Nighttime On Main Street (and beyond), November, 1974
I have a trio of uncommon night views from good old Main Street USA - and BEYOND.
The Crystal Arcade? I dated a girl named Crystal Arcade once. She became a dancer. Of sorts. Did you know that a pink crystal will bring you love, and a green crystal will bring you money? It's true! Einstein's Theory proved it. I once slept with a crystal on my forehead, and got an "A" on the big test the next day.
Main Street Station sure looks beautiful as the sky fades to the deep blue of the evening. It's only a little bit after five o'clock, but of course it's November, night falls so early. I wish I could climb those steps and do the Disneyland Railroad "Grand Circle Tour" three times in a row!
And finally, here's the "beyond" I mentioned - a photo taken from the Sierra Tower at the Disneyland Hotel, looking out toward the parking lot. Admittedly there's not a whole lot to see; there's the Monorail track heading off toward the red neon of what was former Wilbur Clark's Crest Hotel, but I believe by 1974 had been renamed the Grand Hotel because Wallace Beery and Greta Garbo lived there. Not much of Disneyland itself is discernible, other than the peaked roof of the train station (outlined in popcorn lights).
24 comments:
Major-
Night shots of The Happiest Place On Earth are always such a treasure. The Sierra Tower shot certainly captures quite the view. Hey - let's start picking out automobiles... [as if-!]
A girl named "Crystal Arcade" - Ha ha. How about Monte Carlo-? I know one of those. And then there's always Luke Warm - but that's a 'horse of a different color', so to speak.
Thanks, Major.
Wow, that first pic is so sharp and clear; perfect lighting! As far as crystals go: I was always fascinated by those "Magic Crystal" Rock Garden kits. Some of them had a small, clear, plastic tank; otherwise you could use a small fishbowl (preferably without the fish). Mix the pouch of mysterious liquid (sodium silicate solution) with water, add it to the tank/fishbowl, place the supplied colored 'rocks' into the liquid and watch the stalagmites grow before your eyes! Magic!
These photos really are nice. I bet the photographer steadied the camera on something to get them looking so sharp. Together, the photos do a good job representing the primary colors: top- yellow, middle- blue, bottom- red.
Nanook, "Rusty Nails".
Beautiful nite pics, Major. Thanks.
Speaking of Crystals....and the DL Hotel, I remember an outdoor vendor cart at the hotel with a variety of crystals for sale. This was when I was in the Christmas parade, and working a split shift. We would sometimes go over to the hotel between shifts. The lady who worked the cart had a thick accent (European?) and would talk about the "healing power of the crystals." I think most of the crystals had been made into some type of jewelry, like pendants on necklaces, but there might have been some "loose" crystals for sale, too.
What? No love for Joan Crawford? She was in "Grand Hotel," too. She played Flaemmchen...."Flem" for short. Or was it Phlegm?
Some of my fondest memories are of hanging out at Main Street Station at night. Late 1990s, usually a Saturday night, waiting to catch a ride in the cab with some of my engine crew friends. With the hustle and bustle of passengers, uniformed Conductors shuffling here and there between the station office and the platforms, it often felt like a real railroad station.
And it was, of course.
Maybe it was Crystal R. Cade? TM!, Joan Crawford's character in The Women was named Crystal. Coincidence?!? Yeah, probably.
I know the word gets thrown around a lot, but the parks after dark really are magical. City Hall, with its "one luminary clock against the sky" always makes me think of "Acquainted with the Night." Of course, nowadays all the kids wear flashing strobe lights after dark, so I'm too blinded to see the soft lights of Main Street. And then they won't even get off my lawn.
Disneyland at night seemed like a whole new Park, and Main Street especially, until the strobe lights. (H/t Melissa).
I wonder if the popcorn lights idea came from Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen?
Love that hotel view, the power lines are out there somewhere. “Power Lines in the Mist”…
I once lived in a place believed by credulous folks to be an “cosmic energy center”. Practically every shop sold some kind of crystal for healing, mental focus, love, etc. it’s a big industry now. Flying saucers, Lemurians, color vibrations, nuts. “The Science is Settled, Trust the Science”…
JB, I had some Magic Rocks, lots of fun. I kept mine next to the Sea Monkeys, and I polished them with Altairean Glow Water…
Thanks Major! Say hello to Crystal when you see her.
JG
On many days such as this, I woke up to this view from the Disneyland hotel. But celebrating birthday at the beach this year!
MS
Major, I'm pretty sure Crystal Arcade knows Candy Barr.
JG
Isn’t Candy Barr related to Jim Barr?
