Random Knott's! August 2, 1959

I picked out a few less-than-amazing Knott's scans to use up; even if they are not spectacular, they still convey how charming (and sometimes odd) old Knott's was.

When you happen to live in a place where supplies are scarce, you might want to build a house out of spare barrels. If you filled the barrels with dirt, perhaps they would provide a nice insulating effect: cool in the summer, and at least not freezing in the winter. The roof was also made of random pieces of tin, including what appears to be the lids of casks. Santa tried to go down that chimney, but there were no presents for the children that year.

I tried zooming in on those signs in the lower left, and while a few lines were legible, it was mostly a blur.

Those sure are some funny looking chickens. Soon they'll be ready to serve at Cordelia's restaurant. Any idea where that pond was located?

The bank has seen better days - the entire top floor seems to have burned and collapsed. It does not inspire confidence. "Will my savings be FDIC insured?". I wish I could read the notices on the Ghost Town Bulletin Board, I'll bet they were droll has heck. Droll, I say! I think that's the "Red Cliff" locomotive in Chuck's favorite shades of red, yellow-ochre, and milk-chocolate brown.

Cap'n Mike, 1977

You don't have to tell me, I already know - you have been hankerin' for more photos from the Mysterious Benefactor! Ol' Major Pepperidge is nothing if not generous, brilliant, and humble, so I will make your MB dreams come true. 

(Note: about a month ago, TokyoMagic and Mike Cozart informed me that the genial gentleman in today's photos was Mike O'Brien, a beloved cast member for many years).

Among the hundreds of scans are quite a few featuring a gentleman ("Mike") who looks like he came directly from Central Casting. "Thelma Lou, we are looking for a man to portray a riverboat captain. He should be between 50 and 65, with a cheerful disposition, but he should exude a quiet authority".

Mike knew every inch of the Rivers of America, even if it jumped its banks and change course overnight! Treacherous snags and sand bars didn't bother him. Boiler explosions? Don't make him laugh. Why, he could navigate the entire route using only his sense of smell.

These slides were pretty dark, so it might be hard for you to see how much Mike resembles Alan Hale Jr., aka the Skipper from "Gilligan's Isle". Suddenly I wish I wore a red string tie every day.

I would love to know Cap'n Mike's story... how long did he work at the park? There are photos of him aboard the Columbia as well, so he could pilot any vessel, probably. He'd ring the bell, and blow the whistle, and spit tobakky juice with deadly aim. 

Cap'n Mike loved to meet the guests, and regale them with stories of his years on the river. The guests smile and nod, and wonder if he realizes that he works at a theme park. 

Don't be sad, you'll be seeing more of Cap'n Mike real soon.

Matterhorn at Dusk, June 1969

Here are two unusual (but not great) photos of the Mighty Matterhorn, taken after the sun has almost entirely set - a few rays still hit the taller objects. These were almost too dark to scan without them turning into a grainy mess, but they look OK.

From the ground we get a nice perspective of the mountain - nearly everything is in shades of blue and violet, which is very pretty. The sky sort of resembles the famous alpenglow ("...an optical phenomenon that appears as a horizontal reddish glow near the horizon opposite of the Sun when the solar disk is just below the horizon"). I said sort of! Hello, li'l Skyway gondolas. The Tomorrowland Terrace looks so quiet and deserted. 

What do you think, is this a Peoplemover view? Judging from the angle of the sun, it was taken at nearly the same time as the previous photo, so I can't really explain why it looks so different. It's kind of neat so see some of the lights on in the distance, I'll bet the Submarine Voyage was extra cool at this time.

Freedomland USA, September 1960

Today I have a nice pair of images from Freedomland, USA - in The Bronx, New York. It was supposed to be the east coast's answer to Disneyland (and was conceived by none other than C.V. Wood, who was instrumental in the development of Walt's park, whether the Disney company cares to admit it or not). Freedomland only lasted four years before shutting its gates forever (the 1964 World's Fair - also in Queens - might have been partly responsible for Freedomland's demise).

First I have this nice shot of the Stagecoach ride, sponsored by American Express. All those children perched precariously on top make me nervous. I suppose it must have been difficult to make a believable western town in New York, but those boulder-strewn hills aren't doing much for me. A few bison (presumably alive) are sheltered beneath that crude covering. In the distance, the support towers for the Tucson Mining Company sky ride can be seen - but no gondolas are on the cables.

I have a soft spot for the "Danny the Dragon" ride, described as a 74-foot (23 m) long fire breathing dragon, suitable for children. Children of all ages, surely! It was located in the New Orleans-Mardi Gras area of the park. 

There is a Danny the Dragon ride at "Happy Hollow" in San Jose, and I have fond memories of riding this fanciful train with my niece when she was a toddler. It was guided by a wire embedded in the track... the train would follow the electromagnetic "trail". The ride was designed by Arrow Development, and there is an article all about it HERE, check it out!

More Imagineers At the Fair! June 1964

It's time for another great photo from the 1964 New York World's Fair, with a surprise or two!

Among the slides was this group shot, and at first I recognized some of the same faces that appeared in another photo. Which was very cool. But there were some additional people added to the mix! Here's the photo all by itself.

