Main Street 1950s
I scanned some glass-mounted slides, those always present unique problems. Trapped air and dust are there forever; and sometimes (like these), they aren't as sharp as I'd like. I'm always so tempted to remove them from the mounts, but that feels so wrong.
Anyway, here we are in the Plaza; it's an unusual angle, I don't have another like it in my entire collection. We're somewhere on the east side of the Plaza. Notice the back of the Monsanto sign to our right, dating this to "after 1958". All that grass is taking up space when a cart could be selling bubble-blowing toys. This is why I hate grass! And trees! We can also see two Horseless Carriages and one Horse Drawn Streetcar, not to mention the Carnation Plaza Gardens.
Next, a classic popcorn cart, with a boy trying to make up his mind, even though the cart only offers one thing (I don't see any signs mentioning peanuts or Fritos brand corn chips). The sweeper looks like he's about to perform a song and dance routine. Anything can happen at Disneyland! The popcorn vendor spends most of his time looking at pretty girls, or his shoes, depending on the situation.
Here's a random thought: are the "crenellations" on top of the popcorn cart a sort of anti-pigeon measure?
17 comments:
Major-
I don't have time to focus my attention on the crenellations, when there's a 'Toasty Roasty' man in view. (I believe the one sign near the Toasty Roasty man offers Peanuts for 20₵). See... decisions, decisions.
Thanks, Major.
Hmm, perhaps this awful grass is where the purple and yellow swirly flower beds will eventually go?
The popcorn cart looks like it's tilting a bit the left. Good thing the vendor is propping it up with his hand or it would surely roll away and injure someone! Give that man a raise!... Or fire him! For having his other hand in his pocketeses. (He better hope that Bu is nowhere near!)
I dunno about the "pigeon repellent" theory, Major. Seems like those ridges on the popcorn cart would give the birds something to cling to, otherwise they would slide off.
I think the kid is looking at the little clown turning the crank, and wondering, "Geez! Where'd they find someone that small?"
I bet glass-mounted slides are like Cinderella's glass slippers; prone to falling off... or turning into pumpkins... or mice... or something. Thanks, Major.
The photographer for that first pic only had to turn slightly to the right to get the Castle in the shot. A little further and they could have gotten the House of the Future, and maybe even the Matterhorn. Turning 180 degrees, I'm assuming they could have gotten the Clock of the World and part or all of the Tomorrowland entrance. I wonder what possessed them to line up the shot the way that they did? I guess it is nice to have a rare and unusual view.
Uh, hand in pocket, leaning, daydreaming (or sleeping), and ignoring a customer....or a potential customer, anyway. Where is Walt? Maybe it was announced that he would not be in the park that day, so the employees didn't have to worry about being on their best behavior.
Major, my dad was in the army in Berlin, and my mom worked for the army, in Berlin (that is how they met). During their time off, they both took a lot of pictures, while traveling around Europe. And the majority of their photos are glass-mounted slides. I scanned the slides years ago, but fortunately the mounts that were used had the ability to be popped open and then put back together. And I had to do that for every single slide, because of the amount of dust that had accumulated in between the glass and the film/positive. I've never really been happy with the scans. I wonder if I should have just scanned the film/positive first, before putting all the layers back together. As I've mentioned before, I want to get a new scanner, so once I do, I suppose I will be scanning them all over again.
That first photo really shows off the “park-like” feel of the Park in those days, and the omission of the entrance to any of the themed lands just emphasizes it even more. I’d happily park myself on one of those benches for hours.
In addition to the Main Street conveyances mentioned in the text, you can also catch a glimpse of an omnibus through the foliage to the left.
JB, the popcorn wagon was harnessed to that big red box full of ballast, so it wasn’t going anywhere.
TM!, you should have scanned the mounts after removing the slides. Who knows how valuable those views of dust particles would be today?
And cool your parents met in Berlin while your dad was stationed there with the Army. Sounds like they found things to occupy their time while serving with the Army of Occupation.
I think the crenellations are just decorative. Completely non-practical Victorian excess!
Usually, bird spikes are used to repel pigeons and seagulls from landing and congregating on structures. I see them all over the Santa Cruz Wharf buildings and structures.
If my memory serves me correctly, Disneyland did implement queue railings for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage that made sitting on them very uncomfortable. Not injury inducing of course.
Nice pics! Thanks, Major.
Major, you’re right, every square inch of the Park must be made to generate income, looking at Disney stock price, they have to do it.
Our first view is nearly a quarter of the circle and only one trash can. The green up-light by the tree is probably a Stonco, not sure of the model, and there’s a little stub up by the truck that probably connects the little white lights in the branches.
In photo 2, the man in the blue shirt is having his picture taken with his son. I thought for a moment he was the little guy who turns the popcorn crank.
Ken yes, the Sub queue has a sawtooth deterrent on the rails now. That is a long tedious queue at best and I remember trying to sit on the rails (before the deterrents) and Dad not letting me.
Up above the Frontierland gate to the left is a canvas-covered something. Any guesses?
Thanks Major!
JG
JG, pretty sure that "canvas-covered something" is the Bunker Hill Flag mid-wave.
Nanook, oh yeah, there’s Toasty Roasty (I always want to call him “Roasty Toasty”) himself! And you’re right, there IS a sign for peanuts.
