Here's a pair of 1950s pix that are pleasing and colorful. Starting with this one, featuring a nice family posing on the bridge to Adventureland. "Be sure to get some skulls in the picture, honey! You can cut out the kids if you have to!". The mom has her perfect "50s red" coat on.
Over in Frontierland, we get a look at the queue for the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, along with the charming ticket booth. The Mineral Hall, with displays from the Black Light Corp. of America, is also there.
In the first pic, Sis has an itch. And her brothers are both holding something (ice cream sandwiches?).
ReplyDeleteIn the second pic, the mother and daughters passing the ticket booth are also holding something (ice cream cones?).
Major-
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming the "cabinet" with the handles sitting atop the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train Ticket Booth contains a loudspeaker. (Perhaps with an Altec-Lansing 604B or 604C). "May I have your attention, please..."
Thanks, Major.
Mom has her priorities straight! Skulls first, skip the kids if you have to. I mean, we can see the kids anytime. But it's not everyday that you see a row of skulls on pikes!
ReplyDeleteAny guesses what the kid in the middle (I bet his name is Malcolm) is eating? Looks sort of like an ice cream bar, but I don't see a stick to hang onto. I don't remember seeing that corrugated tin roof before. Is it part of the Adventureland theming? Looks rather unsightly. Perfect color and contrast in this photo.
I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason why the "Black Light Corp. of America" exists. Why do they need to be incorporated? Were black lights restricted, back then, only to people or companies who were licensed? Anyway, a nice colorful picture.
Tokyo! says the kids in photo #1 might be holding ice cream sandwiches... Maybe, but they don't really look like that to me. Maybe it's a chunk of rocky road fudge.
Thanks for the glimpse of Disneyland's early days, Major.
@ JB-
ReplyDelete"I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason why the "Black Light Corp. of America" exists. Why do they need to be incorporated?"
There [apparently] was a lot of 'wheeling and dealing' in the world of black light back in the 1950's. Just read here:
Ultra-Violet Products, Inc., is a California corporation which manufactures and sells certain products having light properties. On March 30, 1956, it entered into an agreement with plaintiff Black Light Corporation of Los Angeles, hereinafter called Black Light, in which the latter agreed to act as distributor of the products manufactured or sold by Ultra-Violet. The term of the agreement was 10 years with automatic renewal for successive 10- year periods, subject to termination as therein provided. The territory allocated to Black Light was 10 counties of Southern California. On the same day Black Light Corporation of Los Angeles entered into an agreement with Black Light Corporation of America relating to cooperative advertising of the products of Ultra-Violet, which latter was the owner of all the outstanding stock of Black Light of America. In the agreement with Black Light of America, the distributor promised to pay to the former a sum equal to 2.5 per cent of its monthly purchases from Ultra-Violet. An equal sum was to be collected from Ultra-Violet and the same was to be used in a national advertising campaign. Ultra-Violet guaranteed performance of this contract by Black Light of America.
Thanks Nanook for the blurb on the Black Light Corporation. It's all so very clear now. Unfortunately, I had to read it 25 times somewhat like a punishment in grade school. This is why I did not choose law as a career path. Good for those that do: we need them for this type of manifesto. That being said: skulls are always welcome: and luckily they don't offend me in the least. Of course as a kid they scared the beejeebees out of me. Even in "Poltergeist" I was quite disturbed by that swimming pool scene and continue to be. The fact that they were real skeletons sounds a bit like a Disney Legend and Myth type story: but apparently it's true. The entire Poltergeist saga reads like a Disney Myth and Legend: a rabbit hole for later. You can start here as the house was for sale:https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/poltergeist-house-creeps-onto-the-market/ Moving on: It's interesting how the thatch umbrella spills out into the Hub area: I'm not sure I noticed Adventureland creeping into Main Street before: but it looks like it did. This walkway still gives the same vibe....kind of, sort of. I suppose in order to give it some visual mystery it needed to be kind of closed off like you are walking into a jungly maze: and I'm sure all designed on purpose. I thought it was always a wee odd (excuse the pun) that really the first thing you ran into in Adventureland was the restrooms: the men's room more specifically. Since this pathway was also the employee path through the backside of Adventureland and Frontierland the menfolk were often confounded by women employees walking down the path into their "domain". In some instances women exiting the path and going towards the Hub out of the Adventureland break area would encounter guys in various stages of the beginnings of undress. Guests assuming that this pathway dictated that only men would be walking into it, and part of the actual restroom. The women I worked with were always horrified by the brazen nature of the men who just needed to "go". The ladies room was towards Frontierland to the right. True story. Not much to say about Rainbow Ridge other than the cute little ticket booth. There's more kids stuffing ice cream into themselves: no food or drink beyond this point please. Also: with the dry goods available, was there also a sign for "wet goods"? Were there any "wet goods"?sounds like it could be kind of messy, so probably not. I'm still a bit giddy after the "Spring Fling" of yesterday, and looking forward to the 2025 "Fling"....seven months from now. Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteLove the dad on the bench with the bonneted baby at extreme left in the first photo, complete with spit-up blanket. Believe it or not, I miss those days. In fact, it just got dusty in here as I think about my oldest getting married next year. I think most parents will understand.