Check it out! It took me a minute to put a name to the mustachioed gentleman, until I realized that it is legendary animator Bill Tytla! And that blonde lady in the lavender dress is legendary and beloved artist Mary Blair?!! Wowee. I am not 100% certain of the identities of the women whose names are in orange, but... more on that in a bit.

(If anybody can ID the man in the white shirt, to the left, I would appreciate it very much!)

Here's a photo of Bill Tytla (standing), along with Art Babbit, circa 1967. Bill left the Disney Studio in 1943 after the divisive animator's strike, feeling that there was too much tension and unpleasantness. He moved to Connecticut, where he worked for a variety of animation studios, including Terrytoons, Famous Studios (Popeye, Casper, etc), and Tempo Productions (which made industrial films and advertisements).

I think it's interesting that he stayed in touch with his friends at Disney, and one can surmise that they invited him to meet them at the Fair.

Historian John Canemaker called Tytla "animation's Michelangelo". Here are just a few of the animated characters that he brought to life:

I don't think I need to tell you about Mary Blair and her accomplishments - her work has achieved a level of love and appreciation that she probably could have never imagined. Here's Mary, with her husband Lee.

In this photo we can see some of the usual suspects as they head toward the entrance to the Travelers Insurance pavilion... there's Mary Blair in her lilac outfit.

I found this photo online, and it was partly the reason why I think that the lady in the blue coat might be Harriet Burns.

Meanwhile, the woman to the left is Joyce Carlson, who (obviously) worked on "The Enchanted Tiki Room, and "It's a Small World" (for the Fair). Most photos of Joyce are from when she was a much older woman, and I am even less confident when it comes to identifying her. 

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the photos, Harriet on the left, and what I think might be her on the right. I'm just not certain though! The hair looks about right, but that might have been a common style from the time. What do you think?

Here's another photo of Harriet! She was one of the very first Imagineers, and certainly the first woman among that group. She worked in the model shop along with Fred Joerger and Wathel Rogers, and built scale models for Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Matterhorn (among her many other accomplishments). She is a Disney Legend and has a window on Main Street.

Here's the pavilion of the Mormon Church. If you are wondering what relevance this has...

... we can see Bill Tytla standing with Ken Anderson (animator, Imagineer), and shaking hands with Les Clark (one of the Nine Old Men). Perhaps this was where they decided to meet up that day.

I hope you have enjoyed today's World's Fair pix; there are still a few more fun surprises to come.

Les Brown at the Carnation Gardens, September 1972

Here's another great series of photos featuring a world-famous Big Band - Les Brown and His Band of Renown! Due to my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to these bands, I asked Mr. X (the photographer) if he could pass on any relevant information. So he asked a musician friend, who spoke to somebody who is in these photos! A trombonist named Jack Redmond ("3 Finger Jack").

Here's what Mr. Redmond had to say (all of his contributions are in yellow): 

I don’t know what year this was. Maybe around 1970 or so (Major here... these are from 1972). I think I recognize my mutton chops. Anyway, here’s the personnel:

Trmpts:    Don Rader, Hal Espinosa (lead),Bobby Clark,Fred Koyen.

Bones:     Bill Moffett, Stumpy Brown, me.

Reeds:     Butch Stone, Lou Ciotti, Matt Utal (lead alto), Ralph LaPolla, Fred Cooper.

Piano:      Bob Alberti.

Bass:       Ernie McDaniel.

Drums:    Norm Jeffries.

Vocalist:  Jo Ann Greer.

Jack Sperling was the drummer most of the time in the 25 years or so that I was on the band. Others for lengths of time were Lloyd Morales and Jerry McKenzie. Norm was just with us for that Disneyland week, I think. Lou Ciotti was the fine jazz tenor player. Don Rader (Rades-my room mate all over the world) was be-bop trumpet, of course. Hal Espinosa became president of Local 47 years later.

Bob Alberti later became Bob Hope’s TV musical director. Butch Stone played bari sax, but was a great comedic singer. Beautiful cat. Jo Ann was married to ex Les Brown trumpet player Mickey McMann, who later became a charter member of the Lawerence Welk TV orchestra.

I hated those freaking red coats. We finally got rid of them, but then got some REALLY FONKY plaid ones. Almost made me glad when we had to wear tux’s.

You can see Jack in this view - second row, and second from the right (again, on trombone).

It is SO COOL to actually hear from one of the band members! This is all thanks to Mr. X, his friend Mark, and the generous help of Jack Redmond.

Frank Soltesz!

I don't know about you, but for me one of the fun things about the internet is having the ability to look up random topics that I find interesting. Often I wind up going "down the rabbit hole", so to speak, with one topic leading to another, and another. Today's subject was kind of the result of that phenomenon.

It started with this scan of a wonderful (and not particularly rare) certificate that was given out to guests who visited the "Rocket to the Moon" attraction, sponsored by TWA of course. What a fantastic item, with a beautiful illustration. Who painted it? Well, on the right hand side you can see the name "Soltesz".