Sue
Nanook, I admit that as night shots go, these aren’t the most beautiful, but they still have a certain something. Whoa, “Monte Carlo”? A girl named “Monte”, that’s a new one.
JB, I know I had those “Magic Crystals” at least once when I was a kid, they were fascinating. I never quite knew what to do with them once they were formed - the stuff that they grew in was toxic (no idea what it was), and the crystals were so fragile that once you removed the liquid they would break if you looked at them too much. There were other night photos in this batch that were blurry, so I’m not so sure about the tripod. They might have placed the camera on a handy trashcan like my friend Mr. X used to do.
TokyoMagic!, yeah, you can go down a real dumb rabbit hole talking to people about crystals. There used to be a woman at a swap meet, she had some fossils that I stopped to look at, but what she really wanted to talk about was the power of crystals. I pretended to be fascinated! Meanwhile, the fossils were actually interesting. I’ve never actually seen “Grand Hotel”, and wasn’t 100% sure about Greta Garbo.
Steve DeGaetano, those sound like some pretty sweet memories! On occasion I’ve walked down Main Street after most folks have left the park, and it is a special thing.
Melissa, wow, I thought “Crystal” was a hippie name, I had no idea it existed in the 1930s. You are really classing up this joint with poetry! I understand why the park wants to sell all of those light-up gewgaws, but they really are distracting, especially in The Haunted Mansion.
JG, maybe the idea of popcorn lights originated at Tivoli Gardens, but all of those wonderful places at Coney Island (Luna Park, etc) and the like were covered in lights, as was much of the 1893 Chicago Fair. My mom was briefly interested in “pyramid power”, she built a pyramid out of cardboard and covered it with gold adhesive film. I can’t remember what she did with the pyramid though! Crystal is now a grandmother and is active in church matters. Sadly.
MS, is today your birthday??
JG, hey, I’ve seen pictures of a woman named Candy Barr! She sure is… er… “interesting”.
Sue, who is Jim Barr??
Jim Barr, as in "gym bar," Major.
;o)
Major, really nice shots of nighttime, these are special/rare.
Of course, as a kid I was excited that Main Street had *two* arcards for playing awesome old coin games... until I went in Crystal Arcade and was confused/disappointed.
"Is this Kansas City, Kansas, or Kansas City, Missouri?"... WC Field line, spoken from an approaching hot air balloon, from the hotel movie International House. Or, maybe it was a jalopy with flubber.
In the 60s, my cousin wanted Disneyland to build a flubber car ride flying over Main Street from town square to plaza... glad they didn't.
"Jim Barr, as in "gym bar," Major."
I had a classmate in high school named Jim Class.
Major, as I recall, she had "vast tracts of land..."
JG
Yes indeedy Major. Enjoying Hearst’s castle this year.
Cheers MS
Happy Birthday MS!
If I had known, I would’ve baked you a cake and thrown a party. I promise to, next year. By any chance, are you going to swim in “the pool” there? For a small fortune, I hear you can.
Sue
It's special to walk down Main Street at night with just a few souls around...perhaps just a sweeper with the scrrraaapppeeee of the dust pan. It is a VERY specific sound, and the musical quality of the dustpan is unlike any other dust pan I've heard. The ones they use today are not old school and I think are plastic. Disneyland dust pans are/were engineered differently, with an ergonomic handle...not so much for your body, but how the dustpan should be used. I moonlighted shortly as a sweeper in 1984. I can see why the job was coveted...it was kind of fun, and brings out the best of any OCD you may have. The Crystal Arcade confused me, and I did expect to see more crystal- like the Arribas Brothers exploded all over the place. It could still happen. Isn't there a story about a Arribas Glass Cinderella Castle being smashed...or bumped into...or kidnapped or something? Some kind of 'nannigans happening...with kids running around. Will have to look that up. I appreciate what the Arribas Bros can do, but not a gigantical fan of it. I would like to have some vintage Arribas Bros glasses with the Disneyland/Arribas stickers on it. Not the Mickey-fied etched glass commercial stuff, but actual cut crystal Arribas. Another thing to look up. Any photo of the parking lot is good...looks like it was a busy day...the glow of the "h tel Disneyland" is lighting up those buildings next to the Olympic pool...or the Coral Club...or whatever it was called during this time. Thanks for the Disneyland After Dark Major!
JG, nowadays I keep my Magic Rocks next to my Magic Beans. Every once in a while I'll plant a Magic Bean and take a visit to Giantland. The giants are quite friendly (unless you're an Englishman), and I trade them a couple of Magic Rocks for golden eggs; win/win!
Sue, as far as I know, there is no Candy Barr in our extended family... a missed opportunity for sure!
