Let's all sit back, open a can of creamed corn, and dig in while enjoying today's very nice photos of Knott's Berry Farm, 1950s style.
You may recognize this boy and his mom, they've appeared in other GDB scans in the past. They loved to travel! See a few of those photos HERE, HERE, and HERE.
This first one is unusual, a very nice look at the exterior of the legendary Pitchur Gallery, where visitors could pose for pitchurs against a variety of painted backdrops. You've seen many examples on GDB (look HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, for a taste)!
Next, the two brothers pose next to some sleepy burros, who went to college (the burros, not the boys) so that they were qualified to operate an arastra (used for grinding up ore). They made big money, let me tell you. Any idea what that cabin in the background was? Besides a cabin, I mean (I'm trying to stay one step ahead of Chuck's shenanigans).
And finally, here's a wonderful picture of the mom and her two boys with locomotive #40, the GOLD NUGGET. The entire loco was made of gold. Behind the train is a tall light fixture (also made of gold), which I believe was used to illuminate the horse arena, where feats of equine fahrfegnügen were performed (I admit that I don't know what fahrfegnügen means). It wasn't terribly popular, and was removed with the addition of the Calico Mine Train.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI remember well this family: the older of the boys once sported a great shirt and now Mom sports a sleeveless dress. It's hard to keep up with these 'fashion plates'. (Now... where are their "Pitchur" Gallery images-?)
Thanks, Major.
The mom looks like she has an East Indian background, or maybe Greek. While her son looks like his ancestors were Sweepers or ice cream vendors. We don't often see the Ghost Town buildings up close like this. Usually it's a long shot showing multiple structures from a distance.
ReplyDeleteHa, little brother needs to learn the fine art of pitchur posin', like his big brother. Looks like he needs some practice. I don't know what's in that cabin, but there sure are a lot people gawking into it.
Seeing these full-size trains makes me realize just how puny the Disneyland trains are. And yet, they're just the right size for the Park. "Fahrfegnügen", wasn't that word used in some sort of car commercials back in the (I think) '80s?
Knice selection of Knott's, Major. Thanks.
That cabin was almost never labeled on the Knott's maps, but on a few of them, it was labeled only as "Cabin" or "Log Cabin." It was actually Aunt Hattie's cabin. Aunt Hattie was the Farm's "spinning wheel lady." She would sit out on the porch with her spinning wheel and give spinning demonstrations. I think we can actually see part of her bonnet-covered head, behind one of those porch posts. And to the left of the cabin, we can see a sliver of the Ghost Town Firehouse
ReplyDeleteIn 1985, the cabin was rotated 90 degrees and moved several yards to the east. At that time, it was turned into a shop called, "Aunt Hattie's Parasol Parlor" where guests could purchase customized and personalized parasols. The cabin was torn down (in the 90s, I think), but replaced with a newer cabin which now sells a variety of park souvenirs.
And in that last pic, the building to the left of the train is a part of the "Bewitched Village." Major, you shared a flyer for that attraction with us, back in April of 2017
Thanks for the vintage Knott's pics, Major!
Major, I remember those burros from my business classes. They were good students and studied hard. They got better grades than I did too.
ReplyDeleteMom has one of those “western style” purses, the leather is all tooled in the oak leaf patterns we usually see on cowboy belts, saddles, etc. I wonder if this was a travel memento?
The young man is wearing a reasonable facsimile of adult garb. Nice white shirt, pleated trousers and a web belt. Nowadays he would be slopping around in a football jersey and basketball shorts.
Yes, that’s a big locomotive, solid gold you say? It’s probably been melted down for jewelry and the profits used to buy Bitcoin.
Thanks for old Knotts, Major, and Tokyo for the back story!
