Mother's Day, and Jungle Snoozles

It's Mother's Day! And while I don't have any of my own family photos this time, GDB friend Sue B. was kind enough to send some scans of some 1960 snapshots featuring her as a baby, her lovely mom, and her Great Aunt, who lived in Hollywood, Florida. Which explains the landscape looks so tropical.

There's smiley little Sue, with her mother, Donna. Such a cute photo, and Donna looks so proud and loving.

Nutrition is important, as is fiber, which is why Sue is eating a palm frond. Uncooked palm fronds are full of vitamins and minerals! Donna knows that her baby is getting her recommended daily allowance of riboflavin, and any mother would be happy about that.

Baby Sue is having fun with her Great Aunt... I hope she can tell us a little bit about here in the comments.  Did Sue ever visit her when she was old enough to remember? I was kind of worried when I first saw this photo, because some palm trees are toothy and sharp, but this one looks safe and smooth! THANK YOU for sharing these, Sue!

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Oh boy, here are some real hard-core Snoozles™, I hope there are no children reading. These are all from the Jungle Cruise, source of many Snoozles.

Is that a bull elephant in the distance? Or his mother in-law? I can never tell. I can't see if the pachyderm is wearing lipstick from back here.

I hope to never find myself meeting a man-eating rhinoceros in the jungle. With their mighty incisors, they can eat a full-grown human in four chomps. But if you sing "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive", you might get the rhino to pause long enough that you will be able to run for safety. Pro-tip!

Is this the worst photo ever taken of the Jungle Cruise crocs? IT MIGHT BE!

Las Vegas, 1950s

I've had a small number of scans of vintage Las Vegas slides in a folder for a long time. Years. I think it's about high time to use them!

The first three feature photos from "Last Frontier Village", also known as Hotel Last Frontier, which opened on October 30th, 1942 as the second resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The western-themed property included 105 rooms, as well as the Little Church of the West. A new owner (William J. Moore) added a western village in 1948. The village consisted of authentic Old West buildings from a collector and would also feature the newly built Silver Slipper casino, added in 1950. Below, a mother and son pose with a genuine old train, which I assume was a static exhibit.

I don't really think of rusty jalopies as something you'd see in an "old west" setting, but I've managed to keep my cool, somehow! I'll bet that in the 1950s, and "antique" like the one below could be had for a song.

Here, mom poses with two disreputable cowpokes, they managed to not spit or cuss for the entire time she was there - maybe they're not so bad after all! This got me to wondering if the tableau of Whiskey Bill and Handsome Brady (at Knott's Berry Farm) was the first example of this kind of "photo op", or if it was a more common thing back then?

This next one is from a different batch; it was a bit of a mystery to me, but we can see "Free Ride to the Silver Slipper" on the cable car (possibly a repurposed San Francisco cable car?) - and as we just read, the Silver Slipper was part of Last Frontier Village. It's hard to be certain, but I assume that the cable car was perhaps attached to some sort of motorized conveyance.

Nice Randos

Here are two fun RANDOS for you today, starting with this particularly pretty photo of Skull Rock, from an image marked "November 1961". The photographer must have had a decent camera, this picture is very sharp and clear, and the warm late-afternoon lighting is not only pleasing to the eye, but it enhances the details. Skull Rock had debuted in December, 1960 - just under a year before, and the trees and plants still look newly-planted.

This next one (dated "July 1958") was a fun find; I'm wondering how many of you recognize actor Andy Devine? He's greeting a fan in Adventureland. He had a long career as a character actor in many films and TV shows, and was best-known for his scratchy voice.

Just for yucks, I'll highlight some of Andy's better-known films. Here he is in 1937's "A Star is Born", starring Frederic March and Janet Gaynor.

Next, a cast photo from John Ford's 1939 classic, "Stagecoach".

In 1962, Andy was in another John Ford masterpiece, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". 

Some of you might remember him in "The Twilight Zone", as tall-tale-teller Somerset Frisby in the episode titled, "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby". Ol' Archimedes Frisby!

Another highlight from Andy's career is the 1962 epic western, "How the West Was Won", in CINERAMA.

Two From August, 1970

Judging from this first scan, August 1970 was a very busy time to visit Disneyland. Just look at all those people! I looked to see if something was going on in front of the Castle, perhaps some characters were gathered there, or something. But no, it just appears to be a Summer crowd. I also checked "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" to see if any big events happened around that time, but all I found was the "Country Music Jubilee" on Sundays. The Yippees invaded the park on August 6th of 1970, but it seems unlikely that this was the same day.

