Snoozles™
It's Sunday, and that means that it's time for yet more Snoozles. May we never run out of this precious resource. First up is this scan from September, 1960; it's not that bad, but could be sharper and less dingy. Still, it's an OK view taken from the platform at Main Street Station, looking out toward the parking lot. There were buses aplenty! The iconic Disneyland sign can be seen as well.
Next, a photo that is bright and clear (from the 1950s), so what's my problem? It's just kind of "meh". It's not a particularly good picture of the train station, even though the Santa Fe logo makes me happy. And Mickey's flower portrait is in full bloom, admittedly. OK, now I'm feeling guilty that I deemed this to be a Snoozle!
13 comments:
Major-
It's a Busapalooza that day. And the 2nd image is definitely a winner, as it's decades ahead of its time - ready for phone viewing-!
Thanks, Major.
No only in the cast member leaning in the train station image - he’s SITTING in the window!!!! “BAD SHOW” as we used to say.
First day of March, and we start it off with... Snoozles! ;-p
I wonder if the photographer took this picture because he could see his car in the Parking Lot? Which one do you suppose it is? The powerline towers remind me of the brooms carrying buckets in Fantasia. Except these brooms have sprouted six arms instead of the usual two! I love the 'gumball yellow' color of the buses.
Ha! The fencing in the 2nd photo makes it look like Mickey has braces. And not just a retainer, a full 'metal-mouth'! But this IS an early photo, so it's only natural that we would catch Mickey going through an 'awkward' phase in his career. I agree, this photo has a lot going for it.
Snoozles? I suppose. But nice nevertheless. Thanks, Major.
Ha, ha! I noticed that leaning cast member (that Mike pointed out) right away! If he isn't actually sitting in the sill, then he is leaning two different ways......back against the sill and also to the right, against the window frame! Make him go get his time card and have him bring it to his supervisor so he/she can write "TERMINATED!" across the front of it. That's what they used to do at Knott's (but for more serious things than leaning).
You say Snoozles™, but that first photo is a really uncommon one from the film era, and the VERY FIRST I have ever seen to include the marquee from Main Street Station!
The photographer loses so many points for arriving (leaving?) at 2:38pm. I'm pretty sure the cast member was falling out of the window, not leaning.
Thanks, Major, for Snoozles, even.
Zach
Photo 1 is just fine by me. I remember our school buses parking in that area, and the power lines are giving good vibes and EMFs. Seeing the old sign is nice too. I never thought I would be reminiscing over a school bus…
Photo 2 has some goodness too, in spite of being oddly cropped. That CM is not only leaning two directions (contrapposto in Italian, because I can be fancy like that), but I’ll bet his vest is unbuttoned too.
Seriously, seeing the old colors and the Santa Fe sign makes me happy. I have rarely been in the Main Street Station, for some reason we almost always boarded and disembarked in either NOS or Tomorrowland. I have to fix that.
Thank you, Major. A nice Sunday set.
JG
Nanook, ha, I generally prefer “landscape mode” photos, but it is true, in the era of cell phones, “portrait mode” photos do have their charms.
Mike Cozart, I didn’t even notice the guy in the window! He’s in big trouble!
JB, we’ll never know why that first photo was taken, but your theory is as good as any. I know that people on the Monorail frequently hoped to be able to see their car, my guess is that few actually managed it. “Gumball yellow”, a name right out of Detroit! Mickey would not be the only Hollywood star who needed work done on his teeth. He grew up in the Depression when nutrition wasn’t the greatest. Luckily, all went well and his smile endures to this day.
TokyoMagic!, if that guy had managed to lean in THREE directions, I wouldn’t be outraged, I’d be impressed! Wow, I love the drama of writing TERMINATED on somebody’s time card. It would only be improved by having a big rubber stamp, and a red ink pad. STOMP!
Jason Schultz, I am amazed! If only the photo was a bit sharper.
zach, yes, if that guest was leaving at 2:38 PM, that would be no good. Unless there was a good excuse. “The children at the orphanage need dinner in three hours!”. My guess is that they were arriving, since I believe that that’s when many photos of the station were taken.
JG, I sure would have loved it if any of my schools had taken us to Disneyland as a group! It could have happened (theoretically) when I lived in Huntington Beach, but… no such luck. I feel like we’d have a pretty long list of cast member infractions based on the many we’ve seen in photos (most involving leaning or unbuttoned vests)! My mom and dad almost always took us on the train, first thing, so we always boarded at Main Street Station. It’s sort of fun to board at another station these days, but it also feels a little “off”.
