August, 1962 - Here Comes the Monorail!
It's JG's birthday today! Sue B. always remembers. And she sent along a set of vintage birthday photos, just for fun.
I wish we had more info about these, such as where this party took place. But we can only guess. The paper cups with handles are for warm buttermilk, which I know everyone who reads this blog enjoys on a daily basis. What is that boy holding? It looks like a cross, which means that vampires were probably nearby, and he was taking no chances.
"In many cultures, insects are important source of protein. So I want each of you to try one of the hissing cockroaches from Madagascar". What a mom!
What the...! The kid to the right is trying to blow out the candles on the cake, and if he succeeds, all of the wishes will be null and void. Never invite him back!
Judging by his expression, the party was a great success! And there's lots of leftover cake, which is never a bad thing. Happy Birthday, JG! And many thanks to Sue for the photos.
******************************
Today's pair of pix could be a little bit sharper, but I can't be too upset at these images of the blue Mark II Monorail rounding the bend and approaching the station at the Disneyland Hotel! Notice the back of the sign for the Hotel, it's those varicolored rectangles. Based on the number of cars parked this far from the main gate, I think this was a very busy summer day.
20 comments:
Happy Birthday JG-! Many happy returns of the day.
It's quite clear from all these birthday party images THIS is the kids birthday party I always dreamed of, but was never invited to attend: A wine tasting party-! Just what could be better for seven-year-old boys than that-? 'Never mix - never worry'.
Monorail Blue certainly looks handsome with its 'vista dome' cockpit sitting atop the cab car .
Thanks to Sue for the endless supply of birthday celebration images. And thanks to The Major.
HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY JG!!
That boy received a REMCO Junior miniaturization Control kit and his has completely MINIATURIZED THE PLANET JUPITER!!!! And now it sits on the kitchen table until his parents decide what to do with it.
I hope the driver of that VW van is aware that a Thunderbird fender is sticking out in front of the VW!! Maybe that’s why that’s a NO PARKING ZONE!! And that goes ESPECIALLY for VWs!!!
@ MIKE-
"... that a Thunderbird fender is sticking out in front of the VW!!"
Not quite. Make that a 1959 Ford [I think] Fairline 500 - the resolution isn't clear enough to determine the model.
"The area underneath the Monorail beam is for loading and unloading only........."
My mom's house has painted wood paneling just like the paneling in the first, second, and fourth pics. Hey kids, don't stick your fingers in that light socket!
Thanks for the birthday pics, Sue. Thanks for the monorail pics, Major. And happy birthday, JG!
Happy birthday, JG. Many happy returns of the day! Oops, looks like Nanook already gave you all the 'returns'. I guess I'll have to return my returns and get you something else... How do you feel about warm buttermilk? ;-)
That vampire cross might be a whirly, twirly thing that you send flying into the air like a helicopter by rubbing your hands across the 'stem', like rubbing two sticks together to to start a fire, to get it rotating.
Well that was a convoluted sentence. Did anybody understand it? It might be something else entirely, like a tomahawk. I wonder why there is a Coke bottle stuck into that 'nest'? Maybe a makeshift coaster?
There's that whirly twirly thing again. It's looking more and more like a 'helicopter' toy.... Or, according to Major, a Madagascar hissing cockroach. The kid at the back (from the first image) looks like that poor schnook on the Sistine Chapel ceiling who just realized that he has lost his soul and is being cast into Hell.
Evidently, the kid in the "coolest coat ever" is really into balls! I suppose that must be a "Goofy Ball"? What else could it be? The fireplace logs almost look like they could almost be almost real... almost.
Hmm, in the 'nullified wishes' photo, we see that twirly thing again. Seen from this angle, it looks like yer typical whirlygig.
The leftover cake pic: That is some weird interior on that cake! It looks like a large assortment of deli meats... or maybe mammoth guts.
Thanks again to Sue. You're like our 'den mother'.:-D
--------------
In the 1st Monorail pic, why do all those cars look (almost) the same? Maybe they were having a car show?
In the 2nd photo, where is our photographer standing? He's not at the station. Looks like there's a little kid (on the right) in the bubble dome. Lucky him... or her.
Thanks, Major.
HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY, JG!
Note the ungrounded electrical outlet on the wall behind the birthday table. I’ll bet the wiring inside the wall has cloth fiber insulation, too.
I was just admiring a modern VW bus at the gym this morning. It was painted to resemble a classic, two-tone VW Type 2. At least it was legally parked.
Thanks, Major!
Happy Birthday JG! Have an extra special good one!
