Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Frontierland, July 1960

Here are two slides from Frontierland, from July 1960. They are almost Snoozles, but not quite. This first pic was taken from a Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland as it traversed the mysterious Rainbow Desert (named after Sir Albert Rainbow). What the...! There's water squirting out of the ground! Or is it beer? I've never heard of a beer geyser, but a good scientist has to do the work. You understand. If this attraction was still around, they could have snuck in a chupacabra along the tree line. 


Here's a cozy tepee (tipi?) over in the old Indian Village, it looks very authentic to my uneducated eyeballs. Tools/implements lean against the outside, I believe one is a giant fly swatter, and the other is a whammy stick. 


16 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
Is that not 'ol Unfaithful ushering forth with a geyser of beer-? Hand me my stein.

Thanks, Major.

JB said...

I'm sure if they had included a chupacabra or two the Mine Train would still be there today. Chupacabras are so cute and cuddly, nobody can resist ooh-ing and aww-ing over them... or maybe I'm thinking of Beanie Babies?

Tepee, tipi, or teepee. I don't think it matters how it's spelled, it isn't an English word and doesn't have to follow English grammatical rules. Then again, most English words don't follow English grammatical rules either.
Giant fly swatter, eh? No doubt it is only used on giant flies. Regular flies would flit right through the large mesh. Same problem with the whammy stick. You'd have to have one huge guitar to accommodate that oversized stick! But hey, I'm sure there were giant flies and giant electric guitars around, thousands of years ago, unlike today.

Not a whole lot going on in these "almost Snoozles". But they get extra points for both of them having vertical orientation. Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

If this attraction was still around, they could have snuck in a chupacabra along the tree line.

Major, a Bigfoot might have also kept them from ripping it out. And a few Jawas.

.....and the other is a whammy stick.

NO WHAMMIES, NO WHAMMIES.....I WANT BIG BUCKS!!!

Chuck said...

Major, there is a chupacabra in that photo.

Among the tools and implements is a quadripod, which the Plains Indians used to hold up interpretive signs for visitors. It’s another example of Walt’s insistence on authenticity to bring home the hard facts of American history.

TM!, I hadn’t thought of Press Your Luck in/ years, and now this is the second time in as many days I’ve heard someone reference “no Whammies.” I wonder if it’s a sign that I should press my luck. Hmmm…do we still have a state lottery…?

TokyoMagic! said...

Chuck, the Buzzr channel is currently showing the original "Press Your Luck" from the 80s, daily from 8 p.m to 9:30 p.m.

Budblade said...

I see a use for that whammy stick. The kid is sitting on the rail, and standing on the bench. And appears to only be wearing socks. As my aunt would say “other people’s children”
Thanks for the views into the wild frontier Major!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures, but please tell us you aren’t going to permanently start using the dreaded “vertical” format!!! So many beautiful photos that would download wonderfully as background….are now being posted in that format which might be great for phones but are useless for viewing on a desktop!

JG said...

Little known fact (that I just made up), chupacabras bring their food down to wash them in the geysers, if they can’t get beer. Disneyland is rife with chupacabras, who subsist now mainly on churros.

Those Indian fly swatters were an essential part of daily life as giant flies were everywhere back then, they were also used to strain the chupacabras out of the beer. It’s the Circle of Life…

Thanks for the trip to the Western Deserts, Major. You are bringing us our just deserts.

JG

Steve DeGaetano said...

Isn't TP what we had so much trouble buying a few years ago?

Nanook said...

@ TM!-
If any of the Indians "go off the board" to substitute a joker, please let me know.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I would just drink directly from the geyser, but I guess a stein would be more classy.

JB, Disneyland could have a walk-around chupacabra, Chumley. He’d be so popular! I used to always spell tepee “teepee”, but realized that nobody else seemed to spell it that way. And I gave into peer pressure. I also drank booze but not because of peer pressure. Imagine how cool it would have been if Eddie Van Halen used that whammy stick!

TokyoMagic!, I am always in favor of having a Bigfoot in any ride, and as you hinted, Chewie is basically a Bigfoot with nicer fur. “NO WHAMMIES (etc)”, is that from “Wheel of Fortune”?

Chuck, OH YEAH, I see it now! I used to drive a quadripod, but now I drive a Cybertruck, it’s fun the way it rusts and conks out. Jeez, “Press Your Luck”, I don’t even know that game show. Why did people yell “NO WHAMMIES”??

TokyoMagic!, ha ha, I know you love your classic game shows! You should build an animatronic of Gene Rayburn.

Budblade, don’t worry, that kid is not naked, though we have seen pictures of little kids underdressed at the park. Not even a bowtie! Still, it would be fun to chase him around with the giant fly swatter.

Anonymous, these are vintage (70 year-old) photos, it has nothing to do with what I decide! If somebody took a photo in “portrait” mode, that’s how it gets posted. Don’t worry, most pictures are still “landscape” mode.

JG, I hope to someday capture actual footage of a chupacabra drinking from a geyser, and have pledged my entire fortune of 100 billion dollars to getting it. Yum, a chupacabra churro, you can only buy them with crypto-currency.

Steve DeGaetano, that’s how I made my 100 billion, selling off spare TP rolls!

Nanook, I’m so confused.

Dean Finder said...

Imagineering planned a beer geyser for the Germany pavilion at EPCOT, but it was shelved due to budget. Such a shame.

JB said...

JG, chupacabras that subsist on churros? That would make them chupachurros (churro suckers). A rare sub-species!

Major Pepperidge said...

Dean Finder, another instance of budget cuts ruining things! Also cut: the Pretzel Cannon.

JB, I am impressed with your deep knowledge of chupacabras, you must have memorized the entire series "In Search Of" (with Leonard Nimoy)!

Nanook said...

Oh, Major-
Naturally, referring to "going off the board" is a player option for the game show The Joker's Wild starring everyone's favorite 'quiz show scandals' game show host - Jack Barry. (And let's not forget Jack Barry Cable TV, in Los Angeles -!)

TokyoMagic! said...

Nanook, I'm glad you cleared that up! I used to love The Joker's Wild, but hadn't seen it in decades. I also remember my great-grandmother liking it a lot. Buzzr has never shown it, in the 10 years that they have been around, but I just watched an episode on YouTube! Thanks for the reminder about it.