Five From Frontierland
It's time for more scans from the Mysterious Benefactor, and what do you know, the Mark Twain does not make an appearance! Incredible.
First up is this view of the Keelboat landing (and dock), with an out-of-commission Gullywhumper at rest. And because Keelboats are social creatures, it likes to rest near the Columbia.
At first I thought that this one was taken moments before or after the previous photo, but I see no sign of the Bertha Mae in the first pic. Maybe it was just in the right position to be hidden. Or maybe it scooted next to the Gullywhumper sneakily. Notice that there are construction walls, presumably for Splash Mountain, which opened in 1989. Or am I wrong?
I would love to be able to claim impartiality when it comes to the two Keelboats, but I have a fondness for the folk art details found on the Bertha Mae; the gingerbread moldings, the turned wood railings, and even the louvered shutters. And that blue-green paint. The wooden structure that the mast is mounted to looks like it should hold an old quilt.
The Gullywhumper is a little less fancy, but don't get me wrong, I really do like it! Hey, it has a bow-mounted gun, which is rad. It is strictly for scaring away bears.
And finally, here's a view of Chief Wavy as seen from the speeding Disneyland Railroad. The foliage is lush and green!
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
16 comments:
Major-
The first image is a treasure. It exudes the feeling of standing along the shores of The Rivers of America just taking it all in.
As for the Gullywhumper, it's true it was often considered the Motel 6 of keelboats. But, what can you do-? (At least it had Magic Fingers-!)
Thanks to the MB and The Major, too.
The Gullywhumper has three windows in the first photo, but only two in the second to last photo. I think I remember hearing that the original Keelboats were eventually replaced with fiberglass versions......so, they must have redesigned the Gullywhumper at that time?
I didn't know that cast members were allowed to wear shorts back then!
Thank you, Major and M.B.!
"the Mark Twain does not make an appearance!" I didn't think this was possible! Something that only exists in myth! Next up: Proof that Bigfoot and Nessie are alive and well!
1) Kind of a busy picture, but pleasant and colorful. Near the tiller of the Gullywhumper we can see the microphone used by the CM. And we can see the loudspeaker on the mast.
2) The Bertha Mae looks all gussied up compared to the au-naturel Gullywhumper... I think they're mating. After all, you said they're social creatures.
3) A fine portrait of the Bertha Mae. I see there are numerous poles along the Keelboat dock; do those decorations on the poles have some significance?
4) This is a really nice photo of the Keelboat. And it's loaded to the gills! It looks like there is something funny going on with the CM and the tiller. I'll leave it there.
5) How do we know this is Chief Wavy? We can't see his face. It could be his brother, Smiley. Whoever it is, he's contemplating having elk steak (moose?) for dinner. I love the bright splash of color surrounded by all that lush greenery.
Thank you, Myst. B. and Major.
See "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates". If memory serves, Davy Crockett presents Mike Fink with that gun as a gift after their race to New Orleans, and it comes into play when they team up against the River Pirates. Wondering if that was the actual television prop mounted on the boat.
Also if memory serves, the show had them finding an abandoned boat, a victim of the pirates. While it wasn't named Bertha Mae -- that was the name of the no-frills vessel Davy hired -- it did have colorful trim and shuttered windows, suggesting it was primarily for passengers rather than cargo.
Whatever that cast member is doing on the side-by-side docked Keelboats , he’s wearing the SUMMER Tom Sawyer Island Rafts costume. The Keelboats were one of those small attractions that you really notice how important they are to the Disney theme park experience when they are no longer around.
I'm a bit confused about the construction wall...and which way it's supposed to be seen: as it looks like the backside of construction wall...and it appears a fence is being built...it also appears and "feels like" this is prior to Park opening. I like the "Daisy Dukes" on that guy, and forgot that the TSI team wore shorts during winter...I think with blue Keds if memory serves me right. The jeans seem to have a Wrangler tag: I doubt if they are "Tough Skins".....and it doesn't seem right to have a branded label on them in the time of this photo. They could have very well be branded "Disneyland"....in any case: what is he doing, and why is the blue jacket there? That was a generic blue jacket: and I would like one today as I liked the length of it. I forgot which costume I wore that had the blue jacket for a "mild cold" day: but I remember wearing it. While wearing "Yellows" we had the red version of this jacket: and we also had a long puffy yellow coat for colder days, or working in the freezer....girls had the generic white Disneyland cardigan..only guys got the jackets...the older Keel Boat costume I remember: but the photo is older than my time: or it seems: and the costume looks very "Big Thunder" in coloring and style. I've seen these Keel Boats with one window, two windows and three windows. Perhaps when they went to a fiberglass hull THAT is when the "rolling" started....and the Keel Boats ended. Kind of a sad day really: it did give the river more life despite the limited capacity: and I thought a better experience that the Mark Twain or Columbia. If you saw the Keel Boats out there: you knew it was going to be a busy day. If you saw the Mark Twain, AND the Columbia AND the Keel Boats: that generally was 4th of July worthy. Chief Wavy always looked very authentic to me: and why in my memory do I have a real horse trooping about that same area?! Not for an "all the time" thing: but someone on a horse near the train tracks...hmmm....was it a test or something? Like the guy in armor in the Haunted Mansion which I DID NOT LIKE....even though I knew it was coming it would scare the beejeebees out of me. Glad that didn't last too long: but even now I'm always looking around the hallway around the doom buggy: that PTSD runs deep and it was so embarrassing to be startled in front of your guests despite the giggling afterwards. Now I need to go have a lie down. Thanks Major and MB!
