Thursday, August 06, 2009

Disneyland in Black and White

Do not adjust your monitors! Today's photos may be in black and white, but they are great anyway. I love the rather ornate edges of the photos, and believe that this is evidence that the photographer was using a Kodak "Brownie".

Let's start with this fun (and undated) picture of Black Bart, standing on that authentic-looking split log bench. It sure looks like he has an itchy trigger finger, don't do anything to rile him! For many men, that crazy look in Bart's eye is the last thing they ever saw.


As we take our steamboat further into the wilderness, we pass a friendly Indian village. The Chief waves hello, while a few white settler's look on. Frontierland looks pretty undeveloped, I can only assume that these pictures were taken around 1956.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

More like 1856! Now that looks like a Frontier-Land.

Chiana said...

Agree with Anonymous, it's uncanny. These old b&w with their fancy borders are neat. Bart looks "on the money" and there's the birch hoagie (?). Oughtta have stuff like that now, to put some Frontier People meat back in Fantas-er, Pirate er, "Frontier Land."

Matterhorn1959 said...

The Indian Village scene is a nice shot from a different angle. The large structure in the back looks very auhthentic, more so than the usual teepee shots.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Nice post Major! Any post with the words "Rile" and "Black Bart" is a winner for me!!!!! THANKS!

Katella Gate said...

Yep, get rid of the fedoras, kill that access hatch on the back of the rock and give everything a sepia tint and it does look like the 1850's.

The curly-cue borders also make me smile: Victorianism's last gasp in the space age.

Nancy said...

very cool....seeing pics like this make me realize how long Disneyland really has been there

every time i see that building in the Indian Village, it makes me think that is has been covered with old newspaper!

outsidetheberm said...

These are really exceptional! It's surprising how often Black Bart turns up in snapshots, but rarely slides (at least for me). He must have sought the little box cameras out! For the little kids, perhaps?

Thank you for the look.

Major Pepperidge said...

Outsidetheberm, I do have one exceptionally great color slide of Black Bart. My blog was supposed to end at post #1000, and I saved some stuff for those last days. But I'm still going, so you guys will just have to wait!

outsidetheberm said...

Can't wait to see it! But if it means letting your blog live on forever, we shall survive!

Doug K said...

Brownie was the cheaper line of Kodak cameras. They used the same film sizes as the more expensive cameras, though. The "deckle" edge on the prints was what many photo labs put on all their prints, from whatever camera, in the early fifties. Don't know the exact time line on it.