Sunday, September 13, 2009

Entrance and Tobacco Shop, November 1960

It's time for another visit with Dorothy (she reminds me of one of my grandmother's friends who had that name). Here she is posing next to some lovely rose bushes near the entrance (ladies love the flowers at Disneyland!); would it kill her to smile? She has white gloves on, and clutches a movie camera. The bike racks were there for those lucky kids who lived close enough to go to the park on their own; they probably didn't even have to lock their bikes.


Who knows, Dorothy may have grown up in a town with a tobacco shop and a cigar store Indian not too different from this one. The shops are colorful without being garish, and feel appropriate to a turn-of-the-century town (unlike some of the strange choices you'll see today). Let's go next door to see "Phantom of the Opera"; did they show the whole movie, or just some of the famous scary bits like the "unmasking" scene?

9 comments:

Chiana_Chat said...

She might've come from a town not entirely unlike Main St. It's possible she didn't think one should smile at a camera.

Never noticed the hand pointing on the left end of the sign on the right hand building.

TokyoMagic! said...

Lovely chain link fencing in the background of the first photo!

Jim said...

I was one of those fortunate locals and knew those racks very well. Though we often used a set over by the Ken-L Ration Pet Motel so we could check out all the lucky pups who made it to the canine version of the Happiest Place on Earth. Can you believe we didn't even lock up our Schwinn Apple Krates? Often we would loiter at the racks for a bit at dusk (my parents forbade me to be there after dark without an adult present)eating the rock candy we always bought at the Emporium on our way out, and wondering what our Mom's were fixing for dinner. Then we would hop on our bikes and cross Harbor, cutting down Freedman, rolling past the miniature golf (not to be confused with the park-themed one at the DLH) for a shortcut to Katella, and finally taking a right on Haster for the home stretch. We could travel from Main Street to suburbia in less than 10 minutes. Thanks for posting this one Major!

Maggi said...

Wow, love these shots!

Nancy said...

yeah, Dorothy, give us a smile! another soul not happy to be at Disneyland...go figure!


lovely poster there behind her..one of my favorites! :D

Dreemfinder said...

The features at the old Main Street Cinema (and they were originally feature-length) were edited down to a few minutes, suitable for standing room viewing.

They were cut down so you got the gist of each story, but did include the visual highlights of each.

Dreemfinder said...

Alzo, DELIGHTED to see my favorite long-lost remnant of Walt Disney's persona on that (dummy) door to the Tobaconnist... The Poem:

"Tobacco is a filthy weed,
It satisfies no normal need;
It makes you thin, it makes you lean,
It's the worst darn stuff I've ever seen...

I LIKE IT!"

Anonymous said...

Tanks for sharing Jim. When I was a kid I used to think that it would be great to get my driver's license because I could drive to DL anytime I wanted to!

Trish said...

She IS smiling.