I like photo one, the old fashioned rose is the perfect touch.
Photo 2 is definitely a different occasion since the netting is missing from the dock railings.
Photo 3 is nearly a postcard. I love the busy Island.
Photo 4 makes me want a bow gun on my truck. Yes, that is the older Gullywhumper, maybe these photos were documenting the transition between models? Or an old slide got mixed in?
Photo 5, everything looks so fresh and green, even the water looks freshly tinted, and the Chief’ costume is nice and bright. What is the odd item in left foreground? A fiberglass rock concealing electric eyes?
Thank Major, this is a wonderful post today.
JG
@ Bu-
If those jeans are 'officially' branded, they have to be Wrangler's - not Lee or Levis. (Maybe Disneyland was 'slumming it' and went shopping at Sears - and they're actually 'Roebucks-!) Sears - Where America Shops after all.
The first edition of The Disneyland Encyclopedia says that the original wooden boats had been replaced by fiberglass copies by 1958, but it also says that the copies had six, not four windows (clearly incorrect in the case of the Gullywhumper as late as June of 1965), so take that with a grain of salt. We do know that the Gullywhumper had added a window on each side by the time this smart-looking lad had his photo taken in June of 1967, so today’s photo predates that date.
Nanook, after hearing the news about Florida’s river, I appreciate photos of our river so much more. The “Motel 6” of keelboats, that’s pretty bad!
TokyoMagic!, yes, these photos were clearly taken over some sort of timespan, I assume that when they rebuilt the Keelboats with the fiberglass hulls, they were identical except for some decorative trim. And I didn’t really think about it, but you’re right… SHORTS??
JB, we’ve had plenty of Mark Twain from the Mysterious Benefactor, so today was just a statistical blip. I’m surprised that (as far as I know), the Keelboats never had a prerecorded spiel, but always had a live spiel (like the Jungle Cruise I guess). Bertha Mae does look good in her fancy paint, it makes me think of “Antiques Roadshow”, pie safes, old shaker boxes, and that sort of thing. I’ve seen the CMs “holding” the tiller that way before, there’s nothing odd about it at all! That’s what I’ll tell the judge, anyway. When you think about it, we are ALL Chief Wavy’s brothers.
DBenson, I know I saw “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates”, on TV when I was a kid, but I only remember some fighting between two Keelboat crews. The rest is all forgotten. It’s nice to know that Davy and Mike Fink learned to cooperate (though it might have just been a temporary truce?). I wonder if the abandoned boat in the show was the reference for the sunken Keelboat that we used to be able to see?
Mike Cozart, I suppose if one was going to be out in the summer sun for hours and hours, comfort was something to be considered. How about a nice “Frontier Speedo”??
Bu, I agree that it looks like the CM on that Keelboat was getting ready to start the day; as for the construction wall, I have no theories as to why it looks the way it does. Wrangler jeans - I remember being made fun of in high school for not wearing Levis, if you can believe it. Maybe I was wearing Lee jeans, who remembers? It was whatever was on sale at the Navy base. Did Disney ever sell off things like coats and such when they changed styles? I’ve seen some Pendleton shirts on eBay with a Disneyland tag, I’d love to get one, but they are always “small” or “medium”, and that won’t work. Years ago I shared some photos of cast members in various costumes, and there were a number of examples of “summer” and “winter” costumes, which was kind of amazing. I noticed recently that they have long overcoats for cold nights in Fantasyland, a very nice female CM looked relatively warm in hers. OK OK, she was cute too. I have no idea when the “rolling” started, but it seems like something that supervisors would have not approved of. And yet, as far as I know, it went on and on until the inevitable disaster. There are very early photos of a live Indian on a real horse by the water, but I am not aware of that happening after the 1950s.