Not far from the first photo is the Snow White Grotto, often a nice place to get away from the mob and relax. Listen to Snow White's voice, and the sound of the waterfalls, throw a quarter into the wishing well, and feel at peace.

Two From November 28, 1973

I'm using up the last two scans from November 28, 1973. Let's start with a view shot from the Monorail as it zoomed shooshingly passed the entry to the park, allowing a nice look at the Mickey Mouse floral portrait, and a train waiting at the station. A loudspeaker is on top of that structure, presumably pumping out a selection of Disney melodies.

Over in Tomorrowland the Rocket Jets have blasted off, and guests are graying out from the excessive g-forces. The classic Peoplemover colors are so appealing, I love seeing those hues. I'm surprised that the Space Bar on the bottom level is closed; Thanksgiving had been six days earlier, maybe the brief spike in attendance had already abated?
 

Two From July, 1958

Here's a pair from the Summer of 1958, starting with this nice one taken by somebody who'd hiked to the top of Holiday Hill (without supplemental oxygen). Say! The view is pretty swell! We get a nice panorama looking toward Sleeping Beauty Castle, with some green awnings to the left that were outside the Monsanto House of the Future. The stacks of the Mark Twain can be seen, and way in the distance is the Holidayland tent. 

Next, we're aboard one of the river craft, perhaps a Keelboat? We're low in the water, but our photographer could have been seated at the bow of the Mark Twain of course. The Canoe loading docks are to the left, and a Raft to Tom Sawyer Island is just returning to the mainland. The Indian Village looks busy!

Even More Knott's Berry Farm RR Postcards

Whoo-hoo! It's time for a FIFTH "Knott's Berry Farm railroad on postcards" blog post, courtesy of GDB pal Steve DeGaetano! If you want to know something about steam locomotives, he's the guy to ask. I was going to write more, but Steve has done all the hard work (as usual), so let's get to his text!

I’ve been telling the Major for months now that I don’t think there are any more Knott’s Berry Farm Calico & Ghost Town Railroad postcards to add to my collection. Boy, was I wrong. I’ve got five new-to-me postcards today, a couple I’ve seen before, but the last three seem pretty rare, and the final one blew my socks off.

The first one was graciously donated to me by Junior Gorilla Mike Cozart. Obviously, this one differs completely from all the previous and subsequent postcards in that it is an illustration, but its sole focus is the “Calico Railroad,” and it definitely needs to be here for the sake of completeness. Obviously featuring Red Cliff in all her brown, blue and yellow glory. I’m sure Chuck has this one in his collection.

To be honest, the stagecoach “robbery” is the focus of the caption on the back of this card, noting that the “old narrow gauge passenger train escaped this time.” But I think it’s a nice-enough head-on view of No. 40 to merit inclusion in my collection.

Now we’re getting into some more rarified territory. Also obtained from Mr. Cozart is this nice view of No. 40 stopped in Calico Square. Former parlor car “Chama,” coupled to the engine, has been converted into a combination baggage/passenger car. Locomotive Gold Nugget has features I had not noticed before—a reddish cab roof and yellow-painted window muntins on the cab window (I think I’m using that term correctly. I’m afraid to say I went down the mullion/muntin rabbit hole for this post). While an older photo, the card appears to have been made in the 1980s, sharing its gold border with two other cards posted previously. A larger version of this picture appears in Christopher Merrit’s seminal work, “Knott’s Preserved,” which is selling on Amazon now for the low, low price of $346.14

This next card popped up in my eBay search just a few days ago, and I have never seen it before. It’s a pretty dramatic shot of the Ghost Town & Calico’s second locomotive, now wearing her original 1881 name, Green River, and D&RGW number, 340.  With her headlight blazing during daylight (not a normal practice), floating on a cloud of steam from her cylinders, and a complete lack of park guests, it’s a shot unlike any others I’ve seen. I’m guessing this is one of Knott’s newer offerings, judging by the very prototypical paint scheme and the fancy gold Knott’s lettering in the upper right corner.

Finally, the last card—and a true unicorn when it comes to the Ghost Town and Calico Railroad. I apologize for the extra wordiness, but this really needs a bit of explaining. 

