Stagecoaches
I always enjoy finding vintage slides featuring amusement parks that I am unfamiliar with; today I have photos of fun stagecoaches from two different parks.
First up is this one, dated "October, 1970"; a boy holds imaginary reins as he drives the stagecoach through some of the harshest lands imaginable. "Tweetsie Stage Lines" helps us to place us in North Carolina (between Blowing Rock and Boone, if you must know). The Tweetsie Railroad is particularly famous, completing its first trip as a tourist attraction on July 4, 1954... (it) quickly evolved into the first theme park in North Carolina — and one of the first in the nation. A western town and saloon were built around the original depot area. A train robbery and cowboy-and-Indian show were added to the train ride, playing off the Wild West theme that was very popular at the time on television and in motion pictures. In 1961, a chairlift and amusement ride area was constructed on the central mountain inside the rail loop, and over the decades the park has been expanded with additional rides, attractions, shops, zoo and restaurants.
Next, an undated slide featuring another more crude (but lovable) stagecoach - "Grand Island Stage" steers us in the right direction. This is from a park called "Fantasy Island", near Niagara Falls, New York. Fantasy Island was founded by real estate developer Lawrence Grant, and was opened on July 1, 1961. It was planned by co-financier and local jeweler Gerald Birzon with buildings designed by Milton Milstein & Associates. The ownership group was formed under the name Fantasy Land, Inc. before changing soon after to Fantasy Island, Inc. The group had originally planned to call the park Fantasy Land, but changed the name for legal reasons after finding out there was already an area of Disneyland called Fantasyland.
Upon opening, the park occupied only 12 acres of land that was divided into five themed areas: Action Town, Animal Kingdom, Garden of Fables, Indian Village and Western Town. Action Town featured amusement rides, Animal Kingdom featured a petting zoo, Garden of Fables featured explorable recreations of fairy tale scenes, Indian Village featured Native American dancers, and Western Town featured a live Wild West show.
The park still exists, though it has evolved and changed owners many times - it is now known as "Niagara Amusement & Splash World".
Just a reminder that I am away for the weekend!
4 comments:
Major-
"... a boy holds imaginary reins as he drives the stagecoach through some of the harshest lands imaginable".
And to think after Marcel Marceau happened to catch this young lad 'in action' on the stagecoach, it inspired Marcel to + his technique. (Or was it Shields and Yarnell-?)
Thanks, Major.
And to think after Marcel Marceau happened to catch this young lad 'in action' on the stagecoach, it inspired Marcel to + his technique. (Or was it Shields and Yarnell-?)
Nanook, it was actually Mummenschanz!
Those horses must have been on casters, or maybe roller skates, otherwise that Tweetsie Stage Line wasn't going anywhere. It couldn't just be a photo-op, could it? Even the Carnation truck at Disneyland slid up and down Main Street on Ruby Sliders® for a short time. ;-)
Thanks for the fun pics, Major!
Hmm, in the first pic, those must be sphynx horses; hairless, just like sphynx cats. And their eyes look weird. Somebody must've put 'something' in their oats. This coach didn't actually go anywhere, right? So I'm wondering what the big draw was to just sit in a stationary coach. I mean, OK, maybe for five seconds or so. But then it's "Well, that's done. Now it's on to another exciting adventure!"... I seem to be rather acerbic tonight. Maybe someone put 'something' in MY oats! [JB goes and checks to see if his eyes look weird.]
#2, being the second pic, after the first pic: One woulda thought that by 1961 those financiers would've heard about Disneyland's Fantasyland... I'm sure everyone else did. And Disney has never been shy about protecting its IPs. Maybe they thought they could get away with it and just surf in the wake of Disney's success... And then thought better of it. The little boy closest to us is clad in the universal boys' uniform: stripey t-shirt and jeans.
Nanook, "Shields and Yarnell". I haven't thought of then in forever. I remember liking their routines.
A fun "anything goes, Saturday", Major. At least, it was fun for ME! Thanks.
@ TM!-
Mummenschanz... now we're getting serious-!
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