JG
Like Nanook, I must see this family’s Pitchurs! And get a closer look at the signs. In pic 2, the boys are covering both burros’ heads—they or the photographer should have taken a step to one side. The prospector behind them looks like a real life Whittles. Oh dear, there’s some rubbish on the ground in a fee photos. Needs more trashcans! Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteThe boys look like they just got their "ears lowered". That is an old term and honestly, I don't think I've heard it until I just thought about it right now. The kids also look like they have freshly pressed shirts, with the laundry folds still in them. Those leather tooled purses were a fan favorite of visitors to Tijuana. My sister and her gal pals and mom (driver) would go down there to specifically buy those purses (for super cheap) and of all things: guitars (?) The mom's parents were from Mexico, and she looks very much like this lady...at first I thought it WAS her. Her parents were pretty much my US grandparents, and I learned many cultural things from them: like making fresh tortillas on a flame flat grill in the garage, mosaics from tile and glass, and growing avocados...all in South Central LA. I didn't go down to Tijuana though with the girls...I didn't need a purse or a guitar, or those model boats that the guys would hold up in the air in bars for drunken people to buy. Back to Knotts: That cabin is quite charming, and pity that it was torn down to build a "new one". Isn't the point that it is old? I feel bad for the burros, but I suppose they like to work, and I hope they were treated well during rest times. I can see some old re-used popcorn in the distance. When I see movies and order popcorn I can't get my mind off that it possibly may be yesterdays. Thanks TM! Luckily, I do not like corn dogs in any form...reused or not. The full sized Gold Nugget is impressive and I'm sure it had an impressive sound to it as well. They still use a few diesel engines near me, and boy are they LOUD! They aren't that old, but some of the local tracks here are not electric: hence the old trains. The passenger cars are also older...and built to last: and SOOOO much more comfortable than the new ones. I think it's because they weigh so much and the ride isn't as unforgiving. During the holidays when people want to go see "that tree"....they usually add the older trains since they are running pretty much everything. It's slower, but far more enjoyable...albeit a bit smelly. Let's take a picture of the pitchur gallery (?) Is the lamp post on purpose? I'm sure there is a word for that fretwork on the building, and I like it. Something for that out building I've been planning for decades.... The sign says you can get enlarged. I'm wondering if people get really big zany photos to put above their mantles? Probably. When looking to buy a house, you see many odd decor choices not found in nature. Like giant really bad photos of babies above the mantle and whatnot- like photos from a theme park. Did Aunt Hattie make sweaters after spinning straw into gold? Oh....perhaps that's a different story. Thanks for the trip to fabulous Buena Park, CA Major!
ReplyDelete@ JB-
ReplyDelete""Fahrfegnügen", wasn't that word used in some sort of car commercials back in the (I think) '80s?"
But of course... Fahrvergnügen was from Volkswagen, in 1990. Just LOOK HERE.
Each boy in the last photo is standing under one of the locomotives’ two air compressors (the engine needed two to keep up with the air brake demands of mounting railroading).
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, "Farhvergnügen" wasn't a thing in Germany at the time. It's a real word, meaning "pleasure of driving" but wasn't a slogan anywhere except in the US. I remember having a discussion about it in high school German class in the early 1990s. I have owned only Volkswagens for 30+ years I've been driving, so it must have been a pretty effective campaign on me.
ReplyDelete“Enlarging…” Didn’t they offer that service elsewhere at Knott’s? At the Chicken Dinner Restaurant, for example.
ReplyDeleteThat cabin was - wait. Am I THAT predictable?
The funny thing about the “full size” narrow-gauge locomotives at Knott’s is that they are still pretty small in comparison to their brethren on standard-gauge railroads.
Thanks, Major!
Nanook, I used to have so many more photos of this family, but I sold most off - something I regret.
ReplyDeleteJB, no idea about mom’s ethnic background, but some of the photos that I mentioned to Nanook showed her in a bikini! Pretty daring, her husband clearly thought she was quite the tomater. With so many people looking at that cabin, there must be a pile of mint Beanie Babies there - what else would be so interesting?? It’s true, the Knott’s trains look huge compared to Disneyland’s scaled-down examples, but I love both. “Fahrfegnügen” is from old Volkswagen commercials!
TokyoMagic!, awesome, thank you for the info about the cabin! Odd that it usually wasn’t labeled on maps. Probably because Aunt Hattie was also famous for her knowledge of cuss words. “We’d get rid of her, but folks love her!”. I’ve seen photos of Aunt Hattie, though I can’t remember if I’ve shared any on GDB. Maybe I’m thinking of old postcards. I’m sad that they tore the original cabin down, perhaps it was termite-ridden and rotted out. The fewer buildings that collapse on guests, the better. I guess. Funny that you mentioned Bewitched Village, I just found two old Knott’s slides in which you can clearly see the Bewitched Village banner!