Those paper cups may be filled with grog. At least that's what mom served at my parties. Apparently it counteracts the sugar from all the cake, ice cream and candies, causing the kids to just sit and smile and then take a nap. ALL the moms in the neighborhood started doing it.
We DID have hissing cockroaches. It was fun feeling the hissing buzz in your mouth. A big gulp of grog made them hiss even more. Crunchy goodness.
Great pic of Monorail Blue.
Thanks Sue and Major!
Oh my, thank you everyone! I don’t really feel a year older, but here’s proof, I guess.
Major, you should be in charge of menu planning for state banquets. Everyone loves cockroaches and buttermilk, it’s an old Elbonian recipe.
I love that kid’s coat, as well as the two different kinds of wood paneling and the brick fireplace. The dark paneling would be brown and grooved like an LP record. Some place I used to go had the same paneling, I vividly remember the look and texture, but cannot remember where it was. Maybe my grandads house?
Parking lot pictures are always special. If we look closely, the line of pink and white oleanders that marked the border between the parking and the remaining orange orchard can be seen under the monorail beam. The parking lot wasn’t built out in one go, but was phased in over time as the Park got busier. The original farms were left to continue at the edges. Disney undoubtedly assembled the whole giant parcel and then leased back to the original owners, or maybe others, until the land was needed.
What a great view of the Monorail too. I love how they added the revolving warning lights like police or fire vehicles, just because they could. Mike, have there been any instances of guests climbing onto the beamway to be warned off by flashing lights and air horns?
Thank you Sue and Major, and my GDB friends for this very special celebration. I’m off to see if there are any cockroaches left.
Nanook, wine is OK, but how about a Kentucky bourbon tasting party? “This has been aged in oak barrels, mom!”. I’ll bet somebody out there has a Monorail pilot’s hat in their collection, I wish it was me.
Mike Cozart, I didn’t even consider the possibility that Jupiter had been miniaturized, and now I feel like a fool. That VW van doesn’t seem to be parked where it should be!
Nanook, I was going to say it was a Ford Fairline 500! Well, OK I lied, I had no idea.
TokyoMagic!, I think it’s important for every kid to stick their fingers into a light socket at least once. How else are they supposed to learn?
JB, mmm, warm buttermilk. My dad used to crush saltines and put them in a glass of buttermilk. It made me physically ill to watch it. I assume it was a habit he learned when he worked on a farm. I thought maybe the vampire thing was the doohickey for a marionette, but I see no strings or puppets. Ha, at first I thought you mean the Coke bottle was the makeshift coaster. I’ll bet that kid wishes that his mom bought him a serious ball. He’ll be the laughing stock of the neighborhood. AGAIN. The cars in those Monorail pics do look very similar, not sure what that’s about. Usually you would expect to see a few older models from the 1950s or even older. I’m actually not sure where the photographer was standing!
Chuck, it took me a minute to realize where I’d seen that “interesting” manner of “Happy Birthday” wishes, and then I remembered that it is from James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. My mom and dad’s house had plenty of ungrounded outlets, they had to get them all upgraded at some point.
Grant, I’ve never had grog, but I went to the home of some Swedish folks and they served something that I believe was called “glog”. It was vile, I could hardly swallow it. I think National Geographic had a photo of people in Asia eating giant water bugs, it looked like liver pate inside the carapace. YUM.
JG, I admit that I have a flair for arranging party menus. Spaghettios in a ziploc bag (just cut the corner and dispense directly into your mouth)! Pork rinds a la mode. Etc. It’s funny, I really do enjoy photos of the parking lot, which seems a bit weird. A parking lot?? But it wasn’t just any parking lot, was it? Everything about those Mark II Monorails was awesome, Bob Gurr really hit it out of the park.
I didn’t really look at the photo thst closely- I was kidding about a “no parking zone” for that VW van.
And I kinda just guessed quickly at the make of that other car jutting in front of the VW. And NANOOK : looking closely you can tell it’s likely a 1959 Galaxie Club Victoria - a rare Ford today but distinct by its rear roof /window that the Fairlane 500/Town Sedan didn’t have.
It’s a long story but several years ago I worked on a architectural model of a Ford dealership and became an expert of Ford automobiles from 1959-1961 ( I’m seriously not kidding) I can even identify the Ford models for those years produced in it for the British and German markets!
JG : kinda yes! In the 1960’s some boys who were not actual GRADNITE ticket holders attempted to join their classmates inside Disneyland without tickets and climbed a monorail beam to try and enter the park - one boy was electrocuted to death .
In the past decades there have been sensors added that can do all kinds of safety things including cutting power in segments of the beams so Monorail trains cannot collide into each other … and power cutoff on beams that detect weight/ movement on the support beams on certain levels ( assuming a worker or trespasser has scaled the support ) I don’t think any of the sensors work on birds or ducks etc on the beams .
