Hooray, it's time for more BUPIX! That is, pix from our friend Bu. Today's examples are all Polaroid prints, all taken Jan 1 1979. I had been to the NYE party the night before. My partner in crime got violently ill on Space Mountain…so we went to the Park the next morning. The photos are fun, but Bu has provided some fun memories to accompany them. Let's GO!
The castle is the castle: however: there is the horseless carriage back there…decor is subtle and appropriate. We don’t need drippy von drippy globs of icing on anything please.
Whoa, look at that kid! Yes: I was very young…looking like a hippie with all that hair! I loved that particular Mickey Mouse shirt and wore it until LITERALLY it was rags going into the early 2000’s. I had cut off the sleeves and one point as age and my weightlifting regime outsized me: but I continued to wear it even after the top by the neck became pretty much two strings tied together with a knot. The shirt was unique as it was Mickey “coming and going” the back was a screen printed “the back side of Mickey” with the same pose. If anyone finds a version of this shirt please let me know. I’m tempted to make it myself.
I do remember very small crowds on NY Day…it was warm enough for skinny ol me to wear a T shirt with no coat: and if I remember correctly: I think back then I didn’t even own a coat.
I particularly love this photo, and was baffled as to where Robert was standing when he took it: The hotel was the Wrather-owned “Inn at the Park”. The Disneyland Hotel had no availability. In retrospect, and knowing more now…I would have probably opted for Hojo’s or something closer. The hotel had the most out of place themed “Olde West” steakhouse…the meal was actually REALLY good…and back then I liked “Golden Horseshoe Chic”…with its red velvet/gold tassel drapes and waitresses in very spartan “olde timey costume and plumage”…now I figure that the target audience was more for convention guys and less Disneyland families. A few steps away on Harbor Blvd more active pursuits were taking place and that is for the “Tony the Tigers Don’t Blog” blog….
I always thought that photo of the Matterhorn was from Tomorrowland not from Fantasyland: you can see the rocket jets there. I thought I had a photo too of me with a yellow balloon in the bucket…and with my NYE hat on. I was always a wee disappointed that the hat and noisemaker were not branded. So they got thrown away. There was no distinguishing thing on them other than me knowing where they came from. The NYE ticket I saved…but now gone to someone somewhere. I think the entertainment was Kool and the Gang (?) Maybe perhaps. I wasn’t remotely interested in wasting time watching shows…there were rides to ride!
Hope everyone enjoys these photos: what a big blast from the past: in Polaroid no less.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, Robert! I know the Junior Gorillas enjoyed these. And don't worry, there are more BuPix to come!
Bu-
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing more images and memories from the bygone days. Drippy von drippy - I'll be pondering that one for some time.
Thank you too, Major.
In the first pic, very few people know that the Disneyland horses are animatronic. They even spritz them every morning with eau de horsie to give them an authentic horse scent. Nobody ever caught on to the ruse.
ReplyDeleteSecond pic, it took me a few seconds to realize that you're leaning against one of the hitching posts. I'm so used to seeing them painted white.
3rd BuPix (BuPic?) Nice photo of you and the Mouse. Very chummy.
In the view-from-the-hotel pic, I was thinking, "Hmm, where's Space Mountain? It should be there in '79". Then I realized it's right there in front of the Matterhorn camouflaging itself in plain sight. Two! Two! Two Mountains in one!
Wow, that late afternoon Matterhorn pic is a real dazzler! So unusual to see it all lit up in warm tones instead of the usual grays and whites. I'm keeping this one.
Wonderful set of BuPix! Thanks, Bu. I enjoy your commentary as much as the pix. And thanks to our fearless leader, Major P.
These are great! I love the aerial pic. We can even see a bit of the Alpine Motel on the far left, with the National Car Rental office next to it.. I believe the A-frame structure in the foreground was the Jolly Roger Motel, but not 100 percent sure. We can also see the DL sign on the right. And one of those motels out there is the Candy Cane Inn.
ReplyDeleteI love the hairdo, Bu! And the t-shirt! It looks like you are holding two of the DL guides. I wish we could see the cover image on them.
Thanks for sharing these personal photos with us, Bu. And thanks for posting them, Major!
Love these, Bu!
ReplyDeleteEveryone else has literally already pointed out every single detail I had noted, so I will just say "thanks." So happy you had this time at Disneyland as a "long-hair" and these memories to share with the rest of us.
What Chuck Said.
ReplyDeleteI love these photos and the descriptions. Thank you Robert (and Major).
JG
Nanook, was Drippy von Drippy related to Ludwig von Drake?
ReplyDeleteJB, yum, I gotta get me some of that “eau de horsie”. “Have you been working out?”. Nope! I wonder why they switched from white hitching posts to “go away green”? Space Mountain could alter its chromatophores to blend in with its environment. The Matterhorn on a warm afternoon is pretty hard to beat!
TokyoMagic!, I can’t believe we get a view of the National Car Rental! This is possibly the greatest day ever. ;-) I remember my mom hating my “long hair”, and my hair was nowhere near as long as Bu’s was back in the day. I wish we could see the covers of the DL guides too, maybe I can still figure out which one it was.
Chuck, it’s kind of amusing to know that these photos were probably from the late 1970s, when so many kids in school had hair just like Bu’s. I had a shirt like his too, only mine was beige instead of yellow. Once I outgrew it, my sister wore it!
JG, glad you liked these!
How fun to see these photos again....so very long ago! A year later to the day, I would have lost 5 pounds in hair, and spending the day working the counter at Coke Terrace. Thanks everyone for the comments and pointing out details that even I never saw. The Polaroids are way better when digitized and I'm amazed how much is clearly recognizable. There were many more photographs than this: I just can't find them all: some really cool night shots of Main St. if I remember correctly. I miss that Mickey Shirt: the material was so thin and almost "pre washed"...which even today is how I like my T-shirts. Hope everyone enjoyed the trip back in time during my "hippie" days!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Looks a few duplicates of your shirt can be found on eBay right now, Bu, like this one (searched "Vintage 80s Mickey Mouse Double Sided T-Shirt") and who knew there was a Minnie Mouse version as well!
ReplyDeleteI love the Bu-wearing-Mickey-Mouse-T-shirt photos! Much more fun than the Mickey-Mouse-wearing-Bu-T-shirt photos. Hey, come to think of it, that Bu-&-MM-photo would look great on a T-shirt. Am serious.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great era. And, Bu, I don't think of your hair as being long. There were much longer hairstyles in the 70s.
Bu, you could replicate your shirt by using the one that SunnieDaze21 linked, above! I see that it isn't your exact size, but a seamstress could easily put something together by adding that vintage one to a brand new matching T-shirt that would fit you.
Fun photo day, thanks, Bu and Major.
The Matterhorn photo reminds me of the Paramount Pictures opening credits mountain scene.
ReplyDeleteGroovy Bu! Big Thank You for those vibes.
ReplyDeleteMS