Frontierland and Rivers of America, May 1984
Sue B. has been so generous, sharing tons of photos taken by her dad, Lou Perry, during his many trips to Disneyland. I recently found a folder full of scans that she'd sent me a while ago, and I somehow managed to skip them. So today I am going to share them in a 12 image MEGA-POST. I hope your puny Earthling brains can handle it.
Looking toward Fowler's Harbor, the Mark Twain snores gently as a full raft crosses back to the mainland. That Keelboat is snoring too, just less-noticeably. I hope you like the Columbia sailing ship, because she's going to be featured heavily!
Lou tried to get a picture of the bumper sticker on the back of the Columbia (ships have bumpers, right?), "Honk if you love circumnavigating the globe".
Sure, the Columbia looks neat, but I can't think of too many photos of the raft named after Becky Thatcher (Tom Sawyer's best gal). So that's cool!
Well, I was mighty glad to see the Columbia return from her long voyage, because I was under the impression that she had a hold full of spices. Preferably that secret combination of 11 herbs and spices that I've heard so much about. But all they have is a bunch of smelly furs. What a ripoff!
Hey, I didn't say that I was posting these in any particular order, so you can't take me to court.
There's Cascade Peak, still going strong at that point. And by "going strong" I mean that nobody has torn it down out of stupidity.
Since these were taken in May, it's possible that the white sky is a result of some early "June Gloom". If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live inside a fluorescent tube (and who hasn't?) a day like this gives a pretty good approximation.
Look at all those people leaning on the rail. If they have time to lean, they have time to clean, am I right? I wonder if the figurehead of the Columbia is historically accurate. I wonder if bees have feelings. I wonder a lot of stuff.
A brave and competent crew member is lowering the ramp-thingy so that he can finally be free of these landlubbers who talk about non-dairy creamer and "The Fonz" all day long. "What ever happened to sea shanties??" he wept. Meanwhile, a fresh crew of 'lubbers is anxious to board!
Since these were taken in May, it's possible that the white sky is a result of some early "June Gloom". If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live inside a fluorescent tube (and who hasn't?) a day like this gives a pretty good approximation.
There she goes, beginning another three-year journey. But not before the cap'n gives a friendly "toot" on the horn as a way of saying goodbye to those ashore.
And finally, an extra scan that does not involve the Rivers of America, but instead shows the Golden Horseshoe Revue building, closed for some sort of maintenance, or perhaps this was when it was briefly converted to the "New Wave Horseshoe Featuring A Flock of Seagulls".
MANY THANKS to Lou and Sue!
25 comments:
Major-
The Columbia sure is a photogenic ship... so is my 1958 Edsel; but it doesn't float nearly as well.
Thanks to Lou and Sue.
I wonder if Bu was a Tour Guide during this time?
Sue
1) These rafters are safe... for the moment. I don't see any AEDs on the prowl. Possibly one over there next to the raft dock; not sure. But the raft is heading away from the Island, so all's clear.
The Mark twain looks awfully small in this photo, all snug in its harbor. Lots of little squirmy kids on that raft. One would think that they would be all tuckered out after running around Tom's Island for an hour or so. And the Columbia looks jam-packed with guests.
2) The Columbia is leaving us behind, "Come back, Columbia! Come back!". Dang. Now we'll have to wait 10 or 15 minutes for the ship to sail around the world.
3) It looks like Lou deliberately got the Becky Thatcher raft prominently in frame for the rarity of it being there, like you said, Major. And now, WE get to see it!
4) And there she is... the Lady herself: Ms. Columbia, front and center!
5) There's that incredibly steep gangplank again. Sure, little kids would have fun on it, but TM!'s great grandma, holding her shopping bag full of fried chicken (there's those 11 herbs & spices again) would have a heck of a time getting up, or down, that ramp.
6) I don't think I can see The Bell on Cascade Peak. Anybody else?
7 & 8) Those kids closest to the front are all eating corndogs; one in each hand! ;-)
9) I think the lady closest to us, in the white short-shorts, is snorting cocaine.
10 & 11) "the cap'n gives a friendly 'toot' on the horn" Does the Columbia have a horn? She has a bell... and a cannon. But a horn? I didn't know that.
12) Hmmm, it looks sorta natural to see a woman wearing short-shorts. But it looks pretty silly on the guy next to her..... What were we thinking?!
Thank you, Lou, Sue, and Moo. ("Major" doesn't rhyme with Lou & Sue.)
JB, the Mark Twain might appear to be smaller, because it is missing both of it's smokestacks. And those knobby sticks (what is the purpose of those, anyway?) do look like corn dogs!
JB (again), we didn't go on the Columbia during my family's fried chicken visit, but I suppose my brother and I could have gone up the ramp first, thrown a rope down to my great grandmother, and then hoisted her up.
