Disneyland Munginess, July 1966

Today I'm sharing the last scans from a small lot of slides that had become very weirdly discolored; they defied my best attempts to restore them, even though they now look better than before. I'll be glad to say goodbye to them - but there are always more mungy slides to come.

Oy, so greeny-blue! Our photographer was rounding the hub, with the entrance to Tomorrowland to our right - the Monsanto house is hiding like a timid woodland creature. I feel dumb pointing out something as obvious as the Matterhorn, but hey, I've felt dumb lots of times before.

Views of the parking lot are always fun (and popular), even when they are less than perfect. It's cool to have Monorail Red directly across from us! 

Zooming in, I can just see the very cool mini-billboard that announced the imminent arrival of dinosaurs. Until now, I was never really clear on where it had been located.

Here's a better look at that billboard, from a previous post!

More "New Tomorrowland" Construction

I'm getting down to the last few images showing some of the massive construction that took place for the addition of the fabulous New Tomorrowland. The three that I chose today all have their problems, so I decided to lump them into one post. Come on, it won't be so bad!

As usual, I am a bit discombobulated; is that the Carousel of Progress building? I don't recognize that grassy knoll, and the Monorail track is awfully close. 

This blurry shot was taken right at the entrance, with the Peoplemover track, and the pointy pylons (pre-metalized panels). The House of the Future is still there, but not for long!

And here's a kind of nice angle (and kind of a followup to the photos that I shared in the last post featuring images from this series), with the still-operating Skyway toodling along. I believe that it was a round trip ride, to Fantasyland and back again, at this point. We also get the Richfield eagle and the yellow Monorail at no additional cost to you. Or send me $5, that would be cool!

Das Jungle Cruise, July 1958

I really like the first photo from today's Jungle Cruise extravaganza. Can two photos be an extravaganza? No? Well, never mind then. I still like the first photo!

There is something to be said for the post-Indy Jungle launches, looking relatively weathered and worn by the harsh elements of the tropics. But how can you not love the old versions? The hulls are gleaming white, the awnings are candy-striped - they look like giant toys (and in fact, toy versions were made and sold). Even the jungle looks kind of tidy.

That being said, I do think that the "jungle" of today is a pretty impressive thing.

This second photo is a bit less fun. I prefer a little activity if you know what I mean; it's easy to imagine that the inhabitants of that grass shack skeedaddled into the rainforest at the sound of the approach of outsiders.

Vintage Viewmaster Scans!

Did you ever wake up in the morning, only to discover that you've actually been alseep for two weeks? Well, I feel like a silly goose, but that's what happened to me. So I have to make up for lost time and scan lots of slides for future posts. In the mean time, I have these old scans from vintage Viewmaster reels - just the thing for an "Anything Goes Saturday".

We'll start with this nice shot of the Chemical Wagon, being pulled by two large German Shepherds. Harry Truman likes to ride backwards, and who am I to argue with the heavyweight champ? We've got a cast member to drive the thing, and another to stand at the rear to make animal noises and to hum theme music. 

I love this shot of the Disneyland Police Department - it's one of those rarely-photographed features, being just inside the front gates. People hadn't warmed up their cameras yet. I love the details on the cutest li'l police department ever, especially those painted globes (presumably the word "Police" glowed at night), and the "Lost Children" sign.

The next two images are especially soft - I guess that it wasn't easy to mass produce zillions of stereo photos. In any case, I like this first view showing the Red Wagon Inn. Let's hitch up our horse and go get some grub. Many structures on Main Street are based on real buildings from various cities, I wonder what was used for reference on this one.

And here's another view from a different Main Street Viewmaster set - it seems pretty likely that it was taken around the same time as the previous photo.

More Unrejected Rejects!

Once again, I tackled a few old slides that I'd skipped in the past - in this case they had turned so red that I was unable to achieve a satisfactory result. Happily, this time they turned out OK! Still a little funky, but pretty good.

This undated (but certainly from the 1950's) shot is a nice view of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship as seen from the Skyway. Pretty, no?

I thought that the previous photo might work well with a "tilt shift" effect (in which one simulates the very short focal length that happens when taking a photo of a miniature). I think the result is OK, but not spectacular. Maybe I did it wrong.

Here's a closer view (non-tilt shifty). The level of detail on the ship is really impressive, especially when you look at what was going on at most amusement parks of the day.

Monstro the whale has an endless appetite for canal boats full of crunchy, chewy people. Sure, they need salt, but Monstro is watching his blood pressure anyway, so it's all good. Notice the large dirt lot in the upper right - I think that the Junior Autopia was there eventually (no evidence of it here).

Notice the little board on those rocks - a platform for a worker who had to repair Monstro's chipping exterior - he's been swimming too much. No wonder he's so crabby! 

