Main Street Stuff, March 15, 1957
Good old Main Street USA; under-appreciated by some, but not by anyone who reads this blog! I have admitted that, as a callow youth, I liked Main Street, but did not love it the way I do now.
The floral Mickey portrait looks fine here, in full bloom. It's almost as if your walking into Disneyland was like walking into a Mickey Mouse short subject, since this version of his smiling face is the same as the one that was featured at the beginning of so many films. Where's the Kalamazoo handcar?? I'll bet teenagers stole it for a joy ride while listening to rock and roll music.
Next is this great photo of Town Square as seen from the steps up to Main Street Station; you get a feel for the charm and appeal of Main Street, with the Disneyland Band performing at the base of the flag pole (there's Vesey Walker, just visible).
8 comments:
Major-
Don't know how often the 'population' sign was updated but, the Park reached the five million mark in October, 1956 - so It's *possible* the image is older than 1957.
Love Town Square with its still 'spindly' trees providing little shade for guests.
Thanks, Major.
Looks like Mickey has red Pop Rocks snapping and crackling in his mouth. Yes, this is a great version of floral Mickey; iconic. I wonder if they ever tried using black flowers instead of purple? I suppose there must be some sort of black blooming ground cover? Maybe they decided it would be too dreary? Interesting how a few white blooms made it into the purple ones. Was the handcar there from opening day? Maybe it didn't arrive till later in '57?..... OK, I just checked, the handcar arrived in Disneyland in 1958. So it wasn't teenagers (and rock 'n' roll music) that 'stole' it. But I'm sure there's something those darn teenagers are guilty of!
From this 'high altitude', the Castle looks a bit teensy weensy! Isn't that the Skyway cable stretching across the horizon? I see the support tower but not any Gondolas.... Oh wait! I DO see a Gondola! (Or two.) The Band reminds of the Whos down in Whoville gathering around their Christmas tree in the center of town.
Familiar, but still nice pictures of the Park. Thanks, Major.
Love Town Square with its still 'spindly' trees providing little shade for guests.
Nanook, do we know if those trees are the same ones that are there, today? I know they replaced the trees that line Main Street in 1981, and the olive trees in the Plaza were removed in 2004. But do we know if the Town Square trees were ever replaced?
Major, it was Michael Jackson who hijacked the Kalamazoo Handcar! He did it while singing "Ease On Down The Road," and Danny Kaye and Adam Rich were both witnesses.
Not sure where you checked, JB, but based on photographs and postcards, we know the handcar arrived at Disneyland sometime between Opening Day and early 1956--about an eight-month window.
Santa Fe logo front and center. 5,000,000 on the way to 1 billion. Love the dresses. Looks like they are on the way to a Sock hop.
Thanks Major
Zach
The Floral Mickey is such a familiar sight now, imagine how interesting and unique it must have been then. The purple and white flowers are alyssum, which come only in purple and white. They are a perennial ( or possibly a self-seeding biannual) and bloom year-round in the OC climate, so they are a perfect choice to paint Mickey. Planting from seed might account for the white ones mixed in the purple. I don’t remember him with a red tongue like this, so I can’t guess what those flowers might be, maybe a type of geranium.
I’ll bet those teenagers might even be smoking! Darn kids. There are at least three plain green trash cans in photo 2, which is consistent with an early 1957 date or earlier, as the fancy cans begin appearing on Main Street starting here in Town Square in summer of that year. By 1958 we see the fancy designs throughout Main Street and the Plaza.
There’s a bronze skyway bucket in the right distance and the Emporium shingles look blotchy, like the new roof has been patched.
Thanks for these oldies, Major!
JG
Nanook, in this instance, the slide was hand-dated, so I can only assume the person who did the labeling wrote the appropriate date!
JB, I think I have seen flowers that are black, or very nearly black - but maybe those had not been around in 1957? You might be right though, at least purple is a color, which looks more cheerful. Maybe those white blooms are supposed to look like Mickey’s shiny tongue?? And yes, don’t you even think about it, teenagers are always up to something hinky! HINKY! Jeez, I don’t see any gondolas, but I will take your word for it.
TokyoMagic!, I can’t imagine that the trees from the mid-50s are still there today, I think there’s only so much they can do to keep trees the proper size. Eventually they’d have to replace them, maybe even several times. Danny Kaye and Adam Rich? I’m sure Danny got along great with his much younger co-star, and wasn’t a prickly jerk at all!
Steve DeGaetano, you know how the Internet is! But it seems odd, if the handcar was acquired so early, why isn’t it in this March 1957 photo? Maybe it was at Earl Scheib getting a new paint job.
zach, one of the things that makes photos from this era so charming is the fact that girls and ladies are often wearing nice dresses. Just a few years later, many of them would be in pants.
JG, I’ve never understood why our Mickey was changed to a more modern design - the same as the one in Florida, if I’m not mistaken. I love the old “pie-eyed” Mickey, and that version seems more appropriate somehow. I have nothing to add about the flowers, I should have paid more attention when my mom talked about them. I learned nothing. In 1957, teenagers were required to start smoking, they had to take a special class and everything. Different times. I’d love to know who decided that the trashcans needed to be prettier? Was it Walt himself? Ah, now that you point out that bronze gondola I see it, I’m away from home so I can’t really zoom in.
Major, a re-paint would be in the realm of possibilities! General maintenance could be another reason.
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