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live inside a fluorescent tube (and who hasn't?) a day like this gives a pretty good approximation.
Major, I have wondered about that. In fact, I've wondered about it more than once. ;-)
Wonderful pics and funny commentary, today! Thank you Lou, Sue, and the Major, too!
TM! is right - the Twain isn't stacked like she usually is. Note there is some sort of scaffolding around where the stacks would be.
Also note the Columbia crewmember in the same photo standing on the rails, no doubt demonstrating one of the magic tricks available for sale on Main Street. And dang - that raft helmsman is tall!
Count me among those who have wondered what life would be like inside a fluorescent tube.
Count me among those who have wondered what life would be like inside a fluorescent tube.
Interesting that the Golden Horseshoe is closed for "refurbishing" and not "reimagineering." At least Mickey is no longer taking dictation from Tom Sawyer.
JB, I can't see the Bell on Cascade Peak. I can see the "walkway" for the bighorn sheep, though.
If Columbia has a bell and a horn, I wonder if it also has streamers on the handlebars and baseball cards in the spokes?
And regarding your observation #9, that is totally inappropriate. It's spelled Columbia, not Colombia.
Thanks again, Lou & Sue!
Interesting that the Golden Horseshoe is closed for "refurbishing" and not "reimagineering."
Chuck, now you've got me wondering if they ever thought about putting Tiana inside the Golden Horseshoe? Or the Haunted Mansion or the Matterhorn? "Tiana's Pirates of the Caribbean" might be nice.
TOKYO: the Mark Twain has 2 sets of stacks … 2 for the boiler ( the tall ones up front - missing in these pictures) and 2 towards the back … excess steam released after the piston is pushed to the end of the cylinder escapes out those stacks . If you stand at the back of the boat you can hear when the steam will come out of the rear stacks right after the drive arms ( stroke) rotate the stern wheel. It sounds like a person breathing heavy.
The “knobby poles” at the rear are the tensioning masts - and help support the weight of the stern wheel mechanism and keep the drive wheel at the right height in the water … if it is too low , it would not be able to get enough momentum to rotate and propel the boat foward. Both the rear stacks and the tensioner poles are authentic to steamboats and sternwheelers ….
The Indians in Frontierland usually let the Mark Twain pass …. They call the steamboat “ PENELORE” which means “fire canoe” - they believe the Mark Twain is their legendary COMET OF THE SUMMER returning again ….
Thanks Lou and Sue for the river tour!
Lots of 80’s fashions and hair.
“Two Years Before the Mast” has a vivid description of life aboard a vessel similar to Columbia, including packing the hold with cured cowhides to return to the leather factories in Massachusetts. Recommended reading, and available free from Project Gutenberg.
The lady in white is loading up some “booger sugar” before heading over to the Golden Horseshoe to check on the Studio 54 overlay.
Mike, that chuffing steam sound is one of my top 5 Disneyland sounds, along with the Main Street train announcer and bell and the monorail air horn. Unique sounds heard nowhere else.
Thanks Major, good start to the week. I’ll try not to tear down any peaks out of stupidity.
JG
I don't think Tiana is a good fit for the Horseshoe...but I wouldn't mind seeing "The New Zoo Horseshoe Review"....perhaps Doug and Emmy Jo are still available for this stint? Looks like the Horseshoe was done with Pepsi there. Not sure if that is why it was down for rehab. In those days pretty much everything cycled through it's yearly rehab, and this probably gave the performers some semblance of order to taking vacation...could be..., and I only speculate on all points. Yes, in '84 I was doing my thing. These photos really encapsulate the last days of a much different world. A lot would change by the end of the year: hostile takeovers, the strike, Ron Miller out, Eisner and Wells in...at the time we only knew "something" was going on..then it all went sideways. And yes, just like the Golden Horseshoe photo...the guys were all wearing Dolphin shorts/no socks. Well...perhaps not ALL the guys...but I wore them too...perhaps not to "ride rides" but probably in the Canoe Races. The days of a 28" waist...if you went past 32...no costume for you. In fact...since there were so few guys in the dept, they tailored them for us...so you could neither go up or down. I don't understand "no socks"...just seems kind of slimy...I'll leave it there. Thanks Lou and Sue for the trip to '84!
Yep! 1984 was the last great year of Disneyland for me. Then came the Eisner regime.
The New Zoo Horseshoe Revue! Oh yeah! Works for me. You could still get Doug, Emmy Jo, Freddie and Charlie to creak along for the show, but sadly Henrietta has passed on.
Sue, again your dad took such wonderful photos. Thank you both for rekindling memories of Disneyland for us.
