Miscellaneous Amusements
I love vintage photos of amusement parks. And while I can't always ID the park in the picture, there is often much to enjoy.
This first scan is dated "October, 1968", and shows a little amusement park on top of a high-rise building somewhere in Japan (the photo was presumably taken from an even taller building). They sure crammed a lot of stuff in that tiny space - there's a Monorail, a flying elephant ride, a teacup ride, a simple train (that goes around the teacups and even a castle!), and some sort of car ride. There might be a few more attractions as well, it's hard to tell from up here. Something must be in that structure that the monorail circles, or beneath that arched roof in the upper right - and I can't quite identify what's going on in the lower right. If anybody out there knows anything about this place, please chime in!
Next is this undated (but probably from the 1950s) photo from an amusement park or State fair, or something. "The Law and the Outlaw" appears to be some sort of show with live actors, the large photos portray Jesse and Frank James, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and a few others I can't make out. Looking up "The Law and the Outlaw", I only find references to a 1913 Tom Mix short film. Note that to the left there is a "Great Train Robbery" sign, I don't know if that is a separate attraction or if it is all one big show. Once again, if you have any knowledge to pass along, please do!
16 comments:
Major-
There are a few rooftop amusement parks in Tokyo - but none seem to resemble this image; although I do spy an imposter "Dumbo" flying elephant ride...
Thanks, Major.
Heavens to good gravy! There are so many unusual things in this odd little amusement park. Is that a merry-go-round between the teacups and the elephants? It doesn't really look like one; it seems to have a strange assortment of vehicles; a typical horse, cars, and whatever those other things are. All positioned at irregular distances from each other.
And I have no idea what that long trough-like thing is in the bottom right of the photo; a log flume? It's got long vehicles sort of like a flume ride. But where do they come from, and where do they go? No idea what is inside the castle; maybe a fun house? Perhaps it's just food and restrooms. Then there's that stage(?) in the upper left corner, with the red & white striped cloth panels. An audience of 20 or 30 people is facing the stage; maybe a musical venue? So much more; I've barely scratched the surface.
OK, the second photo is just as weird as the first! What's with all the gallows and nooses on top of the building? Just part of the decor, or were they used in the show somehow? For that matter, was there even a show? Maybe it's a shooting gallery. (I don't think so.) Oh! The sign on the Great Train Robbery building says "Live Ammunition", so that must be a shooting gallery... or not.
What has the lady-in-pink got on her head? A topless turban? A bandage?
Major, you've got me so confused with these photos that I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. I think these are the weirdest two photos you've shown on GDB... Thanks! ;-)
House of Bamboo?
I just want to shrink myself down and jump into that first picture. This angle makes it look like a dollhouse.
Several great hats in #2.
That could almost be anywhere in 1968 Japan. There were rooftop amusement parks on most department stores back then.
Being unable to read or speak Japanese, about all I have been able to determine is that's not the amusement park at the end of House of Bamboo. That was shot at Matsuya Sportsland on the roof of the Matsuya department store in the Asakusa district of Tokyo and was more open and elongated.
No clue on the second one.
Melissa, be sure to grab a parachute.
Photo 1 leaves me stumped, I have no idea where or when, but it’s a cool idea.
Photo 2 is “possibly” one show, and it must be a doozy, advertising live ammunition as part of the entertainment. Only 14 cents to enter, but I can’t make out the rest of the sign. The array of nooses is certainly intimidating. I guess no noose is good noose. A little gallows humor there.
Thanks Major, a real oddball combo today.
JG
JG, ”…no noose is good noose. A little gallows humor there…”. Simply brilliant execution. Glad you hang around with us.
"Photo 2 is “possibly” one show, and it must be a doozy, advertising live ammunition as part of the entertainment. Only 14 cents to enter, but I can’t make out the rest of the sign."
Enter with fourteen cents, leave with two pennies on your eyes. Silence, please; no coughing in the audience. Remember, it's not the coughin' that carries you off; it's the coffin they carry you off in.
Nanook, I mention the flying elephant ride! I’ve seen cheap examples of those, and teacup rides, at other parks; it seems like such a blatant ripoff!