MAJOR: in the 70’s we had a neighbor whose cat was named spaghetti-o …. But they called him
“Spags”. As I kid I imagined Buttermilk to taste like some delicious sweet like desert drink … and after insisting my mom get me some to try she bought me a pint of it . It was aweful !! It tasted like water that someone had cleaned out their house paint brushes in!! I attempted a taste again in Cub scouts and drank some fresh buttermilk: it tasted like water someone had just FRESHLY washed out their house paint brushes in!!!
Yuck! I use buttermilk to make the Union Pacific RR recipe French Toast … it’s fantastic ! It’s funny to read old Disneyland menus ( are those on KINDLE?) the ones from the 50’s always have buttermilk listed under beverages … but shortly after the early 60’s that pretty much disappears from menus . The only time I ever saw buttermilk on a menu as a separate beverage was at Cantors Deli on Fairfax.
@ MIKE-
"... looking closely you can tell it’s likely a 1959 Galaxie Club Victoria".
Undoubtedly, you're correct - the Galaxie models mimicking the 'Thunderbird roofline'. I was too busy studying the front end for signs of the "F O R D" lettering rather than the Ford emblem/logo.
Major, I agree - Bob Gurr really did hit one out of the Park. Fortunately, it only went as far as the Hotel before coming back.
Ah, the good old days. Where's the smog? Happy Birthday JG. Just talking about the way things were back then tells us we all have a few birthdays under our belts. May the next year be the best! KS
Mike Cozart, you kids and your vintage car knowledge! I will just have to sit back and let you do your thing!
Mike Cozart, I think I remember hearing about the boy electrocuted on the Monorail beam. Yes, he was not supposed to be there, but is there anybody less concerned with their own safety than a teenage boy? Tragic. I’m interested in the sensors you mentioned, too bad they will never do an article about them.
Mike Cozart, ha, I know, “buttermilk” sounds like it would be so good. Like you, I tried it as a kid expecting it to be delicious. And the way it’s so thick, like a milkshake almost. But I was not prepared for the sour “cultured dairy product” flavor! That being said, the acidity helps to make some light and tender pancakes and waffles, and syrup helps to mitigate the tang. Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t EVER remember seeing buttermilk on a menu. I probably did, but it can’t have been for a long time.
Nanook, are you sure it’s not a Chrysler K Car?
Chuck, D’OH!
KS, there is a little smog, but not the kind that will chip a tooth. Which is the kind I like! You really know you’re inhaling when it’s 20% particulates!
Remember the build up to the Chrysler K Cars ?? They did so much advance build up - but wouldn’t show what the cars looked like , then : “ AMERICA; THE K CARS ARE HERE!!!!” … (??) this square boxy cheap looking things!? What a let down! I’ve been watching the retro 1973-1977 episodes of CONCENTRATION on the BUZZER network … man those rumbus pictographs are hard to decipher !! But thr BIG prize is a Chevy Chevette . Probably the worst frumpy cheap looking automobile ever designed in the USA … “Japanese economy with European sensibility” awful embarrassing car. I fact most of the prizes in that show are bad 70’s things …. “his and hers grandfather clocks” … ( is that a joke??) , indoor charcoal BBQ … , lady’s sportswear in a bag ( huh??) price - Phister home spa bath - convert your existing tub into a luxurious home spa !! ( it seriously looks like a torture devise … the prize Chevy Chevette is alas yellow … but a few times it was a reddish - orange . The car sits so low to the ground it looks like it’s tires are flat !
Hi Grant and KS, thanks for stopping by!
I used to love buttermilk, but it had to be cold. I used to order it in coffee shop restaurants too, I don’t recall any issues with finding it. It helped my chronic acid stomach, but now I have not had it for years. Thanks for that memory, Major.
In scout outings I would occasionally make ziploc omelettes. Put some beaten egg, salt, pepper, cheese, ham, chopped onions, etc., whatever sounds good, into an ziploc bag, and drop the ziploc into boiling water. Good eats and minimal cleanup. Probably a good way to get a big wad of microplastics too.
Thank you everyone!
JG
Happy birthday, JG.
I think those kids are playing beer pong.
K cars...haha! I recall one model that was especially boxy. What were they thinking?! If anyone out there owned a K car, please forgive me. (Keep in mind that I wore some crazy styled clothes in those years, so I really shouldn't laugh at people's taste in cars.)
JG, I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I'm glad some of you folks were able to decipher what that party was all about. ( I sure hope those kids had some fun.)
Thanks, Major, for hosting another party.
Post a Comment