@ Bu-
Pepsi 'was done' at the Golden Horseshoe by September 30, 1982 - and Kodak 'was in' on October 1, 1982 - BUT... they 'were out' on April 30, 1984, SO - the temporary closing may have to do with Kodak's skedaddling.
Nanook, now my mission is to sail an Edsel around the globe!
Sue, only Bu will know.
JB, it’s funny that you said that the Mark Twain looked small, I have seen other steamboats at other parks (*cough cough - Freedomland*) and they look small to me. Walt must have been thrilled to see his stern-wheeler take shape! I wonder why the Becky Thatcher raft isn’t seen so often. Was it a later addition to the rafts? The bell on Cascade Peak would be hidden by the foliage, but I’ll bet it was there! Snorting cocaine is one way to deal with the rigors of Disneyland, I can’t blame that woman. And yes, the Columbia has a horn, it’s right next to the gear shift.
TokyoMagic!, good eye on the missing smokestacks. They must have been sent out for bat removal. I guess I’m not looking in the right place, I don’t see anything that looks like a corndog. But I admit that I am no corndog expert! I see that you are of the old-school “lower a rope” type, while I am of the “human cannonball” type. People who think about things like living inside a fluorescent tube are some of the finest people in the world!
Chuck, now I can’t help wondering if any Columbia crew members ever fell in by accident. Hopefully that four feet of water was enough to prevent any serious injuries. And I will count you in to what life would be like inside a fluorescent tube - I will count you twice! I don’t know about the streamers on the handlebars or the baseball cards in the spokes, but I do know that the Columbia (both the original and the Disneyland version) had banana seats and sissy bars.
TokyoMagic!, I feel like I’ve seen photos of “Tiana” performing on the Golden Horseshoe stage, perhaps just for a song or two. The last time I was at the park there was just a guy playing the piano, I could see them having a vocal accompaniment on occasion.
Mike Cozart, thanks for the Mark Twain stack info! I’m still unclear as to what bits looked like corndogs to some people, but I guess I’m just not that hungry. I do remember that part of the Mark Twain spiel that mentioned “penelore”, although “fire canoe” is pretty cool.
JG, I downloaded “Two Years Before the Mast”, but for some reason I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I guess I’m just too much of a fan of the “Twilight” series, and keep re-reading them over and over. “Booger sugar”, hmmmm. I do love the chuffing sound on the Mark Twain and wonder how many people don’t even notice it.
Bu, at this point it doesn’t seem like anybody running the park cares much about what fits (or doesn’t). Just put it in there, the guests will love it! And they aren’t wrong. Jeez, Doug and Emmy Jo… I only remember the opening song for “The New Zoo Review”, I think it was a “baby show” by the time I was aware of it. I am looking forward to the big-budget CGI movie version! Especially when the big blue beam blasts up into the sky. I’ve always wondered if Ron Miller was angry about being ousted, or relieved? Maybe a bit of both. Dolphin shorts? I didn’t even know dolphins wore shorts. Time to watch more nature specials. Wow, even in my skinny days (and I was very skinny!), my waist was 32”. Hard to believe I would have been almost too fat to work at the park! I agree about the “no socks” thing, I tried it briefly and it did not go well.
K. Martinez, do you happen to remember the first changes to the park after Eisner took over? I doubt I was paying much attention at the time, but I’d love to know.
Nanook, they should have replaced Pepsi with Moxie. From what I’m told, it tastes “like old socks”!
In high school, I went to church with a guy who had been friends with the hosts of New Zoo Revue (who were married to each other at the time) when he had lived in Southern California soon after finishing college. If anyone remembers Jim Click Chevrolet in Irvine, it was his son. The family had actually started the dealership in their home town of Altus, OK, and then opened a sister dealership in Irvine. The son was running the Altus branch when I knew him.
And there’s a Disney connection - the person in the Charlie the Owl suit on The New Zoo Revue was former Mouseketeer Sharon Baird.
Thanks for counting me twice, Major. I figured if it was important enough for you to say it more than once, I should respond in kind.
Actually, I believe the New Zoo hosts are still married to each other. Sorry for inferring otherwise.
Great pictures today of the Columbia, etc. courtesy of Lou & Sue (& posted by Major). Thanks to all.
With my very limited knowledge of sailing ships, I do know that what is being referred to as "corn dogs" are actually belaying pins. These are are cylindrically shaped wooden dowels which are rounded on the top ends.
They are used for tying off ropes and are usually removable from the ship's rail.
-DW
Major-
"From what I’m told, it [Moxie] tastes “like old socks”! No, that would be durian. But if properly-used as part of a recipe, it can actually be pretty tasty. HEY - it isn't called "The King of Fruits" for nothin'-! (Yes, I've been known to try several "exotic" foods...)
