I'm proud to present another selection of Frontierland scans, shared with us by the Mysterious Benefactor. Does he wear an eyepatch and a cape lined with red silk? I'll never tell!
Well. Hmmm. I'm sure somebody out there thinks that I should have skipped this particular photo, but by golly, I gotta be me! There are other nicer Disneyland blogs, right? And I am a patron of the arts, especially go-go dancing and saloon dancing.
Now we've hit a vein of photos featuring Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (or at least some signage), which was presumably the latest and greatest attraction in Disneyland (it debuted on September 7, 1979). I assume that this sign was hand-painted in the shop by a man with one of those green visors and a smock covered in splotches of pigment, and a werewolf mask. You can't eat, drink, or smoke on the ride, but they don't say anything about water balloons.
Now we get a bigger picture; I didn't know that the previous sign was just a "sub-sign", and now I look like a FOOL.
I have to admit, you will be very familiar with these signs pretty soon. This particular day must have been "Wear a Cowboy Hat" day.
Perhaps you didn't need to see so many views of the same sign, but what's done is done. Did these ladies know about "The Goat Trick" yet? It will give you the whim-whams.
In this gloomy winter photo, we can see the weather-sculpted rock formations, known as "Boo-Boos" (or something like that). The CM to the right has been instructed to stare into the middle distance as if he was a sea cap'n looking for whales, and he's doing a great job.
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
Major-
ReplyDeleteHow can you not like the can-can-? Hubba-hubba-!
Now... about those signs. They certainly look swell, though.
Thanks, Major.
I think I figured out who the Mysterious Benefactor is: He's the Lone Ranger! Always wearing that mask so we can't recognize him.
ReplyDelete1) Wow, I guess they leave a little to the imagination... but not much! Now we know where NASA got the gold foil to cover the Lunar Landing Module with. It IS a rather striking photo.
2) I love the 3D lettering on the sign; the illusion is very convincing.
3) I like the little sign better. TRE. :-p
4) There they go again; insisting that we "Waste Paper"! I like the costume on the CM; sorta 'miner', sorta 'cowboy'. (And sorta 'Disney CM'.)
.
.
.
6) Major, Major, Major... they're not "Boo-Boos". Thay're "Yoo-Hoos"! (I'm sure you already knew that.)
Thank you, Major. And thanks to the Mysterious Benefactor. "Who was that masked man?". "Hi-yo Silver. Awaaaay!"
In that last photo, the color of the sign's lettering has changed, and the smaller sign beneath it has disappeared. Maybe by that point in time, eating, drinking and smoking was allowed? ;-)
ReplyDelete......they're not "Boo-Boos". Thay're "Yoo-Hoos"!
They're "Minnie's Yoo-Hoos"!
Thank you, Major and M.B.!
Speaking of hand painting--I've got a section or the Fred Gurley's tender hanging in my "train room." It's got a hand-painted "3" on it, with drop shadows and attendant pinstriping. Truly a work of art.
ReplyDeleteTokyo : I noticed that too regarding the different colors of the Big Thunder entry marquee. I know the director of WED’s graphic communications at the time did a great deal of the Big Thunder signage . He had told me that they came very very close to getting Levi Jeans to sponsor the new attraction before opening - they even created some signage in hopes that would sway them … I wonder if maybe those colors ( blue) were part of that attempt. I have the two smaller “warning “ & “wait time “ signs in my collection - at least they appear to be the ones in the image. The wait time sign still has the magnetic backing attached to the wood substrate … but alas I have none of the changeable time strips to go with it - probably lost decades ago.
ReplyDeleteBack to the possible “Levi Jeans” sponsorship of big thunder : the logos Disney had prepared to use were not the 1979 red & white modern logo but an older one that had horses and a farmer ? Miner? On it and offhand I think it was blue and white - again a possible explanation for the unusual blue on the attraction’s entry sign.
Can, can, can you do the can can! Good golly Miss Molly.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a great idea to have Big Thunder sponsored by Levi Strauss, but those signs seem to be more for Doublemint Gum.
Thank you MB and Major!
JG
Nanook, oh I like the can-can just fine! Others might have issues though. You never know.
ReplyDeleteJB, the MB does wear a mask, but it’s one of those plastic Halloween masks with the sharp edges. The Incredible Hulk! I know that the can-can is an old and traditional dance, but still, that’s pretty racy for goody-goody Disneyland. I guess anybody going into a saloon shouldn’t be too shocked. Those old sign painters really knew their stuff, I wonder if any signs are hand painted anymore, or if they are all created either photochemically or on a fancy inkjet printer? “…they’re not Boo-Boos”… I always get that wrong! I’m glad to know that they are actually “Yoo-Hoos”.
TokyoMagic!, do you just remember the lettering on that sign, off the top of your head?? If so, I’m impressed. How do you do it? “Minnie’s Yoo-Hoos”? This is a family blog!
Steve DeGaetano, how the heck did you get that piece of the Fred Gurley’s tender?? If anybody should have it, it’s you.
Mike Cozart, Levi’s jeans, interesting. I wonder if all of the creatives sit at a table and list every potential sponsor they can think of? “Splintery Wood, Inc?” “The Rust Organization?”. Blue jeans is a nice “zag”. If it’d been sponsored by Gillette, all the men would have to have well-groomed beards and mustaches, totally going against the “Disney look”! It makes sense that they would have gone back to an older Levis logo, had the sponsorship gone through. I’m sure the cost of sponsoring a big ride like that was considerable.
JG, gosh, I remember when I used to actually chew various flavors of Wrigley’s gum! Seems like it’s been decades now. Gum isn’t sold in the park, so Wrigley’s would have not been happy about that.
Yeah it’s very interesting about that sign … the Big Thunder Mt. Attraction logo for the area signage from 1979 and from the 1982 “no ticket media “ sign packages used MING ORANGE , BUNGALOW BROWN, COOKE BEIGE (ameritone ) and a GREEN color I forgot to write down … but NO BLUE!!
ReplyDeleteHand painting is still a required skill used by the sign shops at both Disneyland & Walt Disney World. The Disneyland Railroad locomotives are sone examples , and lots of other attraction signs … but the smaller hand painted show cards and lollipop signs are done mostly with digital or mechanical output. And while hand cut stencils are no longer used , silkscreening is still very common. When old Disney signs come up for auction I notice the auction houses often mistakenly claim many that are screenprinted to be “hand painted” I dunno if this is just a lack of knowledge or an attempt to make the item look more appealing. Another thing with almost anything used in Disneyland … there is rarely “just” one of something made …duplicates are usually made often at great expense so that a back up is available because of damage or wear .. or to switch out while a repair is made.
Of course years ago hand painting was the most common technique.
Mike Cozart, I don’t know why it matters to me, but I am glad to hear that they still require skill in hand-painting signs. When I look at some of the vintage signs I’ve seen (on the old Matterhorn1959 blog for instance), the hand-lettering is as nice as can be. A true art form! I also have to acknowledge that modern tools (computers, high-res printers) are of course going to be used, time is money after all, and if they can produce a nice sign in hours rather than days, they should do it. I guess it’s more that I don’t like the idea of an art form being lost. I never thought about backups of signs being made!
ReplyDelete