Steve Stuart Photos, June 1958

Hooray, let's take a look at more 1958 photos of Disneyland from the personal collection of "Nanook", aka Steve Stuart!

Once again, Steve has generously provided commentary: "This shot was taken aboard a Main Street Surrey, as we head toward the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Off to the left, we can see the awning and partial sign from the Puffin Bake Shop, wedged between the Sunny View Farms Jellies & Jams and the Penny Arcade. And adorning lampposts on both sides of Main Street are placards touting the new Grand Canyon Diorama, which would have opened on March 31, 1958, just a couple of months before this image was shot". 

Check out that June Gloom! At first I thought perhaps it had rained earlier, but the water might be left over from Main Street's early morning wash.

"Here at the Jungle Cruise, evidently waiting to board the Orinoco Adventuress is my mom (doing her best to look like Dorothy Malone), De De and me. I can see from my bulging front teeth that my first set of braces wouldn't be too far out in the future. (Yes - my teeth are lovely, now - thanks for asking)".

Steve's mom does look pretty glamorous. I had to look up Dorothy Malone, but I definitely see a resemblance!

THANK YOU, Steve!

Family Portraits, 1957

We've seen today's family in previous posts; I hope you liked them, because they're back, and this time it's personal. Whatever that means.

In this first image, they're in Adventureland, with "Tiki's Tropical Traders" in the background. These folks wouldn't be so squinty if they had a woven hat on their noggins.  Adventureland had a ramshackle quality back in those days, which seemed appropriate to an area that had barely been explored by outsiders.

Next they're in Tomorrowland, in front of the fountains that graced the front of one of the buildings. Stroller boy isn't impressed. Take him to see the giant squid at the 20K walkthrough and scare the bejesus out of him! Just think, the family could still see such oddball "attractions" as the Kaiser Aluminum Hall of Fame, the Dutch Boy Paint Gallery, the Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow, "Satellite View of America", and so much more. I'm jealous.

More Rescans

I've done some more rescans of old slides that have already been featured here on GDB. While the original versions weren't bad, the new scans are a definite improvement.

Let's begin with this one from June 6th, 1956. That was a a Wednesday; the park was open from 10 AM until 8 PM, and the high temp for the day was a mild 75 degrees. Attendance was a mere 9,717. (Thanks to Jason's Disneyland Almanac for that info). 

This is a nice shot of the Nile Princess, moments before embarking on its tour of the remote rivers of the world. Three people are waiting for their cushion to be placed on the bench seat. I'm wondering what some of those mysterious thingamabobs are on the bow of the boat. Notice the lantern on top of the canopy, at a casually askew angle. Hey, why is there an electrical wire going into it?

Melissa, the little girl in front is looking right at YOU.

Here's the redo - some of that dingy yellow cast has gone, and as usual, everything is just a little bit sharper and clearer.

I always liked this nice, scarce interior shot (circa 1970) of the INA Carefree Corner. Those ladies are probably pretty bored. Let's go bug them! 

Some of that weird pink cast has been removed, but the ladies look just as bored. Over the blonde's shoulder we can see a shelf of large books - are those the ones that people could sign? Or was that at City Hall? If only there was a device on which I could look that stuff up.

I hope you have enjoyed today's rescans.

Snapshots, March 1974

I decided to use up the last five snapshots from 1974 in one go, since a few of them are not that amazing. 

Like this one; it's not a great shot of Merlin's Magic Shop, but it is a pretty OK shot of that wacky trash can. 

This is the kind of photo that my grandmother would have taken. She loved flowers! I swear, half of the vacation pictures that she took are of various wildflowers in California. 

The Seven Dwarfs were out and about; here's Doc, dispensing free medical advice to all. Just like I used to do before I was apprehended.

The Kodak Picture Spots had been taken over by GAF, but nothing else had changed much. I wonder if Mr. Red Pants is filming some Super 8 home movies. Love the white shoes! And of course, Skull Rock is always great.

I guess this is Bashful? Or is it Sneezy? He looks like he's just seen something that he wasn't supposed to see. 

That's it for this batch, but I have lots more snapshots to share!

Mark Twain & Matterhorn, April 1960

Here's a pair from 1960; nothing amazing, but nice just the same. Like this first one, showing the Mark Twain gleaming in the April sunshine on crisp clear day. All the cool kids want to be on the top level (also, they know that this is where they are least likely to be attacked by a poisonous grizzly bear). Notice that there are a couple of fishing poles at the right edge of the photo.

In the early years, the Matterhorn was painted a slightly darker gray than what we see these days, which is a bit surprising; I would imagine that a lighter hue would work better from in a forced perspective way. In any case, it looks great, though I am disappointed that we don't see a single bobsled.