More Frontierland Scans - 1967

Say, how about another selection of vintage Frontierland scans (from the Mysterious Donor)? 

As I think I have mentioned before, this large batch of donated scans has a ton of pictures of the Columbia. Which is OK by me. This first one is a neat angle as seen from the old fishing dock (on Tom Sawyer Island) looking back toward the shore. 

Some weirdo has decided that he prefers the view from what true sailors call "rope thingies". "Avast, ya salty baboon! Come down from the rope thingies at once, or it'll be no grog for ye!". Man, this stuff writes itself. (If one of you wants to form a punk band called "Salty Baboon", I won't stand in your way).

This lovely photo is from another unusual vantage point... the photographer was standing on Walt's balcony. Pretty sweet.

Isn't this an amazing shot? It was taken from the Disneyland & Santa Fe RR as it passed a rather large, grassy "meadow". You can see some of the buttes, mesas, and other rock formations from Nature's Wonderland. I'm kind of surprised that guests did not take similar photos from this angle - in my collection of thousands and thousands of images, I sure don't have anything like this.

Here's an aerial view showing the approximate line of sight (the giant yellow arrow) in the previous photo.

I threw in this final view for fun, even though it is a bit blurry. Most western-themed amusement parks had shootouts as part of the fun - Disneyland had them too. Here, Sheriff Lucky has gunned down a yellow-bellied, lily-livered, thievin' coyote. This scan is labeled as being from 1967, but I would wager that 1957 is more like it.

As always, many thanks to the Myserious Donor.

Carnation Ice Cream Flier

It's time for a fun (and very scarce) Disneyand flier! This one was brought to you by the Carnation company, and was presumably given out at the ice cream parlor on Main Street. It has a "1959" date printed on the inside, for those of you keeping track.

The flier was created in a shape resembling a pennant, and then folded into a sort of irregular rectangle. I love the way the zig-zag folds reveal the name of each "land" - although, curiously, Main Street was not included.

By golly, I will visit the charming Carnation Ice Cream Parlor! 

I'm not sure if this is the back or the front, but does it really matter? Quantum mechanics says it can be both things at once. I think. Carnation has provided some awesome ice cream recipes for you to try at home. The Frontierland Soda sounds pretty tasty, but I am intrigued by the Adventureland Shake. 

Like many other early Disneyland items, this one features Dumbo rather than Mickey Mouse.

Here's the front. Or maybe it's the back. The Fantasyland Parfait is surely delicious, but way too much work. If I was going to make a bunch of them, assembly-line style, maybe I would get all of the ingredients for that one! Not sure where to get "green crushed pineapple", however. The Tomorrowland Sundae is for me, with an "atom" made from maraschino cherries and toothpicks. Their example reminds me of the "Atomium" from the 1958 Brussels World's Fair.

I need ice cream. NOW.

The Rainbow Desert, October 1961

There's something wonderful about deserts. They can be incredibly harsh and severe, burning hot during the day, freezing cold at night; there are poisonous critters (snakes, scorpions, and gila monsters), and spiny, unfriendly plants, evolved to survive long months without water. But, as the narrator of the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland said, "...the desert's got her beauty too".

Walt Disney's Imagineers did a wonderful job of capturing that beauty on a small scale in the Living Desert. Rock formations, carved by the elements over millennia, display strange shapes and warm colors. A "forest" of saguaro cacti grow from the sands, resembling something that might live on another planet.

Notice the unobtrusive (?) light fixtures along the tree line, for nighttime visits to Nature's Wonderland. Oh, how I wish I had experienced this attraction at night!

The coyote is a survivor in this rugged landscape, finding sustenance where others would starve. His high-pitched yips makes him "the voice of the desert" too. I have all of his albums. 

Monstro and Storybook Land, August 1967

Fun Mom gets a lot of love here on GDB, but we have to salute Fun Dad once in a while. After all, he took most of the photos (well over 100!) from various trips to the park in the 60's and 70's. And a bunch of them are pretty good - he had a good eye, as they say. FD is wearing a jacket and tie, which I appreciate -  the only time I ever did that was for Grad Nite. He is posing in his best GQ attitude - though it might be cooler if he was shading his eyes (as if looking for a ship in the distance). 

I am wondering if that crazy bag he is holding is from one of the shops at Disneyland - perhaps not.

We might as well enjoy this photo of the Casey Jr. Circus Special, with its calliope, as well as cages of monkeys and other wild animals.

Brussels World's Fair, 1958

A few years ago I acquired a nice group of slides from the 1958 World's Fair ("Expo 58") in Brussels. Belgium, that is! It was the first true World's Fair after World War II. Amazingly, the '58 Fair was the 11th World's Fair hosted by Belgium, and the fifth in Brussels (the others being 1888, 1897, 1910, and 1935).

Oh boy, the Atomium! That striking structure represented "a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times". The spheres are clad in stainless steel and are connected by tubes 3 meters in diameter - big enough to walk through. Look at the topmost sphere, with windows to peek out of! I'll bet the view was amazing. Happily, the Atomium is still with us 60 years later.

Pivoting to our right a tiny bit, we can see the Von Roll Sky Ride; at the time there were only four or five of these rides in the world! This one eventually wound up in Memphis, Tennessee (of all places)  at a park called Lakeland. It closed in 1976. 

I know, I know... this one is blurry. But I figured I might as well include it, since you can get a sense of how the beautiful Grand Palace at night.  I believe that this building was repurposed (with a new, striking façade) from the 1935 World's Fair. You can see the dove of peace and the asymmetrical five-pointed star (the Fair's logo).

More Slides 911!