It's Googlin' time! There is not a lot of information about Frank Soltesz (1912-1986), but I did find some on several sites. Soltesz was born in Pennsylvania, and showed an aptitude for drawing at an early age. He won a number of art contests, and then enrolled in the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. During World War II he produced lots of technical illustrations for various manufacturers. After the war he went on to a successful career as a freelance artist. Two of his biggest clients were TWA, and Armstrong Cork.

Look at this beautiful TWA poster! I like everything about it.

Here's another incredible poster - I had a chance to buy one of these a few years ago (before I even knew who the artist was) and passed - talk about regret. Such a gorgeous painting.

And how about one more ad for TWA? I'm sure you won't mind.

One of Soltesz s particular skills was doing "cutaway" illustrations, such as this one of a seaplane. The detail is so fun. Bunks, luggage storage, lounges, the cockpit, and yes, even a terlet. 

Some of Frank Soltesz's most well-known work is the series of paintings that he did for Armstrong Cork. One site says that between 1947 and 1951 he produced 29 detailed illustrations of various structures, from this steamship, to factories and steel mills, and so on.  These appeared in "Saturday Evening Post", and gained him a great deal of attention. I love this steamship cutaway...

... or how about this office building, including the subterranean floors? Not to mention things like the subway train, the sewer system, and pipes carrying other city services.

And one last picture as it appeared on a Saturday Evening Post page. As a kid I would have pored over these wonderful paintings for so long, delighting in every tiny element. In fact, I still enjoy doing just that!

What a talent! I'm so glad I went down this particular internet vortex. I hope you all enjoyed learning about Frank Soltesz.

Photos From Gray's Drug Stores! - March 1960

A few years ago I found this fun little photo album from Gray's Drug Stores, which (as far as I can tell) were located in Pennsylvania and Ohio. "Artistically finished", ooh-la-la!

Not surprisingly, I was interested in this little booklet because it had photos of Disneyland from March of 1960. Like this fun portrait of a mother and her two kids near the entrance to Adventureland. Junior is sporting a hat just like Huck Finn wore, as well as his very own camera.

Pops got into the picture this time, as the family made its way to the top of Castle Rock on Tom Sawyer Island.

So many souvenir hats! Though the Panama hat to the left wasn't a park purchase. I always enjoy seeing one of the plastic "Keppy Kaps", like the one in the lower right. A good crowd has turned up to watch the performance at the Indian Dance Circle.

This is my favorite of the bunch, since these three are standing beneath the Monsanto House of the Future. An unusual perspective for sure!

Whoa, it's pretty busy over in Tomorrowland; but I can't blame all of those people for wanting to ride the still-new Monorail or Submarine Voyage!

This one was really dark, I had to lighten it up quite a bit so that we can see the Autopia. Notice that there are two different styles of vehicles. The one closest to us must be a Mark V car, though I don't really see the headlights that are supposed to be there. It almost looks like a Mark VI, but those wouldn't come along until 1964.

This last one is a bit of a mystery; the boy is wearing the same hat and striped shirt as in all of the other photos, but I am reasonably sure that this isn't Disneyland. Perhaps I'm wrong, though! Could it be Knott's Berry Farm? I wish I could discern what those postcards are, but they're just too blurry.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos from Gray's Drug Store!

Monorail! From Lou and Sue

Here are more great photos from Lou and Sue! They are from 1977, and feature a single Mark III Monorail train as it zoomed past. With his lightning-fast reflexes, Lou managed to capture not one, not two, but THREE images of it, even though it was gone in seconds. Maybe he had one of those motor drives on his camera?

Oh boy, the Monorail is red, and it still has a bubble dome. It is also giving a porpoise-like kiss to that yellow Skyway bucket. Sorry, Monorail, I don't have any sardines for you.

The Alweg name had been removed from the Monorail trains only a year before these photos were taken, even though the Alweg company had been kaputski since 1964 (taken over by Krupp after financial difficulties). And of course the Santa Fe name that also graced the Monorails was gone after 1974.

There she goes! The old Bob Gurr designs are hard to improve upon.

THANK YOU to Lou and Sue!

At the time that I am adding this note, I'm not sure whether I'll be back by tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Last Pix From "America on Parade"

Let us all rejoice, for today is the last installment of pictures from "America on Parade", circa 1976. I know you've suffered, but I'd like to think that you are better people for it.

"Phonographs brought the symphony orchestra into every home!". Uh oh, it's those jazzy day-glo cats again, go get the broom, or a squirt bottle. 

"Television offers unique home entertainment. And now such greats as Winnie the Pooh are seen by millions in living color". Change the channel, I want to watch "The Six Million Dollar Man"!

Like many people, when I think about American history, I think of pink elephants walking on their front feet.

"God bless America! May Liberty's flaming torch and our symbols of freedom shine like beacons, and inspire all mankind to live together in peace and harmony".

Strangely, in the video that I watched on YouTube, the iconic float featuring Mickey, Goofy and Donald (inspired by Archibald MacNeal's painting, "The Spirit of '76") was at the beginning of the parade, and yet it was the last slide (by number) in this batch. Witchcraft? Time travel? Dyspepsia? You decide.

Yes, I am still far, far away, and possibly have no internet access. But I'll be checking back in very soon!