Arlene, 1956
Today we get to hang out with a nice woman named Arlene, who visited Disneyland with her husband in 1956. They were not yet encumbered with kids
This first one is from late in the afternoon, you can see that the sun is very much to the west; Arlene is in the lower part of the picture, with her blonde hair and blue dress. A little girl to the left has her Mouseketeer t-shirt on, The Mickey Mouse Club was presumably still in its first-run on TV. There's also an earless blue balloon, which just feels wrong.
Earlier in the day, Arlene took in the Rivers of the World and the Jungle Cruise dock, bustling with activity - one boat is just about ready to depart, while another is coming around the bend with most of its passengers still on board. I'm always fascinated by the ever-changing costumes of the CMs who worked the Jungle Cruise. Above the tropical plants, the tops of Main Street buildings can be seen.
9 comments:
Major-
Check out Arlene's bucket bag - the perfect accessory for a jungle cruise.
Thanks, Major.
I love the lighting in this picture! It makes the scene look more than real... surreal, or ultra-real. I'm keepin' it! We can't see The Dent or The Stain, but it's still a great photo (even if it IS a wee bit blurry). Maybe the ears fell off the balloon? IT COULD HAPPEN! I wonder if mouse-ear balloons even existed before they became a thing in Disneyland?
"with most of its passengers still on board." Haha. The public never knew about it, but it was common practice for each boatload to toss a couple of guests to the crocs to appease their appetites, thus saving the rest of the passengers. When I think of the Jungle Cruise boats, I always picture them with red and white canvas roofs, like this one here. No other color will do!
I could be wrong, but it looks like Arlene's hair color came from Clairol. A couple of nice ones today, Major.
Arlene, don't lean against that trashcan! It's dirty! Well, since it's Disneyland, maybe it's a little bit cleaner than your average trashcan?
It looks like blue was ‘the color’ in 1956.
Arlene is giving off some hard Marilyn Munster vibes: good be a stunt double: who knows? Those crazy Munsters had to do a lot of stunts...(actually, and really...) The Castle looks appropriately lit, and appropriately colored: with charming little wire boarders to keep the flowers intact. I always like to see the Castle without the pediments and other stone wall things: which do look great: but these early 50's shots it always seems that the Castle has come straight out of the earth. Earless balloons: yes: they were a thing...and I'm wondering now who had the idea for the Mickey Balloons that has stood the test of time. There is a "Balloon Guy" out there https://magicmadebydisney.com/2020/08/13/a-disneyland-balloon-boy-the-treb-heining-story-part-1/ He seems to be quite famous in the balloon world: but AS a balloon guy: I never heard of him: even when we did "Skyfest" (the biggest balloon release in the world at that time) I never heard of him: but he seems to have made a name for himself in the world of balloons. Still: WHO came up with the idea for the Mickey Balloon? Roy Williams? Speaking of Jungle Cruise cushions....where did they go? They were actually kind of comfy, and what a nice nod of respect to your guests on the boat. I can still hear the "plop" as they put down the last seat: which is basically the step to get into the boat. I was always boarded last: so I got to hear the "plop" many times over. There was also a way that the employees would exit the guest: by holding their elbow, and their arm in some way....maybe an ex jungle skipper can weigh in. I remember the guys in the break room lamenting on if they didn't "aim" right, their hands would get into the guests armpit...which of course, which was not a fun thing...Jungle costumes: WHY so many iterations? This one with sandals and socks. I get poked fun at for it now...but I totally understand it. And socks are comfy. Happy Monday everyone, thanks Major!
Nanook, Arlene always brought a bucket of pipin’ hot cheeseburgers when she went to Disneyland.
JB, I’m ashamed that I forget to look for the dent or the stain most of the time. I will try to do better! I’m only just starting to count trashcans. Good question about mouse ear balloons, I do wonder if those were invented for Disneyland? A trip through the jungle usually resulted in at least one missing passenger per journey. Disneyland kept that on the hush-hush! The red and white stripes were striking, but don’t forget that there were green stripes and blue stripes too. No purple stripes, though.
TokyoMagic!, even now I’ll see people leaning on trashcans, like they don’t know that they are full of trash!
Lou and Sue, the blue dress goes well with Arlene’s blond hair, I wonder if she had blue eyes?
Bu, I think about whoever got rid of these slides - pictures of grandma when she was young and cute. Seems a shame. I loved Marilyn Munster when I was a kid, but I think I was more of a Beverly Owen guy, though Pat Priest was nice too. I was picky about my dames when I was five! “Big Latex” came up with the idea of Mickey ear balloons. “They use 50% more latex!”. That guy got a raise. That is a long article about Treb Heining, I’ll have to read it later when I can have a martini. It’s funny how big balloon releases were a thing. “The biggest in history!”. Now we realize that those balloons had to go somewhere. And sea turtles and whales chomped them up apparently. I’m sure that some genius realized that seat cushions were an unnecessary expense. Guests will just have to have tougher butts! Granted, it’s only for six or seven minutes. I don’t know why the Jungle Cruise costumes changed so much, but they really did, all the time.
@ Bu-
Thanks for sharing the article(s) on Treb Heining. (Boy, that's a block of time I'm never going to recover-!) Was it written by a 10-year old, being paid by-the-word-? [Maybe so]. In the end, I suppose it was worth it - fascinating history, as it were.
Major - you'll need to make that a double martini-!!
Fine photos of a pretty lady. It’s too bad there’s no one in the family who wanted these photos, but I’m glad we get to see them.
Losing the cushions kind of hurts one of the old school JC jokes about how only the yellow cushions float. I guess it’s still funny with no cushions because you are all still looking for one.
I know there were mouse ear balloons other than Mickey ones, I got one at the Fresno fair.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, it is awesome to have permission to have a double martini this early in the day!
JG, I’m sure many boys had crushes on Arlene back in the day. I know what you mean about losing that JC joke, but at least they are always revamping the spiel. You might remember “Old Chicago” from a Lou and Sue post - in some of the unshared photos, people are carrying Mickey ear balloons - with Mickey Mouse’s face printed on them!
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