I thought I was done with the personal Viewmaster images of Disneyland that were taken by an acquaintance, but discovered a few others in a file that I had forgotten about. All three show Town Square as seen from Main Street Station, circa 1956.
You can tell by the long shadows that it is late afternoon, but that shouldn't make any difference at Disneyland. A little girl is wishing that the horse pulling the streetcar was her own special pet. The old Bekins wagon can be seen in the background.
The next two are very similar. Hey, I only just noticed the Christmas wreaths on the Emporium; if this is in December, then it might only be 4 o'clock and not later as I originally thought. The sun sets so early in the winter! I think the date "August 1956" was actually written on the reel, but it can't be correct.
You can see a sign strung across Main Street... even when I zoom in on the high-res scan I can barely read it. But I think it says, "Disneyland Welcomes Friars Club Members". If only there was a record of the groups that were honored with signs back in those days!
I love the bare hillside behind the Bekins wagon. These early photos look so barren compared to what most of us are used to.
ReplyDeleteI have a commercial View Master reel or two from WDW released when the park opened in '71, and there is a similar effect. The place looks more manicured than early DL, but it still looks pretty empty. I bet it still had that "new park smell."
Chuck, I have those WDW Viewmaster packets, maybe I need to see if they are worth scanning for this blog. There must be some neat early views, as you say, showing a relatively barren park.
ReplyDeleteThe hillside behind the Bekins Wagon is the back of the Schweitzer Falls structure.
ReplyDeleteEarly WDW ViewMaster reels are definitely cool.
Named after the famous explorer, Dr. Albert Structure?
ReplyDeleteNow that, that was funny Melissa! Excellent and most appropriate homage.
ReplyDeleteTarzman
I love looking at all your personal View Master slides of Disney. It feels very nostalgic. I bet it'll be interesting if reels can be made of same vantage points of how it was back then and what it was now.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading K. Martinez' comment about the rock being the reverse end of Schweitzer Falls, I was totally amazed: I had no idea the falls were on the main street side of the attraction; it's so easy to get turned around with all the twists and turns of the river.
ReplyDeleteAnother great picture!
K. Martinez, I did not know that Schweitzer Falls was right there next to the Fire Station!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, yes of course! It is always Dr. Albert *something*. I use that joke in front of my niece, and she doesn't get it.
Francesca, if there are digital 3D cameras (and I assume there are), then it would definitely be interesting to compare the two views.
Tom, you and I were both surprised about the location of the falls relative to Main Street!
If there's one great gift the Internet Age has given me, it's knowing that other living human beings love the Dr. Albert Falls joke as much as I do.
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