JG, yes you’re right, once you really look, there are clear differences between the first two photos. The sails, for instance. It makes sense that a professional photographer might get a “postcard worthy” shot or two, in fact, coming up, we’ll see a photo that is literally postcard worthy! I want a gun on my vehicle, but it has to be a photon cannon so that I can vaporize annoying drivers. Not sure what that foreground thing is, it could just be a tree stump, but it could be something else too.
Nanook, ha, I didn’t even think of the Sears connection! I don’t know if that translated to park costumes requiring Sears jeans though.
Chuck, as we have seen many times, you have to take any official Disneyland “facts” with a big spoonful of salt, it’s amazing how often they get things wrong. The Matterhorn opened in 1955? Hmmmm… I love that Daveland photo, I’m sure I saw it before, but it is new to me now!
During my time in the 70s, the Keel Boats were the same color, so seeing that they are different in that one shot is a surprise, no matter what year it was taken. As for any significance to the carvings on the top of the poles in pic #3, I believe that was lost once the Indians were displaced by the Davey Crockett crew. The second Keel Boat boat would normally be tied to the auxiliary canoe dock as shown. Something registered in BU's comments about knowing whether it was a busy day or not. Back then, an information board was set at the Wardrobe side at the top of the incline of the railroad underpass which, among other things, would be posted the daily estimated attendance for the upcoming week. So we would know in advance what the crowd size was to be. I believe that no longer is the case. as it's likely considered proprietary information. KS
Major: Disneyland never sold the costumes at the time HOWEVER……they would collect retired costume pieces like shirts, pants, vests, coats etc , remove Disneyland wardrobe identifying tags and they would be donated ( for tax deductions of course ) to various thrift charities. In fact there was a giant cast scheme going on that Disney had to take legal action and some employees were given the boot! Some cast members were giving the records of the costume donations and to when and where their destinations around Orange County were. Cast members and non- employees would then go and get the donations very cheaply ( I’m actually not certain how this part worked) collected the costumes and re-assembled them for sale to collectors . I remember well the dealer selling haunted mansion, explorer canoes , mark Twain , conductor outfits and dozens and dozens of other Disneyland costumes and uniforms. Some were instantly recognizable… others you could tell were Disney but not 100% of their origins…. Like multicolor jumpsuits that could have been Tomorrowland or kids if the kingdom …..
So sometimes when you see someone selling an early Disneyland costume on eBay and they say they purchased it at a thrift store or resale clothing shop…. It’s completely possible!
Disneyland and Walt Disney World have had shorts or euro long pants or lederhosen for selected costumes …. Some were for summer only variants , but Tokyo Disneyland did not allow this - no exposed legs ( male or female ) was allowed. So many similar costumes used during the 80’s and 90’s at all three parks had to be altered or revised for Japan. An example was TOM SAWYER ISLAND …. Tokyo never used shorts - always pants with the same cloth patches. The Tokyo Disneyland costume modesty is still active today.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World have always used off the shelf and special order costume items for park use - especialy for hats , jeans , corduroy pants , any kind of band uniform , dress coats ( haunted mansion etc) moccasins…to PeopleMover , Rocket Jets ski jumpsuits .
Apparently that 1960s keelboat photo was released as part of a Pana-Vue slide set. Daveland has a copy posted as well.
2nd image: "Find 20 things wrong with this picture."
3rd image: I spy a little river gnome (across the river, on the right), do you?
KS, I still need to post more of my dad's 1970s pictures. Am hoping to see you in one of them. My favorite years on TSI were around 1970 (and early 70s), when I believe you were working there. Thanks for making my childhood DL trips memorable.
You can't go wrong with ROA images. Always nice to see. Thanks, MB & MP.
For the record, the theatrical pasteup of "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" is readily available on Amazon. It's on streaming and on a disc with "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier".
"River Pirates" was a two-parter for the Disneyland TV show, concocted when the original three-part series became a national mania. Part one has Davy racing Mike Fink to New Orleans with a passing reference to pirates, and part two had Davy and Mike focusing on the pirates to prevent an Indian war. That gun was mounted on Mike Fink's boat and deployed to great effect.
If you can lay hands on the Disney Treasures set, it has all five Davy Crockett tales in their original television format, with Uncle Walt's introductions. Since the original trilogy ended decisively with the Alamo, he introduces these last two as tall tales about the now-legendary Crockett.
The Davy Crockett movies hit theaters just as Disneyland was opening, so all those Crockett references were up to the minute. A lot of kids would have remembered Mike Fink's name -- and that gun.
Post a Comment