better than a truly fresh, sweet nectarine!
Stu29573, I remember Tony Baxter (when he was still an Imagineer) saying that they needed to figure out a way to get guests up in the air again - so far, nothing. But one can hope! Our Skyway closed in 1994, and while they claim that it would have been too costly to make necessary repairs, it was also during the cheap-o Paul Pressler years.
Steve DeGaetano, ha ha, I’m pretty sure DrGoat is not over a century old!!
Happy Birthday Peter/DrGoat!! Wishing you all the best today & everyday.
Thanks to Sue (who needs Getty Images...) & Major for the great pictures today.
Major- Did Howard Johnson say anything about the yellow Skyway bucket hiding just inside of the Matterhorn?
The last photo is a nice balanced composition showing a good amount of Tomorrowland.
-DW
Happy Birthday Dr G!
Birthday fun (or calm) to thee
Park or pool, hope it's a spree.
TokyoMagic!, Shea's line is actually "Shove it! Shove it! Shove it!"
I had seen mostly Disney movies before "Poseidon", and was shocked at the profaneness of that line. Then repeated it aloud for some time afterward.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dr. Goat! Have always enjoyed your input and the photos you've shared here. Hope you enjoy your day.
Nice Tomorrowland '67 pics today! Thanks, Major.
Well Peter...today's your luckiest (and most happiest of happy) days you know. All of us Jr. Gorillas have decided to jump into the pool to wish you a Happy Birthday. And luckily, none of us decided to try a belly flop into that little thing! So, with that said, may your day be filled with our cheer for you. Not to mention along with a little humor that only a GOAT would appreciate. Cheers to you sir! KS
Major-
What do you mean you "...don't know the name of the 'kid actor' from The Poseidon Adventure"-? His name should just roll right off of your tongue-! Eric was also in two episodes of Adam 12 and Menace On the Mountain fer Chrissake-! (And hey, let's not forget Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman while we're at it...)
"For some reason I’ve always liked the word “pernicious”. Put me down for perspicacity.
Stefano, whoa, look at you with your rhymes! I’m trying to imagine why a little boy would need to tell anyone to “Shove it” in “The Poseidon Adventure”. “The kids will eat this stuff up!”.
K. Martinez, with one of the big auctions going on today, I can’t help thinking of some amazing Tomorrowland merchandise - none of which I can afford!
KS, I miss the days when I would happily swim in one of those little pools. Now I don’t even want to swim in public pools (because of the pee). Soon I’ll look just like Howard Hughes, with the long hair, and uncut toenails and fingernails.
Nanook, I guess I was too busy studying opera to watch any of the shows you cited. Although I did like “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” (and “Fernwood 2nite”). “Perspicacity” is good, but I like the adjective “perspicacious”.
Tokyo!, huh, dandelion fluff. I don't think I would've figured that out.
Mike, I too, was wondering how this '70s photo ended up being in B&W. Maybe it was a very faded color photo and Sue or Major just decided to make it B&W?
Tokyo! again, we also had one of those above ground kiddie pools, only ours was rectangular; about 4x6 feet. It had a tubular metal framework that you had to piece together, and then add the vinyl liner. We would set it up on our paved patio. I remember making sure there weren't any pebbles under the liner before filling it. Besides possibly poking a hole in the liner, it hurt A LOT when you kneeled on it!
Chuck, we're in a Fellowship?! Are we trekking to Mount Doom to dispose of the One Ring? I'd rather sit here in my homey little Hobbit hole and have second breakfast instead; no Orcs, Balrogs, or Giant Spiders.
Nice sentiments that you shared with us today, Chuck. They were intended for our friend DrGoat, but they apply to us all. Thank you.
Bu, I agree about the mobile billboards on today's Monorail trains. It diminishes the whole idea of the Monorail; even if they are Disney images. The Monorails look like they've been tagged, and we see enough of that outside the berm.
Major, as a little kid I used to wipe my nose on the sleeve of my flannel shirt... it got pretty shellacked after a while.
We too, had a Water Wiggle. And yes, it did have a tendency to wrap itself around the necks of little kids. We thought that was the best part! Good times.
From the desert to the ocean,
On a camel, in a boat,
Nothing's sweeter than our Peter,
The Amazing DrGoat!
Happy birthday, buddy - you've made this weird thing called life a lot brighter.
Nothing better than a skyway glide over DL to celebrate your BD. Happy day Dr. Goat!
JB, the trick is to wipe your nose on somebody else’s shirt. The things we learn as we grow older and wiser!
DrGoat, hooray! I’m so glad you checked in and saw all of the birthday love.
Melissa, aw, what an honor, an original Melissa poem!
Anonymous (MS, maybe?), glad you could help to celebrate.
Happy (belated on the east coast) birthday, Dr. Goat!
I remember those mini top hat style metallic printed cardboard party hats from when I was a kid in the late 70s. They used to be very common (see the opening of Rudolph's Shiny New Year) but seem to have disappeared.
TokyoMagic!, Shea's line is actually "Shove it! Shove it! Shove it!"
Stefano, oh yeah! You are correct! I misquoted the kid.
Luckily we had a safe, barely lethal Water Wiggle to knock us unconscious.
Major, I think we've discussed this here before, but the Water Wiggle was eventually recalled/discontinued because kids kept taking the head off of the hose and getting the nozzle stuck in their throat and drowning. Now, I don't really understand how any kid could be stupid enough to do that, but perhaps it was just the really little tykes, who didn't know any better.
Post a Comment