Major, yeah those crystals were very fragile. Once, I tried to drain the toxic juice (I think it was slug slime) to stop the growth of the crystals. I ended up with a bunch of colorful confetti. Although a few of them kept their shape.
Major, Jim Barr is ME, JB! (Sue knows everything!)
Also, "Sara N. Wrap".
I went to the 1981 National Scout Jamboree with a kid named Richard Beiter. His parents had named him after his Uncle Dick. He preferred to be called Richard for some reason.
Was Crystal R. Cade a pharmacist? There's a Rx and mortars and pestles on the right windows.
When Crystal was a dancer, did she emphasize the second syllable (crysTAL)-like the champagne? That's a sure sign of what kind of places she worked in.
Major, you guessed right about Garbo being in "Grand Hotel." It's the film where she utters the line, "I want to be alone!" I had always thought that she said that in real life, since she eventually became so reclusive, but it's actually a line from "Grand Hotel." And she repeats it seconds later, adding a "just" in there, "I just want to be alone!"
TM!, Joan Crawford's character in The Women was named Crystal. Coincidence?!? Yeah, probably.
Melissa, I love that film! "Jungle Red, Mother!" And maybe it's not a coincidence. Maybe that's why Joan Crawford was involved with It's A Small World at the New York World's Fair. That, and the fact that she liked children so much.
I had a classmate in college with the name Candi Cain. And I sat next to a girl in freshman English in high school, who's last name was Mallow. She said her parents were really tempted to name her Marsha, but I guess they resisted at the last minute.
Lou and Sue, heh heh, I’m just PRETENDING to be stupid! Heh heh….
LTL, ha ha, yeah, the Crystal Arcade did not have Asteroids of Pac Man. I’m trying to imagine how they might have achieved a “flubber car” attraction. Sort of like a Skyway thing? I’m with you, I’m not sure I need cars “flying” above Main Street, but we’ve probably all had Disneyland ideas that were kooky to other people.
Melissa, “Jim Class”, I love it. I was going to mention a high school friend of mine who had a funny name, but I don’t want to “make fun of him”, even though I doubt he knows my blog exists.
JG, ACRES!
MS, Happy Birthday to you! I’ve been to Hearst Castle, but need to go back to take some of the other tours.
Sue, I’ve heard that the pool is COLD! But I guess it would be a rare experience.
Bu, I’m sure you have experienced an almost-empty Main Street at night many times, but the rest of us mere mortals don’t get as many opportunities. GDB friend Huck was a sweeper (I made the terrible mistake of referring to him as a “sweep” once, as if he was in Mary Poppins) and he loved the job, it paid OK and gave him a chance to visit all the cute girls. I have never heard about an Arribas Brothers crystal castle being broken, but I have no doubt that it has happened. A friend of mine has a crystal castle that is maybe 14 inches tall, it’s in a display cabinet in his home, I am sure it is from Arribas Brothers. I’m looking forward to seeing the park at night, hopefully pretty soon!
JB, for some reason your mention of “magic beans” made me think of Mexican jumping beans, which my grandma used to buy for us on Olvera Street. I guess there was some sort of larvae inside the beans, which is kind of gross, but hey, it’s nature. The Magic Crystals also faded in color for some reason, maybe there was some fancy way to save them that I was too dumb to think of. I’m sorry I forgot your full name, I’m too used to “JB”!
Chuck, why would somebody with that last name give their kid the name “Richard”?? WHY??
Dean Finder, I’m sure you already know, but the Upjohn Pharmacy adjoined the Crystal Arcade, which explains the mortar and pestle. Crystal said her name the normal way, at least when I knew her! ;-)
TokyoMagic!, is that the movie that was advertised with “Garbo talks!”? I can’t blame her for vanting to be alone, the paparazzi was always hounding her. Just like they hound me! Can’t a guy date models half his age in peace? I can’t think of too many movies that I’ve seen with Joan Crawford, which is not something I’m proud of. I wish I got Turner Classic Movies, maybe I could fill in some of my movie gaps! Wow, Candi Cane is pretty great. “Marsha Mallow” is cute, but I’m glad for that girl that her parents did not go there.
My high school sewing/tailoring class teacher was Ms. Walker at the start of the school year. Before the end of the year, she got married to Mr. Ryden.
Fun comments and great pictures today!
Sue
Major, the movie that was advertised with the tag line, "Garbo Talks!", was Anna Christie, from 1930. That was two years before Grand Hotel. And it was also the inspiration for the title of the 1984 film, Garbo Talks.
Hopefully, you have seen Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?, because it's a lot of fun to watch Bette Davis torment Joan Crawford. Of course, Trog probably has THE best Joan Crawford line of all time...."TROG, STOP IT!"
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