Mr. Eisners first tangible addition to the park was Videopolis...and of course we had our own name for it which was "Hideopolis". Luckily, it was kind of buried back there in Fantasyland and generally our department did not have too much interaction save for the occasional employee meeting et. al. From the beginning, It seemed to be fraught with the social issues that come with thousands of teenagers all crammed into one spot. I think I danced there maybe once...the crowd was a bit odd to tell you the truth..and there was another place down the road, that not only had alcohol to go with the dancing, there was a slide that plopped you down right in the middle of the dance floor. Forgot the name of that place, but it was fun. We also had a regular hangout on Thursday nights...I think it was The Rusty Pelican in Newport. A live band. Super loud. The days where you could go out with a group of co-workers without it becoming an HR issue. My memory is telling me that there was specific rules about employees going to Videopolis...will have to dig that out of the memory bank. Videopolis didn't last long if I remember, but it was Eisners first "tip toe through the tulips." The other stuff behind the scenes, and not tangible from a guest perspective, started immediately: (for another time.)
Major, Videopolis (First, Fastest, Finest) in 1985 was the FIRST attraction completed by the Eisner-Wells team, FASTEST Contruction project completed and FINEST dance facility. But Knott's did it before Disney with Studio K the year before in 1984. I believe after that Captain EO followed.
Tokyo!, Ah. No smoke stacks. I knew something looked different about the MT but it never really clicked. I think those corndog thingies are used for tying off ropes and other rigging(?)
Chuck, hahaha. Now I'm picturing the Columbia comin' 'round the bend going, "[clackita, clackita, clackita]".
Major, now we can add a gear shift to Chuck's streamers, handlebars, and baseball cards.
Also, the Columbia's corndogs are most prominent in pictures 7 & 8.
DW, YES! Belaying pins! I couldn't think of the name.
Chuck, ha ha, oh now I see that I DID write it twice. Never blog while sniffing glue, that’s all I have to say about that. Elmer’s Glue takes a long time to kick in. I’m still a fan of the Old Zoo Revue and can never forgive those darn newcomers with their brilliantined hair and rock music.
Chuck, I wasn’t upset about it, but it’s nice to know that they are still together.
DW, they probably designed belaying pins to be corn-dog shaped so that they could actually use real corn dogs in an emergency!
Nanook, I’ve had durian! To me it tasted a little like fried onions, but that’s only an approximation. It wasn’t bad, just weird. My best friend is really into rare an unusual fruits, so I’ve had the chance to try many that I might otherwise have never heard of.
Bu, you might have called it “Hideopolis”, but it sure seems like kids from that time loved going to Disneyland to see bands like “No Doubt”. Maybe that’s during that time when Tomorrowland seemed to fill up with teens and the regular guests were frightened and confused. “That teenager was rude to me!”. It’s strange, I don’t ever remember setting eyes on the Videopolis stage, and wonder if I just didn’t go to the park for a long stretch of time? It’s all a blur now. I don’t see why going out with coworkers after work would be an HR problem… it’s your time after all, and these are your friends. And as long as a CM was off duty, you’d think they could do whatever any regular guest could do in the park.
K. Martinez, was “First, Fastest, Finest” something that Eisner said? I am not getting the reference. As for “Captain Eo”… hoo boy. I guess fans loved it, but I’ve watched the movie, and it is pretty bad. So much money for so little payoff.
JB, see DW’s comment about the belaying pins! Oh I see you already read it. Not many people knew how to shift gears on an old-timey sailing ship, there were 22 gears, plus “reverse”.
Here in Southern California TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST was once required reading for California history. Dana Point … the home port of Captain Mike O’brian’s “BORA BORA BELLE” sailboat … and is named after Richard Henry Dana Jr., the author of the novel. He is a local hero ( captan Mike and Henry Dana) a full-size operating replica of THE PILGRIM ship in TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST built in the 70’s .. recently sunk while docked at its home port after a heavy rainstorm. It has been brought up in pieces by a crane and sits in sections in the oceanographic center’s parking lot. They have plans to reconstruct it …. But the funds are still being raised ( wouldn’t insurance money be enough??) when the Plgrim was still afloat and docked the surrounding historic ships chadlier building and port office (reconstructions) created a DISCOVERY BAY feel …
MAJOR : “sometimes folks call riverboats like our MARK TWAIN “floating wedding cakes” because of our layers of decks …”
Of course the stacks are missing from the Mark Twain. They're now HERE!
I just saw online today that the Mark Twain is being refurbished.
Any bets on the name changing to the Bayou Belle?
"Never blog while sniffing glue, that’s all I have to say about that."
Just don't pick the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
This is such a great set of pictures I'm going to have the score to Show Boat stuck in my head all week. You know, "The Show Boat, soon we'll be making another run, the Show Boat, Old Man River keeps rollin' on..."
Fun day on the river, thank you!
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