Here are the last three slides from a series that had turned an unappealing shade of brownish-red - but a little Photoshop TLC brought them back to something worth sharing!

First scan: Nope.

Hey, that's better. Monstro is so mad that he is spitting a plume of spray into the evening air. As a kid I'm sure I would have been amused if the wind sent that spray in my direction.  

Scan #2: oh boy. We're gonna need a bigger Photoshop.

This is quite an unusual angle, with the giant blue wing of the Richfield Eagle in the foreground, the Autopia track below, and the red Monorail at the station; you can just discern some guests who appear to be exiting the Monorail train through the open windows. And beneath the tracks, the Submarines can just be seen.

This is how an angry bull sees the world.

Here it is, the last one! Not a great photo (it's hard to get too excited at photos of some random toddlers on the Carrousel), but I always enjoy seeing the multicolored horses. To the right, it looks like a youthful CM is making his way among the herd, making sure that everyone is safely strapped in.

I hope you have enjoyed these rescued slides!

Out Front, July 1972

We all remember the thrill of arriving at Disneyland, and the multi-step process of getting closer and closer. Step 1: See the Matterhorn from the highway before anybody else. Step 2: Enter the parking lot. Step 3: Hop aboard a parking lot tram. Step 4: Buy tickets at the li'l ticket booths. Step 5: Go through the turnstyles. 

Here we can see everyone's favorite Fun Mom heading toward Step 4. I love the brightly colored clothing that "pops" on this slightly overcast day.

One could argue that there were still two steps to go. Step 5: After passing through the turnstyles, stop in front of Main Street Station for a photo or two (maybe even posing with Mickey or Pluto if you were lucky). Step 6: Walk through one of the tunnels that pass beneath the train tracks, and emerge (finally!) into Town Square. Step 7: Do a little dance. Hooray!

Castle Courtyard, July 1972

Here are some photos from Fantasyland, circa 1972, taken after walking past Sleeping Beauty Castle's archway and into the courtyard. We've seen the Castle so many times, each one of us could build an accurate scale model out of toothpicks and Elmer's glue. Let's do it! This is one of those photos in which the crowds add some nice color and energy to what would otherwise be a ho-hum picture.  What is that woman in the foreground wearing on her head? My #1 theory... it's a paper bag.

I'm not sure what our photographer was trying to capture in this view; maybe he was really into crenellations. Who wouldn't be? To our left is the entrance to "Geppetto's Arts and Crafts", to the right, "Tinker Bell Toy Shop". Just to the left of the Tinker Bell Toy Shop sign we can see the entrance to the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-thru.

Disneyland Souvenir Guidebook, 1965 - Part 3

Today I am proud to present part 3 in a series of posts that feature the wonderful 1965 Disneyland souvenir guidebook - courtesy of scans from GDB regular JG. Be sure to go back and see the first two posts, if you haven't already seen them.

Adventureland! A place of dangerous animals and mysterious ruins. I love that classic "Adventureland" font. In the inset photo, Walt wears a skipper's hat - imagine taking a tour through the rivers of the world with him as your guide! Notice that the description on this page is in quotes, as if somebody just happened to transcribe something that Walt said.

Once again, a striking graphic motif was used; bamboo, orchids, and bromeliads - along with a human skull for fun. Notice the tour guide with a group of guests following her like baby chicks.

That bird looks very "Rolly Crump" to me (as does the tiki god), I wonder if he could have had anything to do with this guidebook? Yeah, probably not. 

Of course the famous Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room get the lion's share (see what I did there?) of coverage.

One of the most interesting sections of the '65 guidebook is near the back; Disneyland history is combined with concepts and artwork for future attractions. 

The first paragraph states that "Drawings for a 'Disneyland' actually date back to the early 1930's". Really?? This is news to me.

Mickey Mouse is working on something called the Haunted Mansion - I'm sure that will open next year. The written description is pretty accurate to what was eventually realized. To the right is Sam McKim's painting (based on a Ken Anderson drawing), while one of Rolly Crump's surprisingly colorful pieces is shown in the lower left.

More hoopla! I find it amusing that Disneyland's "navy" is compared to Britain's fleet of warships during their domination of the seas. I'll bet any British Admiral would quake in his boots when a fleet of canal boats and motor boats were spied on the horizon.

I would have loved this page, chock full of construction photos, dating from the earliest years to slightly more contemporary attractions, such as the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Submarine Voyage,  and the Columbia.

Imagine: it's 1965, and a new "land" has been announced. New Orleans Square! I love the artwork; the piece at the top looks like an architectural elevation, with color added. In the middle, a piece by Dorothea Redmond (thanks Mike Cozart!), which makes New Orleans Square look massive. And at the bottom, a view of the beautiful Blue Bayou, along with a hint of things to come with the "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Thanks as always to JG! Stay tuned for the fourth and final part, coming up.

Honest Abe, January 1979

Today's scans might be the only two featuring interior shots from "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln"! This venerable attraction had been in Disneyland since 1965 (after debuting at the 1964 New York World's Fair) - it's interesting to think that two versions of the show were running concurrently on each coast. A Disney first. 

Here we see Abe himself. There are stories floating around that claim that folks could hardly believe their eyes when confronted with this Audio Animatronic figure - could it actually be an actor? I suppose that in those less-sophisticated days that might be true, but his movements (while fascinating) were a bit stiff and robot-y. I don't mean to take away from the technical achievement, since I loved the attraction when I saw first saw it.

I wonder if this is one of the original AA figures, or if they were updated on a regular basis this long ago?

As Mr. Lincoln finished reciting his inspiring words, the lights were lowered, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" swelled, and the curtain opened to reveal the Capitol Dome as the evening sky took on a distinct resemblance to Old Glory.