Randos! You never know what you're going to get with randos. It could be a photo of somebody's big toe, or a picture of the Tomorrowland Spaceman eating a Zagnut bar. You don't see either of those fascinating subjects today, but I think you'll like them anyway.
Here's a neat undated slide featuring one a Rainbow Mountain Stagecoach rumbling along the trail right next to the Rivers of America. Perhaps somebody on the Mark Twain saw it pass and thought that it was worthy of a photo. The Stagecoaches ran from June 26, 1956 until September 13, 1959. The landscaping looks kind of scraggly and undeveloped, so I'm guessing that this photo is from earlier in the attractions' run.
Next is this nice (undated) photo of a Mom and her son on the Tomorrowland Autopia. Those little cars took a beating, even with the springy surrounding bumpers. Notice on the side, below the steering wheel, you can see the external brake lever that Cast Members could step on, for safety's sake. I love all of the Bob Gurr Autopia designs (even the ones that he disparages), but the Mark I thru IV (essentally visually the same) are classic beauties.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThere's no mistaking those 'matching noses' in the Autopia image. A shout-out to the sunglasses, also.
Thanks, Major.
The Stagecoach photo looks, for all the world, like a miniature scene you would see from the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Which would make the rest of Disneyland, seen off to the right, also a miniature. Which would make the Canal Boats ride a miniature within a miniature. And so on, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteDespite a slight blurriness, the Stagecoach looks very clear here.
I'm guessing all the smudginess around the brake lever is caused by the CMs haphazardly stepping on the lever. The little kid sitting next to mom (or is it grandma?) has dragonfly eyes! I like the rounded, mouth-like front ends of the cars.
Still waiting for that "big toe" Rando. Thanks, Major.
JB, I bet there’s a big pumpkin sitting on that road—maybe just out-of-view, to the right.
ReplyDeleteMy dad loved the stagecoaches in Disneyland.
Thanks, Major, for the ‘Then-and-Now Transportation Rando’s.’
For years I heard of Zagnut Bars, but being from North Texas had never seen one. Then I happened across one at a local Walmart, bought it, excitedly opened it...to find that it's a square shaped Chic-O-Stick. Exact. Same. Candy. I don't know who ripped off who, but there was some industrial spying going on... I walked away...wiser.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the stagecoaches seem to have closed on my birthday! But since I wouldn't be born for three more years, maybe I was born on Disneyland Stagecoach Closure Day? That would explain the weird words people would sing during my "Happy Birthday" song...
I think the first body style was the coolest, and this one is all the cooler thanks to the "shades."
Party on, Mom and Kid! And happy DSCD to me!
Exact....same....candy (shakes head and wanders off)
The stagecoach pic could be taken in the real wilderness, except for the castle tower in the background, like a dream of the passengers wishing for their destination.
ReplyDeleteThere’s some kind of a box or apparatus on top of the proto-Cascade Peak. It’s partially obscured by shrubs. Wonder what that might be?
Looking at that Autopia brake, lt looks very dangerous with that side bumper in place. The CM’s foot could slip and be trapped between the bumper and the car body and be dragged along to a broken ankle or worse. I hope nothing like that ever happened and subsequent redesigns removed that hazard.
Great pic of Mom and child, those sunglasses would be trendy today.
Thanks Major! I think the Junior Gorillas would be fascinated with a photo of someone’s big toe, as long as it was taken at Disneyland!
JG
Nanook, I admit that the kid in the Autopia could *could* be a girl, but I had to make a stand!
ReplyDeleteJB, now I wish I’d done a “tilt-shift” version of that first photo, though it almost doesn’t need it - it really does look like a photo of a toy Stagecoach. A miniature within a miniature within a miniature? That’s too many miniatures. I guess it must be a little tricky to step on that outer brake when the Autopia car is still moving, especially if the car is moving laterally toward the curb. Shoes with gum soles would avoid that mess! There might be a big toe next week, you never can tell.
Lou and Sue, I wish I’d experienced the Stagecoaches! But I was born a few years too late.
Stu29573, I’ve heard of Chick-O-Stick, and maybe I’ve even had one. Zagnut is something I’d had since I was a kid. Looking it up, Zagnut was first sold in 1930, while Chick-O-Stick didn’t come along until the 1950s. This has been your Channel 4 Investigative Reporter. I think the Stagecoaches closed on Stu29573 Day! I really do appreciate all of the Autopia body styles, at least up until the “giant toy” cars that we have now.
JG, perhaps some crazy old coot who found a fortune in gold dust built his own castle in the wilderness. It could happen! Crazy coot are always doing stuff like that. I think that “apparatus” on top of that rise might be the roof of a Rainbow Ridge building? Don’t worry about that side bumper, each Autopia CM coated his lower right leg with tallow so that there would be no friction or sticking. It worked like a dream! Old sunglasses do tend to look cool, it’s kind of amazing. Everything old is new again. I know some people are into pictures of feet (hey, whatever), but I can’t say I need a photo of anybody’s big toe!
JG, that apparatus is the exhaust port for the cooling fins on the water rainbowificator (specifically, a Wai Ānuenue Model 5-0). An overflow valve inside the caverns routed excess polychromatic fluids through the mud pots in the Rainbow Desert and into a sand-covered evaporation field. The Major posted a GREAT PHOTO of that a couple of days ago.
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