Main Street, July 1961

Does Modern Life get you down? Do you long for simpler times? Go to Main Street, my friend! It'll cure what ails ya. From the steps of Main Street Station, we look down on Town Square, with three Main Street vehicles nearby. The Motorized Fire Truck, a Horse-drawn Streetcar, and the Bus that is very Omni. Notice the banner on the side advertising the Monorail, which would now take you to (and from) the Disneyland Hotel.

Next, the surprisingly-popular Flower Market. I'm sure I would have whined and fidgeted if my mom had paused here for even a minute. But flowers are for girls, after all. It's a scientific fact. The woman in the white dress could be my grandmother, it's uncanny. If you look to the extreme left, up toward the corner, you can just seen part of a lamppost sign...

... this one! 

Dusk on the Mark Twain, June 1972

I just scanned a small batch of slides from June, 1972; there are some nice and unusual dusk photos in the bunch, which is cool! The two I'm sharing today aren't the most amazing things you'll see, but I still like the general vibe of being on the Mark Twain as the sun dips below the horizon. The colors turn soft and cool, and the lights come on; it's pretty great!

These guests feel shame for not being cool enough to hang out at the bow like the cool kids (that's where you'll find ME). But they are still enjoying the view - I can't tell if we are fore or aft, port or starboard. I think that's Tom Sawyer Island to the right... the man in the groovy striped slacks is wishing he was frolicking along the trails and through the caves. But as we all know, the island is CLOSED AT DUSK. The "waste" can in the lower left corner is... interesting.

The Twain is returning to civilization after three months in the wilderness. The man in front of us looks like he is in a daze - he resorted to eating one of his fellow passengers. There was plenty of regular food, but mistakes happen. Hey, let's go over to the Golden Horseshoe and enjoy the Revue! I've heard that it's a hoot and a half.

Snoozles™, July 1961

You know how it goes with Snoozles - they are not ready for Prime Time, and never will be! And that's saying something, because "Pink Lady and Jeff" was a Prime Time show.

If you just look at the thumbnails, things will seem OK. But the full-sized jpeg reveals the usual lack of focus that plagues so many vintage photos. Still, Frontierland looks beautiful in this late-afternoon shot.

Again with the soft focus?? Maybe it was an artistic choice. Doubtful, but maybe. Look at how teensy those Skyway gondolas look, they're like bugs. In fact, people look like bugs, Autopia cars looks like bugs... everything is covered in bugs!

Knott's Berry Farm, September 1962

If you love vintage Knott's Berry Farm, you are my kind of people! And if you don't love vintage Knott's, enjoy your borscht, comrade. 

How often did a girl get to pet a friendly burro in 1962? Not very often! Little Miss Blue Dress is patiently  (?) waiting her turn, but she's already made a connection to Buttercup. "You and I will be friends forever!" (said Buttercup, not the little girl). 

Next is this nice family portrait next to ol' #41, the Red Cliff. Guests could lie down in front of the train just for laughs. What a hoot! Notice how close the parking lot is, just beyond the depot. Of course this was long before Knott's charged an admission fee - just show up and walk in! Preferably clothed, but I'm not the boss of you.

If you look closely you can see the two men from the previous photos, along with Little Miss Blue Dress. They're about to strike it rich panning for REAL GOLD! Then they'll all wear top hats and speak with clipped mid-Atlantic accents. It looks like they could open up the sluice to allow more customers to pan for gold, and it might be high-time to do so.

Two Beauties From April, 1981

Check out today's beauties, from ye olden days of April, 1981! We were dancing to "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang, ugly-crying to "Hello Again" by Neil Diamond, and getting groovy to "Rapture" by Blondie. I have no idea what anybody was doing to "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. 

Check out this view of a Mark III Monorail at the Disneyland Hotel station! It would be hard to top this design for sheer coolness. Although... how about metal flake paint? My favorite! And a pair of fuzzy dice dangling inside the nosecone canopy.

Here's a nice shot of the Disneyland sign, which had clearly been altered from its original look. According to the always-excellent Yesterland website, the sign was changed around 1975, and at first there were red letters beneath the word "DISNEYLAND" with that said "America on Parade", which had just debuted. After that, it said "The Happiest Place on Earth" (what is that odd font?), "The Best Has Just Begun", and then back to "The Happiest Place on Earth" again.

 

A Pair From January, 1974

Welcome to January, 1974. As you can see, it was a particularly brutal winter in SoCal, with temperatures dropping into the low 50s. Stores couldn't keep light cardigans in stock! Some say that people even wore hats on occasion, if you can believe it. (Looking at Jason's Disneyland Almanac, I see that the very lowest  daytime temps were around 55º, with some days approaching 80º!). 

