Thursday, July 15, 2010

Along the River, 1956

Truly early photos of Disneyland (taken in the first year or so) often hold a lot of appeal because they manage to convey the "rough around the edges" quality of the park. Particularly in Frontierland!

I love this picture looking across the Rivers of America, past the Old Mill, with the Mark Twain at rest. I believe that this was taken from the Disneyland RR (?). You can just see a sliver of the yellow banner indicating the path to the Indian Village, Canoes, and Keel Boats. This hardly even feels like a photo from an amusement park!


There used to be a river-front bandstand in those days (you can see it along the shore here), but when it wasn't being used for music, it provided a shady spot to relax. This is a great picture, with the nearly-silhouetted figures in the foreground, and the picturesque buildings of Frontierland (the original Casa de Fritos among them) in the distance.

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15 comments:

  1. Disney Nametags and More12:25 AM

    Is that the Chicken Plantation building to the far right of the Mark Twain?

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  2. Thufer6:53 AM

    That first picture is truly amazing.

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  3. Connie Moreno7:26 AM

    These are great! That first picture almost looks like a regular city park.

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  4. DKoren8:00 AM

    Wow, love that first picture. So neat to see that angle, so early on. Thanks!

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  5. Major Pepperidge9:34 AM

    Disney Nametags, I think that is the Golden Horseshoe building (notice the windows with the curved tops and the simple columns outside). The Chicken Plantation would have been further to the right.

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  6. Anonymous10:01 AM

    I wonder if this is the same bandstand that now resides in Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach.

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  7. Connie Moreno11:18 AM

    Whoa! REALLY? In Roger's Gardens? If that is true I need to go back with my camera!!

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  8. Graffer12:09 PM

    That isn't the riverfront bandstand. It's the 2nd deck of the Mark Twain.
    The bandstand railings and posts were of wrought iron, not wood.
    This Daveland pic shows both:
    http://davelandweb.com/marktwain/popup.htm?images/50s/50sKTPBT_N09.jpg

    Here is just the bandstand:
    http://davelandweb.com/riversofamerica/images/50s/KTPBK_3_8_56_N02R.jpg

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  9. Kevin Kidney12:10 PM

    These are beautiful photos. Are you sure the "bandstand" photo wasn't taken on the center deck of the Mark Twain as it leaves the dock? I'd recognize that railing anywhere.
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/GORILLA3/4-66TwainMore.jpg

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  10. Anonymous12:22 PM

    Upon a second look, I agree that this is taken from the MT. Connie: Roger's does indeed have the original Main Street bandstand.

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  11. Major Pepperidge1:14 PM

    You guys are clearly correct, the photo is from the Mark Twain. As the kids say, "My bad!".

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  12. Anonymous2:14 PM

    I believe the first photo was taken from in front of the Chicken Plantation.

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  13. Rich T.6:44 PM

    That first photo is one of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen of the park. Tony Baxter commented in a Leonard Maltin interview about how characters and fantasy elements were downplayed outside of Fantasyland in the park's early days, because Walt was very serious about wanting to transport the public to other real times and places. This photo illustrates that approach wonderfully. It must have seemed even more astonishing back before home video, the internet, and color television brought the world closer to home for the public.

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  14. Major Pepperidge8:00 PM

    By the way, is that weather vane (visible in the 2nd picture) that looks like a steer located on top of the Silver Banjo BBQ?

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  15. Nancy2:53 AM

    beautiful pictures today.

    someone pass the chicken, please...

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