JB, I’d have to look at a vintage aerial photo to see if this is where the swirly flowers eventually went. It seems kind of far from the entrance, but I am nearly always wrong, so…! The cart really does look like it is listing, I assumed that it was just the photo, but everything else looks fairly plumb and level. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the “pigeon repellent” theory, but it just popped into my head! I’ve never had a glass-mounted slide turn into a pumpkin. YET.
TokyoMagic!, I just figured that the photographer liked seeing the Horse Drawn Streetcar passing in the distance, it’s pretty much the only explanation I can come up with. Maybe that CM had his hand in his pocket because he was reaching for a stick of Trident chewing gum? 4 out of 5 dentists recommend it. Wow, I’ve never seen mounts for glass slides that could be popped open easily - I’ve had some that I could pry open with a screwdriver, but they are ruined (I’ve only done that as a last resort). It sounds like those wonderful slides of your mom and dad would be worth the time and effort that would be needed to scan them!
Chuck, that park-like feel is an anathema to the folks that run things. They don’t realize that open spaces with grass and/or flowers has value beyond what they can sell or build there. Good eye on the Omnibus. With the force of all those popping kernels, they probably really did need to weight the popcorn cart down! I hope TM’s parents went to the Berlin Chucky Cheese restaurant. So romantic!
Steve DeGaetano, yeah, you’re probably right!
K. Martinez, I’m sure you’ve also seen those solar-powered spinning things that are atop billboards, another anti-pigeon method. There’s a lady at our local park who feeds the ducks (she literally brings giant bags full of food for them), and the pigeons have learned where to get an easy meal. Now the darn place is full of the “rats with wings”!
JG, I can’t help thinking of the upcoming (and exciting!) area outside the Haunted Mansion, a misguided idea for so many reasons. And yet, the hard-core fans can’t wait. It must make the designers happy that so many people have no aesthetic sense. Hm, I didn’t remember that they used colored lights to shine on the trees - presumably they used all sorts of colors throughout the Plaza. Gosh, I’m ashamed that I didn’t notice the saw-toothed railing at the Sub Queue, but I walked on the ride early in the morning, so there was no queue to wait in! As for the “canvas-covered something”, I thought it might be an umbrella, but that makes no sense.
Chuck, my flag looks just like the Bunker Hill Flag, except that I have a can of Axe Body Spray instead of a pine tree.
TOKYO: my dad was stationed in Mannheim … I was born in Heidelberg. Why so much US activity in Germany during the height of the Vietnam war?? Well you don’t learn much about it in school .. but the commie Russians were interested in expanding their interested into Western Europe while Americans were focused on Asia.
K. Martinez …… you are partially correct … the “wavey” serrated edging to the Finding NEMO Submarine Voyage was added not to detour birds from resting on the railing (but I’m sure it does) …. But to keep guests from leaning over and hanging on the railing and dropping FOOD and DRINK -especially wrappers and cups into the lagoon.
Sigh... A day late and a dollar short as usual...
...But...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STU!!!
(Now back to our regularly scheduled program)
I wonder if the photographer is standing in the garden under the House Of The Future, perhaps on one of the terraced steps over the cascading waterfalls? What a view!
I’m pretty sure Dave Bossert’s new book on the fabulous HOTF will shed some light on that possibly. I can hardly wait to read my copy, FOTP (Fresh Off The Presses) in real print.
MS
Mike Cozart, I think Germany was THE place for most US military families. My dad said that he turned down a transfer to Germany in the early 70s (did they let people turn stuff like that down??) because he thought it would be too hard on his family. I always wonder what my life would be life had we gone!
Grant, better late than never.
MS, you could be right, at least the front-most part of the garden (closest to the Plaza). I hope that the HOTF book has lots of info that I have not seen elsewhere! I’m a tough customer, though.
"...I can’t help thinking of the upcoming (and exciting!) area outside the Haunted Mansion, a misguided idea for so many reasons. And yet, the hard-core fans can’t wait..."
I tend to think of this crew as hard core fans as well. We just aren't the right demographic that spends enormous amounts of money on things that put cash in the Disney Company's coffers. Disney earns nothing from vintage collectors, and the only headliner Imagineer egos we would be inflating are mostly gone. And so we get things like Madame Leota's Voodoo Flea Market.
Chuck, yes....vintage dust! I'm sure it is worth a lot!
Mike, my parents were over in Berlin, and then back home, before the U.S. entered into the Vietnam War!
Major, I don't have one of the slides in front of me, but from what I can remember, the main part of the slide's mount is hollow with only three sides. The fourth side can be pulled off and then the two pieces of glass and the film positive can be slid out. Since they were made to do that, it doesn't damage the frame at all. The next time I get them out, I'll take one apart and send you a picture, since you haven't seen one like that before.
Popcorn vendor: hands in pockets: VERBOTEN. Hanging on pole: VERBOTEN. Ignoring guest no matter how small: VERBOTEN. Wagon on angle: VERBOTEN. (wagons were given either little platforms or a level slab depending on how steep the angle was.) Not wearing name tag: VERBOTEN. The popcorn IS at an acceptable level however, and he is wearing his hat AND his bow tie is straight. He has his sleeves rolled up which is VERBOTEN. Looks like a 30 inch waist though: so he properly is in line with the range of costumes. His costume is properly pressed and fresh. Being in white is hard in ODV. It's not a "clean" job, and your sleeves get covered in yellow popcorn oil and popcorn kettle grease. Can't imagine wearing white trousers either. All problematic: get the bleach.
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