What you see below is one of the true oddities of GT&C history. This scalloped-edged card features a 1903 Baldwin-built locomotive called a “K-27,” a locomotive with two small wheels in front, eight “drive wheels,” and a small set of two wheels under the cab. It’s one of only two such locomotives in existence. It has about 10,000 more pounds of “tractive effort” than the two smaller Knott’s engines, so it is really huge. The back of the card says Knott’s purchased this engine in in 1971, but most on-line sources say it was 1973. Colloquially known as a “Mud Hen,” Knott’s rebuilt the engine and converted it from coal fuel to diesel oil. The only giveaway that it’s an “amusement park” locomotive are the two brass boiler bands—otherwise it’s in a very prototypical paint scheme. What makes this card so special is that Knott’s hardly ever used this locomotive—Wikipedia says “it saw little or no use” at Knott’s (this postcard showing it in operation notwithstanding), so being captured on a postcard makes it quite unusual. It was simply too large and too heavy to manage Knott’s pretty-tight curves. It’s unique in that the frame of the locomotive is outside the wheels—Imagine a bike wheel in a fork—opposed to a car wheel. Realizing it could never operate safely on the GT&C, it was sold to the Huckleberry Railroad near Flint, Michigan in 1981, currently awaiting an overhaul.

Okay, that’s all I have for now. Knott’s was always very proud of their little railroad, featuring it in more postcard images than even the Disneyland trains! I’ll be keeping my eye out for any more that may turn up, so maybe down the road there will be another installment featuring the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad.

THANKS SO MUCH to Steve DeGaetano for sharing his increasingly-rare postcards, and for taking the time to do research and share what he has learned with all of us. I know I will happily welcome a "part six", should that ever happen!

Snoozles™

It's Sunday, and you know what that means. SNOOZLES. Someday perhaps I will have no more Snoozles, but I don't want to raise your hopes too much. This first one is hand-dated "3-15-1957", and would be a pretty nice look at the fanciful rock formations in the Rainbow Desert - if the durned thing was more in-focus. Still, I am charmed by the rather crude rock work, and I always get a kick out of the tiny pueblos atop some of the rocks, especially the "tumbling" rock to our left. The itty-bitty people in that pueblo must have been very dizzy.

Next, from "the 50s" comes this too-dark photo of the Davy Crockett Frontier Arcade, near the entrance to Frontierland. In addition to selling classic merchandise such as coonskin caps and toy rifles, there was an actual shooting gallery. I believe (but am not certain) that there were other arcade games as well, customized to the "frontier" theme.

 

Cherokee, North Carolina

We've visited the tourist destination of Cherokee, North Carolina before on GDB, take a look HERE and HERE. Cherokee is about 20 miles south off Pigeon Forge, and about 5 miles west of Maggie Valley - both places that we have also visited. But it's been a while, and I'm ready to buy some quality souvenirs, starting with this April 1964 pic. The hills aren't quite as lush and green as they would be in a few months, but I'm sure this still felt pretty great to folks from the Frozen North. "The Indian Store", with the twin tepees on top, was one of the more popular photo subjects, and it's no wonder. Zooming in, there are plenty of bows, arrows, and rubber-tipped spears for all of us. I wonder what else they had, further back in the shop? Blankets? Tom-toms? Bead-worked moccasins? "Peace pipes"? I'll bet I'm not too far off.

Next, it's April, 1965, a mere year after the first picture was taken. This particular shop has a small selection of bows and arrows, but the lad in the red sweater only has eyes for the array of whips. You'll put your eye out, kid. The only thing worth doing with a whip (besides using it to swing across a chasm) is to make it CRACK as loud as possible, and mom is realizing this fact right about now. 
 

Fun Gals, June 1960

I've been sharing scans from a batch of June 1960 slides over the past few months, but the two I'm presenting today are two of my favorites from the bunch.

It's 10:16 AM, and our group of fun-loving gals has arrived, ready for anything. The two older ladies are clearly related (sisters?), and I'm pretty sure the younger woman is part of the family too.  Many wonderful posters can be seen in the background! On the ticket booth to our left, prices amaze. It appears that just admission for an adult was one dollar. A ten-adventure ticket book was $3.50 for adults, and a 15-adventure book was $4.50. Such a deal!

Next, let's skip on over to Fantasyland, and enjoy a ride on the Motorboat Cruise. I hope the women don't fight over who gets to steer (not that it ultimately mattered). Actually, now that I'm paying more attention, it looks like they might have just returned to the dock, which explains why they look so relaxed. For just a second I thought that a horse was in line in the background.