JG, for a while the burros wore their mortarboards to the park, they were that proud. No other burros in their family had ever graduated from college! I wouldn’t be surprised if mom’s purse was a souvenir of their travels through the west - I wonder where they lived? In all of the photos of this family, the boys are always neat and tidy, mom obviously took great care to make sure that they were “presentable”.
Kathy!, I wish I had their Pitchurs, but sadly I do not. I suppose dad (who took the photo) was more interested in the boys than the burros! Yes, I don’t understand it either. I know that there was a prospector with a big white beard who used to be tending to the burros, it’s hard to tell if the fellow with the hat is that guy though.
Bu, maybe the boys got haircuts every two weeks. I get emails from the place I get haircuts, I swear they think I should get one every four or five days. “It’s time to get ready for Summer!’. “Look your best for Arbor Day!”. And such. I’ll bet there are women who collect vintage tooled leather purses for their kitsch factor, though I actually think they look nice. I’ve never been to Tijuana, but I took a cruise to Ensenada with some friends, and had hoped to find wonderful blankets and things like that. No such luck. However, if I wanted “Viagra” (or whatever it actually was), it was on sale in abundance. I was also a bit disappointed the last time I went to Olvera Street, I genuinely was hoping to buy something fun and “crafty”, but there wasn’t much of interest. I almost bought a little wooden chair with a woven seat for my mom, but passed. I believe that a lot of the Ghost Town buildings were rebuilt, from what I’ve heard the old ones were in terrible shape. Which is a shame, as you said, the fact that they were so old was kind of the point. I’ve only had one corn dog in my life, which should say something about how I feel about corn dogs. It was fine, but just give me a good regular hotdog. I was a bit sad to ride Knotts’ train, now you mostly look at wooden walls, since the property around the park is now all developed. I have some old 50s photos that show one of the trains running, with nothing but fields and eucalyptus trees behind them. I need to dig those out and scan them. I have a singe “enlarged” Pitchur Gallery photo, and it is only 5X7 instead of 4X6, so it’s not that big.
Nanook, I remember for a while Volkwagen had some very cool commercials with music by bands like Psychic TV and Fluke.
Steve Degaetano, so that’s what those things are! I thought they might contain soft-serve ice cream, but no such luck.
Dean Finder, you commented while I was commenting! You know how people in the Ad Biz are, they look for any little thing to capture two seconds of attention. I guess it worked regarding the word “Fahrfegnügen”.
ReplyDeleteChuck, this is a family blog, I don’t want any discussion of “enlarging”! You’re not predictable, that’s the problem! There are trains on display at Travel Town in Griffith Park that are incredibly huge, the drive wheels are as tall as me (and I’m tall-ish).
"Viagra" and "enlarging" together on today's post... Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteJB, maybe today's post should have been titled "GDB - AFTER DARK!"
ReplyDeleteWhen I see movies and order popcorn I can't get my mind off that it possibly may be yesterdays. Thanks TM!
ReplyDeleteBu, you're welcome! ;-)
I’ve seen photos of Aunt Hattie, though I can’t remember if I’ve shared any on GDB. Maybe I’m thinking of old postcards.
Major, you just jogged my memory of something else. Aunt "Hattie" was the Spinning Wheel Lady, who gave the spinning demonstrations on the porch of that cabin, but Aunt "Nellie" used to play her dulcimer on that same porch. And there is at least one postcard of her performing on the porch of that cabin.
You can see a postcard image of Aunt Nellie, along with a couple other shots of her and her dulcimer, AND a pic of Aunt Hattie celebrating her 85th birthday in the Calico Saloon, here:
Aunt Hattie and Aunt Nellie at Knott's
I remember listening to a lady give a spinning demonstration on the porch of that cabin in 1981/82. It might not have been the same "Aunt Hattie" at that point, but it was an older lady. She kind of repeated her lines robotically. I suppose sitting there for hours at a time, day after day, one might switch on to "autopilot." I remember we watched her "carding" the wool and spinning it into yarn for a while......long enough, to hear her robotically repeat the line (maybe several times), "You can use sheep's wool, horse hair, your pet's hair, or even your hair!"
Tokyo!, thanks for the photos of Aunt Hattie and Aunt Nellie (or whatever their names really were). Things like spinning demonstrations, dulcimer playing, and calliope playing, etc. really added to the mood of Knott's. A welcome difference to Disneyland's thoroughly thought out, every molecule and atom in place, entertainment extravaganzas. Both are enjoyable... just different.
ReplyDelete