I really like Snoozles...they are more "Time Capsules" for me than a sneeze...or ooozzle....so pic 1: this one is epic. A great view of the "Doritos" era sign "Entrance Park and Hotel"....which honestly, I never understood...because...(as a Parking lot guy) we would put (I forget what color paper...maybe white) on the windscreen and the guys in the lot would get them out over to West Street to get into the Hotel Parking lot. Did they want these unpaid vehicles crossing the lot? Perhaps. I do remember that a red paper meant "15 minute zone"...and those busses in the photo are parked in the Employee Lot it seems, but maybe it was smaller back then...hmmm....The Marquee sign today is a shadow of it's formal self. Seems kind of dumb for a marker for one of the most famous places in the world, but maybe that's me (?). The Retlaw guy....seems to be leaning...and with hands in pocket...another "naughty"....but I dunno....those guys seemed to be "untouchable" even in my time. The floral Mickey is wonderful...with his alyssum face, and red geranium tongue. Although oddly, his ear on the left is blooming at the top, and his ear on the right is blooming on the bottom. Sorcery? Population 5M. You could probably narrow down the photo to a time with that data, and of course the Timex clock. Subtle product placement as it should be. I've always loved the shingles on this building...although today it's a bit "striped" for my tastes...I prefer the patina of these much more. Looks authentic....and not a staged movie set. Two really great photos I think. Thanks Major!
I know we routinely time photos with the clock at MSS, but when I'm out in the real world, I expect a large outdoor clock to be broken and am surprised when it's correct. Even through they usually are telling the correct time.
I guess it's from growing up in the 1980s when it seemed most were stopped (maybe related to the 1970s "great strip" of deferred maintenance Mike C mentioned yesterday)
Happy Belated Birthday, Dean! (Here at GDB, we're early AND late at celebrating birthdays -- what more could you ask for?!) BTW, the trip to New York, yesterday, was fun!
Jason, your 'Disneyland-memory-bank' is amazing.
"The floral Mickey is wonderful...with his alyssum face, and red geranium tongue. Although oddly, his ear on the left is blooming at the top, and his ear on the right is blooming on the bottom. Sorcery?"
Cauliflower ears, probably.
Thanks for remembering my dad's birthday, yesterday.
Thanks, Major.
The photographer may not be leaving mid day but went back when the morning crowds had thinded out to get his Floral Mickey photo. Kodak used to claim at one time that the floral entry Mickey’s at Disneyland and Walt Disney World were the most photographed locations on Earth… and despite all the changes to the development of Oriental Disneyland /Tokyo Disneyland , the floral Mickey was included in every version of the plan .
Bu, some Snoozles are better than others! I’ll bet you won’t love my “too dark” and “too blurry” Jungle Cruise Snoozles! Or maybe you will, you are a cheerful, happy-go-lucky fella who brings joy to the world. “Doritos” era sign?? Heresy! I love that sign! I never thought about how they funneled Hotel guests to that lot, it didn’t occur to me that those people would get a colored piece of paper. Smart guests should have brought their own piece of paper! That way they could save the 25¢ (or maybe 50¢ by that point), and take that money to Vegas. Is there a Marquee Sign today? I thought that there wasn’t any, not counting boring street signs. Maybe that employee was reaching into his pocket to give a piece of gum to somebody. And now his good deed is mocked! So sad. I like the shingles on Main Street Station too, and am glad that they haven’t cheaped out and made them all boring rectangles.
Dean Finder, you aren’t wrong, it’s actually the exception when you find a public clock that works (and is reasonably accurate). Old clocks were probably bears to repair, but today they probably have cheap inner works that could just be replaced. At least I assume so.
Lou and Sue, if you need Disneyland data, Jason is your man! I’m sure he would appreciate receiving hundreds of emails a day, and I’ll give out his contact info right now. JUST KIDDING! I’ve always wondered why they changed Mickey’s floral face from the classic “pie eye” Mickey to the version they have now… in my opinion it is not as good.
Mike Cozart, I’ve seen Disneyland brochures that recommend that guests leave the park in the middle of the day and go to the Disneyland Hotel (where else would they be staying?) for a swim and a meal. Come back later when you’re relaxed and well fed! I’m sure it would be nice. However, as a kid I would balk at leaving the park for any reason.
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