JB, I am charmed by that tiny rooftop amusement park; yes, there is even a tiny carousel. I would not at all be surprised by a random assortment of carousel animals and other things; that’s part of the appeal to me. I don’t think that thing in the lower right is a log flume, but then again, I don’t have a better suggestion! Hmmm, I thought that the area with the stage was a dining area, could there actually be an audience and performers? Again, too indistinct to tell. Nooses used to be a popular decoration item, you saw them on the covers of McCall’s and House and Garden. For an elegant touch, make nooses out of velvet ropes! So classy. I think you’re right about the topless turban, kind of a weird thing.
walterworld, “House of Bamboo” is a movie, but I don’t know anything about it other than the synopsis online. Is there a little amusement park in that?
Melissa, that rooftop park isn’t even a “half day park”. It’s a “half hour park”!
Chuck, wow, really, most department stores in Japan had rooftop amusement parks? I had no idea. Oh, so walterworld was referencing the movie, which I have not seen (I’ll watch the clip later when I have more time).
JG, I do kind of think that photo #2 is all one big show, though 14 cents seems ridiculously cheap. Your puns are top-quality and will go in the Big Book of Puns by Bennett Cerf III.
Chuck, my brain keeps combining “good noose” into “goose”. WHY?
Melissa, I’m hoping that Andrew might chime in with some of his deep knowledge!
Major, yes, they were exceptionally common. The earliest rooftop amusement parks in Japan actually predated WWII, although their heyday appears to have been from the late ‘50s through the late ‘60s. A couple of department store fires in the early ‘70s changed building codes and required that a large percentage (I think maybe as much as 50%) of the rooftop of every department store be designated as an evacuation area. That, coupled with precipitously declining birth rates and additional code changes for seismic retrofitting pretty much killed off the rooftop park. I read that in November of 2023 there were only 5 department store rooftop amusement parks left in the whole country.
I’m hanged if I can explain your Freudian connection between “good noose” and “goose.”
I wish that I could pinpoint the exact location of this random park, but unfortunately I lack encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese rooftop amusement parks. I promise to do better next time. #fail
Cool pictures though! Like JB, I'm also extremely curious as to what ride that is in the lower right of the first image.
I think what we're looking at on the left is a shooting gallery. The sign appears to read "8 shots for 25c LIVE AMMUNITION." The other sign seems to say something like "In order that [children] may see this extraordinary showdown we...the price of admission to...14c." The vest with the headdress (lower right) does not appear to be for Indian Guides of Indian motorcycles. Given how everyone is dressed, it's probably summer and probably rural since they're using live ammo. And that's as far as I can take it. I'm kind of surprised at how hard this is to identify.
As for the Japanese rooftop amusement park, I have no joy to offer. I did find this photo:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5a/c4/69/5ac4693bc5db33fb68c014a7d64b1aa8.jpg
which shows a similar but not identical train. You'd think that tower would be fairly distinctive, but maybe it's gone by now.
Chuck, interesting, I have seen photos of amusement parks in Japan, usually they are closeups of little “round and round” car rides or rocket rides, I wonder if some of those were from rooftop parks?? No way of telling, though now that I am aware, maybe I will be able to look for clues in the future. It’s a shame that most of the parks are gone, but it is no surprise - it’s the same with so many small regional parks in the U.S… most long gone.
Andrew, I was really wondering if the second photo ticked any memories, but I realize that it’s a long shot!
Anonymous, ah, a shooting gallery makes sense! Still, live ammunition? Like with gunpowder and everything? Seems crazy, even if they are just .22mm rifles. Look out for those ricochets! Thanks for that great photo, I also love the CINERAMA sign in the background. I’d love to go to a department store and ride a little train like that.
In the early days of Big Thunder Mountain , the news paper of THUNDER RIDGE - “The Epitaph “ featured the slogan : “NO NOOSE IS GOOD NEWS”
Chuck, Major, happy to oblige, you know I just hang around waiting for the chance to make a bad pun
As Mike points out, it is an old joke.
@Anonymous, thanks for the shooting gallery tip.
JG
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