Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Semi-Random Tuesday

Here's a group of orphan slides, leftovers that have been gathered into a sort of family for this occasion.

Main Street USA still manages to look great in spite of the threatening skies; attendance is light! Hey lady, what's in the bag?


I thought it was kind of interesting to compare this photo (from August 1963) of the Elephant Bathing Pool to the next photo! Notice that the baby elephant is to the right, and there's that fella with his head up in the air, trunk aimed behind him.


In this photo, from about six months later (dated February 1964), the baby is gone, and so is the other guy! Where did they go? Were they out being repaired, or were they permanently removed? I want answers!


And finally, here is my last slide featuring the white-gloved Dorothy (see her here and here). She's enjoying the view (I think), but not using her movie camera. Bad Dorothy! I don't see the bighorn sheep atop Cascade Peak, maybe it's just our vantage point. They should still be there in November of 1960.

12 comments:

David Caffey said...

I don't know my Disneyland history all that well - what is that 'mountain' behind Dorothy and what is in that location today.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

That mountain is Cascade Peak, which was a scenic element that could be enjoyed both from the Rivers of America and the Nature's Wonderland attraction. It was a perfect example of the kind of detail and theming that characterized the park at one time. It didn't do much, but it sure looked nice and added wonderfully to everything around it. It was ripped out in the 1990s. There is nothing there today but some trees.

Connie Moreno said...

LOVE that shot of Dorothy! Well, not so much poor Dorothy (my apologies) but the scene is very cool.

TokyoMagic! said...

When they took out Cascade Peak, they did leave that little remnant of Nature's Wonderland R.R. track and the train that that appears to have been crushed by falling rocks. BRING BACK CASCADE PEAK!

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Nothing says Main Street better than a wire draped across the street? What was the wire for & when did they remove it?

The baby elephant ran away to join the circus.

What's with Dorothy's sour face? Great shot of Cascade peak with the fort in the background, maybe Dorothy needs to be photoshopped out of this one!

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic! never gives up!

Tim, I am guessing that those wires were for various signs that were occasionally hung from them, and around Christmas they had garlands on them as part of the decoration.

The Viewliner Limited said...

That has to be one of the mellow-ist Main Street photos I have ever seen. Nice shot.

Anonymous said...

Dorothy is wistfully look out over the Rivers of America and remembering her long lost childhood on the frontier.

Nancy said...

..ill bet Dorothy (or at least her family) is sorry today that she wasnt filming the lovely images she was seeing there...i know i would be


my thought was running away to join the circus as well, or maybe now those 2 elephants are working at another Disney theme park loved by East Coasters and countless others the world over....

im with ya, TokyoMagic...BRING BACK CASCADE PEAK!!!

TokyoMagic! said...

Even though I know that they would never bring back Cascade Peak, demanding it's return helps vent my frustration. Thank you Major, for putting up with my venting.....

When the bathing pool elephants ran away to join the circus, did they pack their trunks? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Anonymous said...

I remember seeing a small elephant that looked like that over by the stream in Swiss Family Robinson/Tarzan.

Chiana_Chat said...

BRING BACK CASCADE PEAK!! tee hee.

Nice pic of that. As for the elephants, the 1st slide is 1963. As you know, Maj, National Geographic covered the park in that year. Clearly more elephants were present hoping to get in the magazines with their famous relatives. Once that was done, they packed up their trunks and split. Ever seen an elephant trunk split? No, but you have seen a banana split, and that's what this post is today isn't it, bananas. It's just been that kind of day. :)