I've seen more than a few photos that are similar to the one below, but my gosh, what a beautiful sight! That sky is a deep cobalt blue, setting off the Saturn V rocket on the Rocket Jets and the Peoplemover station/load area. I'm not sure I would be able to deal with the crowds, my enochlophobia would have kicked in. Along the Speedramp up to the Peoplemover, we can see some of those lozenge-shaped displays that contained charming diorama (with limited movement) for Goodyear products.

I feel guilty saying that this next one is kind of a step down from the first, but we've seen so many pictures of the Matterhorn. SO MANY. I guess it's like seeing a bunch of pictures of your grandparents; you feel like you've seen 'em all, but you still love them.

Mark Twain, 1956

I love the Mark Twain, but I do find myself grumbling a bit when I have so many pictures of it. Maybe I need therapy! I just have to put my brain into the correct gear, and then I can appreciate the steamboat. Both of today's photos are from 1956, or possibly 1957 (if they are from 1957, I will give you your money back). 

The sternwheeler has chopped up some ducks into a delicious chowder as it churns past the Plantation House (juuuust peeking in from the left). The Frontierland shoreline looks wonderfully wide open and undeveloped. Sure, I love the attractions that were to come, but there's something about the way the place looked back then.

OK, OK, I should have posted this one first. But I like to mix things up to keep you from getting complacent! One boy standing at the rail looks down into the turbulent water, wishing that he could scoop up a cup of that chowder.

 

IASW, August 1969

It's just a fact of life, sooner or later I'm going to come across photos of the huge "It's a Small World" building. There's really nothing that you haven't seen before, and I am starting to think that it might be time to put a moratorium on examples that aren't exceptional. But that's something I will need to think through! Meanwhile, here's a standard view as seen from the Skyway. I've always liked the cartoon representation of famous buildings like the Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, a pagoda, an onion dome, and possibly St. Peter's dome (?). No golden arches, for some reason. At some point, somebody realized that putting a big souvenir stand right in the middle of the promenade would sell more bubble blasters than one off to the side would.

Tick-tock! This clock is accurate up to a billionth of a second, and it automatically resets for Daylight Savings Time. Walt did not opt for the built-in AM radio, and in retrospect, it was probably the right choice.

 

Rafts to Tom Sawyer Island

The Mysterious Benefactor continues to give and give. Maybe we should send him a Hai Karate gift set? It costs more than Aqua Velva, so he'll know we care. All of the MB's scans are from Frontierland, as usual.

These first two were taken in succession (obviously), just look at that line! I'm actually not entirely sure if this line is for the Keelboats, or the Canoes, or Tom Sawyer Island Rafts, or a combination of those, but it's pretty astonishing to see dozens and dozens of guests patiently waiting.

Just seconds later, the Keelboat has continued onward, honking its "La Cucaracha" horn as it passed. You know the one I mean! Frontierland looks so lush here, though I admit that the slide seems to have a greenish tint.

Next, a raft returns to the mainland, I notice that some makeshift seats were added to so that people wouldn't have to stand for the entire 1-minute voyage. I suppose you can't blame people for resting their feet when they have the opportunity. 

Wowee, that is one crowded raft. And there are some pirates aboard to! A portent of things to come. Ah, the pre-Fantasmic island, how I miss it.

This next one is interesting to me, as a Disneyland postcard enthusiast. This photo was taken at nearly the same time as a slightly-different one used for card #C-15, from a series that (according to one website) ran from roughly 1956 to 1966. It's also just a pretty picture, with the puffy clouds (was this taken in January or February?). The raft is the "Becky Thatcher", which I don't seem to see as often as some of the others.

Here's postcard C-15, presumably taken moments later. The raft isn't leaving much of a wake, so I am assuming that it slowly drifted while the photographer fumbled with his camera.

Many thanks to the Mysterious Benefactor!

Blurzles, July 1961

Sometimes I'll acquire a batch of slides, only to find that over half of them are not in focus. Camera issues? Caffein? Earthquakes? Perhaps a combination of all three. Whatever the case, it's aggravating, and I don't mind telling you (*whispering*) that I might have cried a little. Still, this first one is not a total loss; it's fun to see so many Main Street vehicles lined up, from a Horse Drawn Streetcar, to two Horseless carriages (one is different from the other, is it a "jitney"?), and a Surrey. 

More blur! A Surry passes a Streetcar and an Omnibus. The horse was trained to make engine-revving noises so that it felt more exciting. Neeeuuuuurrrrr! Whoooooooommm! Now you do one. You're not going to let those horses out-cool you, are you?