ReplyDeleteI remember the sign for Mineral Hall well into the ‘70s, more than a decade after it was converted into offices. It was actually something of a surprise to discover it had ever been accessible to guests (although it confirmed a suspicion I’d had since childhood).
Bu, I recall encountering women coming along the path from that men’s room. We have a similar situation at a particular restroom at Six Flags Over Mid-America. I know it’s a possibility every time I use it but it still throws me off when it happens (although not as much as the young lady who marched into a different men’s room at Six Flags with a male friend at Christmastime to take a photo of artwork posted over the urinal next to the one I was using).
RE: Mineral Hall…I just looked at the 1968 souvenir map (the “base layer” for the 1975 map I had at a kid), and there’s even a fairly large building shown on the map behind the facade with nothing shown as being inside. I think that in addition to the full-sized entrance fed into my childhood suspicions that this had bee a guest space at one time.
ReplyDelete*had been a guest space at one time.
ReplyDeleteMineral Hall became extra merchandise storage space for Frontierland then office space for Frontierland area supervisors . In the 70’s it was converted to restaurant management for Lowery’s / Casa MEXICANA . The exterior facade still exists and you can see original vintage gold leaf window lettering reading “mineral Hall” . In the late 1990’s the Mineral Hall , Assay office and casa MEXICANA space was renovated into RANCHO DEL ZOCOLA .., the restaurant first opened with a “ZORRO” theme , but over time became watered down. After the closure of the extremely popular Big Thunder Ranch bbq restaurant ( for GALAXYS EDGE) the complex became a 1/2 Mexican food restaurant and 1/2 BBQ restaurant ( The Red Oak) for a short time before returning to a all Mexican restaurant after the Riverbelle Terrace became the new BBQ restaurant.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting note : when the Casa Mexican Restaurant complex was first designed it was to have featured a water well / fountain in the dinning courtyard but to increase the seating capacity the well /water feature was left out. The design however was re-used and became the largest of one of the “seven fountains of fortune” in Walt Disney world’s 1973 CARIBBEAN PLAZA . Unfortunately in the current Disney regime to remove waterways and water features from its parks all seven “fountains of fortune” At Caribbean Plaza have been recently converted to planters .
Correction: the short lived bbq restaurant inside El rancho del ZOCOLA was called The Golden Oak ( not red oak) after Disney’s now defunct movie ranch in Valencia “the golden oak ranch” ….. now a Disney housing community. - Disney may not “ always ruin everything” , but they are working on it!
ReplyDeleteI can still remember the Skull Corporation of America's slogan, "Everything's better with skulls!" Ok, maybe not the most inspiring motto, but it made more sense than their first attempt, " Everything's better with a skull bonnet on it!"
ReplyDeleteI think in our modern times we have forgotten how magical blacklights are. They're pretty much everywhere now, but back then they were really special! I still think they're pretty neat-o! They can light up a dark ride, a poster, or a crime scene! Good stuff!
The first pic is taken looking toward the Frontierland passage walk, the timber blockhouse is visible through the shrubbery. Interesting how the thatch theme is leaking into that place between. Little bro is chomping down on that goodie, forget posing. Mom’s stylish red coat prepares her to be the pimento in the meatloaf in one of those long view crowd photos we see often.
ReplyDeleteIn photo two, I love the young family passing the ticket booth, red hair Mom and her baby chicks, Dad bringing up the rear pulling out tickets, showing off his tattooed forearm. Probably a Navy man.
And, Chuck, the dad with the infant, perfect “been there, done that” scene. I wouldn't go back, but they are good memories.
Excellent human interest pics today, Major. Thank you!
JG
TokyoMagic!, yes the kids don’t look like they were ready for the picture to be taken, they all look a little off-kilter. I hope sis’s itch isn’t a tsetse fly. I can’t tell WHAT they are eating! It does look like the girls in photo #2 are enjoying ice cream. I think.
ReplyDeleteNanook, just think how good Van Halen’s “Panama” would sound coming out of that speaker!
JB, nobody wants pictures of kids. It’s skulls that are hip and cool, and everybody knows it. I think the kid is eating a piece of meatloaf. Or cake? I wonder if the treats were brought from home? The corrugated tin roof was there for decades, though it would be an easy detail to miss. The “Black Light Corp. of America” was, and still is, one of the largest and most powerful conglomerates in the world, if you don’t think they are controlling our lives, you’re fooling yourself! They’re the ones spraying those chemtrails that we see. I don’t think the treat that the kid is holding looks like ice cream - but can’t tell what it is.
Nanook, somewhere I have a vintage document relating to the Black Light Corp. of America, I’ll have to see if I can dig it up. It’s been so long since I’ve looked at it that I can’t even remember if it’s that interesting! Meanwhile, as a kid I loved black light stuff, and I still do.
Bu, I enjoy reading legal documents for fun, the more difficult they are, the more I like them. But hey, that’s just me. I’m kind of surprised that those skulls aren’t weathered and aged, but maybe they thought that this would make them a little too real and gruesome. I’ve mentioned it before, but I have a real human skull that my mom bought in an antiques store in Wisconsin (of all places). It’s kind of gross but it doesn’t freak me out, I just don’t know what the heck to do with it. It’s in a box in the closet. Why my mom bought it, I’ll never know. I don’t buy that Poltergeist “real skeletons” story for a second, it makes zero sense. I think the thatch areas sort of helped to soften the boundaries between lands, and the fact that most folks never noticed must mean that it worked. I agree with you regarding the Adventureland restrooms, and yet… I’m sure many guests appreciated not having to walk far for the facilities. And “various stages of undress”, I still remember exiting a restroom at Disneyland, and an older man was still 20 feet from entering - he already had his trousers unbuttoned and on their way down. It must have been an emergency. Let’s change the subject! “Wet goods”, I don’t even want to think about it.
Chuck, do babies still wear bonnets? Now you see they with little wool caps, babies are such hipster posers now. Congrats on your oldest son’s impending marriage, soon you will be Grampy Chuck. As usual, I was always unobservant and don’t recall seeing the Mineral Hall, though I might have even gone in it. My mom was a rock and mineral nut, so it would have been her thing. How did that young lady even know that there was artwork next to the Six Flags urinals??
ReplyDeleteChuck, I used to always wonder about things like the larger buildings (on maps) that seemed off limits to the public, or the acres of trees that were in reality paved backstage areas. You can’t trust those souvenir maps! Even though I love them.
Chuck, *whew*, thank goodness, I’m allergic to bees.
Mike Cozart, thank you for all of the info about the Mineral Hall building and the adjoining restaurants. I used to hear people rave about the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ on podcasts, but that was during a period when I was not really going to the park, in fact there was a 10 year gap between visits. So I never had the barbecue. I thought that there was a fountain outside of Casa Mexicana, but I guess it was one of those false memories.
Mike Cozart, argh, I did not know that Disney had developed their Golden Oak ranch into housing. Yuck.
Stu29573, Coca Cola totally stole the Skull Corporation’s motto. Also, how cool would it be to say you worked for the Skull Corporation?? “Must wear black leather”. I was SO into black lights when I was a kid, and still have the two that I bought at Spencer’s Gifts in the 70s. The glow effect really does seem like magic.
JG, yes, the entrance to Frontierland is truly just a few steps from the entrance to Adventureland, unlike any other two adjoining lands. I do have a fondness for those red coats that we seen in photos, this pic must be from around 1957 or 58. Good eye on the tattoo, even after you pointed it out it took me a minute to find it. I’ll bet a lot of the young dads in these pictures served in WWII or Korea.
Major, they display anti-drug posters made by local school children over the urinals at my local Six Flags, and based on the conversation between the two, it sounded like the girl became aware of the artwork from her male friend. I got the impression that they knew the artist.
ReplyDeleteI think Mike is messing with us. There is a Golden Oak housing development on the WDW property named for the ranch, but it appears that the movie ranch is still going strong.
Chuck : while the movie filming is still done on the property and some improvements were made to the area to attract film production in the early 2000’s a large chunk of the original ranch IS going to developed for a member community residential project . But to long time Disney fans who are familiar with the property and it’s original spaces will lament the changes that took place already and will be happening.
ReplyDeleteNanook, thanks for the Black Light info... I guess. Like Bu, I had to read it 25 times to get the gist of it. ;-) I'm still not clear as to why the corporation(s) existed in the first place. I mean, you could buy black lights in any hardware/big box store for the last 40 or 50 years (at least). Did all those UV lights originate from the Black Light Corporation of America (or its competitors)? Couldn't GE just make its own black lights? (Maybe they did/do?)
ReplyDeleteChuck, I was looking so intently at the kids stuffing stuff into their faces that I completely missed the dad on the bench. The "split-up blanket" is the star of the show!
Major, huh. I thought the Illuminati were the ones spraying chemtrails.
Count me as another one of those black light experimenters as a kid (and later).
^Spit-up blanket, not split-up blanket. [sigh]
ReplyDeleteI love all the intertwining subject threads in today's comments.
ReplyDelete"It’s in a box in the closet."
Major, I can't help but think about this item, AND legal documents. I truly hope you have a "legal document" (Bill of Sale) FOR this item, otherwise I can picture some interesting future scenarios. I hope the cell has good WiFi so that we don't lose touch with you. ;oP
Thanks, all, for lots of laughs.
I was SO into black lights when I was a kid, and still have the two that I bought at Spencer’s Gifts in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteMajor, I also still have a black light bulb that I purchased at Spencer Gifts, back in the 70s. And I still have the box that it came in, too!