Friday, August 30, 2013

Two From the 1950's

Here are the last of some old slides from the 1950's that had turned magenta; I've done my best to make them presentable to you.

Two nice ladies (I can just tell that they're nice!) relax on one of the ornate, painted cast-iron benches that used to be found in Fantasyland. Just behind them is a Monorail pillar (this is October 1959, so it all checks out!), and even further back you would find the Midget Autopia. As always, the shrubs and flowers help to make the park look pretty.


This next one was taken from the steps up to the Fantasyland Skyway chalet (circa 1956), a vantage point that provided a nice elevated view of Casey Jr., the Skyway, and even the Pirate Ship.



15 comments:

Nanook said...

Wowie Zowie - the view from the Chalet makes me feel all goose bumpy. And those two "gals"; they're so wonderfully 1950's.

What a a swell way to usher-in the Labor Day weekend.

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

Both pics are extra cool today, but I really like the first one. The two women appear to be sitting in front of the Matterhorn in which they probably have a great view of the majestic peak and its alpine themed queue building and bullpen.

Then there's the cast iron Fantasyland style benches in the foreground and the modern Tomorrowland style benches in the background near the Midget Autopia.

This is where Fantasyland and Tomorrowland collide and mix. I've always like this area for that reason. It's still quite beautiful and one of my favorite areas to sit and rest in the afternoon. Thanks for posting.

Time Spectator said...

Thanks again for rescuing & sharing these slides. Fun & colourful snapshots!

Waylon Jennings in the tomato red bucket at left is pondering the prisoners in the Casey Jr cars and has a curious hankering for animal crackers. Seconds later he was to have a hankering for tuna. Before alighting from that bucket, he'd have a yen for hot dogs in Tomorrowland. For the sake of his digestion we can only hope he didn't meet with the fumes from Richfield's products too soon.

I'm with K Martinez and the ladies in the top pic. Nice spot. :)

Nancy said...

Oh, the colors! These are just gorgeous. Smiling now and all the day long! :-)

Thanks, Major. Wishing everyone a great Labor Day weekend!

Melissa said...

First off, Major, "your best to make them presentable" is pretty darn amazing! I want to shrink myself and step through the screen into GDB MOST mornings, but even more so today!

Second of all, I recognize that lady and her Northwest Airlines bag from this post! Her dress in this picture is just as pretty as the last, and could just as easily step out of the picture into a shop window today. I wonder if the skinny young man is taking the shot, and if the nice lady in the cat's eye sunglasses took the other one. Their dresses are so beautifully tailored, and the prints well-chosen to suit their figures and complexions. If they weren't seamstresses then they were good shoppers.

I'm feeling a little queasy, TimeSpectator!

K. Martinez said...

I agree with Melissa. As a whole, your photos are nothing short of amazing. There's a quality to your work that is above the rest. Lots of images are like a recording of Disneyland history. Yours go beyond that and make me feel like I'm almost there where the other senses are easily imagined. Today's images are like that.

Melissa said...

I did a little lunchtime research on Mrs. Stripey's NWA bag, and I'm pretty sure what she's got is specifically a "Northwest Orient Airlines" bag, with the "Orient" being the illegible script word in the middle. They were the Trans-Pacific branch of NWA, and the first airline with direct flights between the continental U.S. and Japan after the war. They ended up with direct flights to Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines, with connections all over Southeast Asia. They were the biggest foreign carrier in Japan for years.

They eventually adopted the regular NWA logo, but for a while they had the cool Space-Age arrowhead-on-a-deviled-egg logo you see on our lady friend's purse.

So, my theory is that the tanned, crewcutted, straight-backed young man sporting ill-fitting civvies in the earlier post is her son or other young relative, a U.S. serviceman stationed in Japan or the Philippines, home on leave or at the end of his service. Either he brought the bag for her as a souvenir of his flight home, or she went to Asia and flew back with him. They probably had a chuckle over Dole Whips and the Enchanted Tiki Room. Maybe Aunt Catseye drove them from the airport. I hope another shot or two of these folks turn up someday!

PsySocDisney said...

Beautifully restored photos coupled with my favorite commenters' thoughtful descriptions and research makes this one of those days I'm so happy to have found this site :) Really needed this today, thanks!

Nanook said...

@Melissa-

Thanks for taking the time to find the previous image with our well-dressed lady and her Norrhwest Orient Airlines bag. I was too lazy to do the research, but I remembered the bag and her "escort" quite well.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, thanks! The view from the Chalet is an odd one, but that's why I like it.

K. Martinez, I was wondering where exactly those ladies were sitting… I love those cast iron benches. Do any of them survive, or were they all removed?

Time Spectator, Waylon Jennings sure thinks a lot about food! Not that I blame him. I don't see him as a churro guy.

Nancy, glad you liked these!

Melissa, the pix look OK, though they do have a slightly odd cast; they both have a greenish cast in places. Just like me! You are right, that is the same lady, with her Northwest Airlines bag. And her friend was seen with Lon Chaney Jr. at the Flower Mart. Thanks for the nice words!

K. Martinez again, I appreciate the positive reinforcement! Really.

Melissa, nice detective work! I actually did look up vintage logos for Northwest Airlines, and didn't find anything that matched. Now I know why. My dad was in Vietnam, and my mom flew to meet him in Thailand and Hong Kong a few times during his stay, so your story makes sense.

PsySocDisney, thank you very much!

Nanook, I would give Melissa a gold star (the kind you have to lick to stick 'em) if I could.

K. Martinez said...

Major - They still have cast iron benches in Fantasyland but they're not the same. At least I haven't seen any of the old ones seen in today's pic when I last visited.


Here's the current bench design for the Matterhorn area.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3631258440/sizes/z/in/photolist-6wT9C9-bjY4GM-bjXQgM-bpP2gB-9Jz6F4-cgdito-cgdhK3/

Here's the cast iron benches they have now for Fantasyland courtyard.

http://davelandweb.com/castle/popup.htm?images/2000/2011/DSC_6329.jpg

Melissa said...

I totally didn't remember the other lady from the Lon Chaney, Jr. at the Flower Mart post, although I do remember the post itself! I guess she was just overshadowed in my mind by the airline bag. Of course they couldn't take poor Lon in the service; lycanthropy is an instant 4F.

Anonymous said...

Melissa, you are correct about the 4F classification for lycanthropy. Basically, the constant shaving required for grooming leaves the bathroom sinks so messy that it spoils the whole military experience for the the other soldiers.

Bill in Denver

Anonymous said...

LOL, late to the party as usual. Fun to see that we've visited with these ladies before.

Fascinating details about the details. The past just goes on and on, even though it's over.

That last picture of Casey Jones just "rocks". I love the slightly different angle, a "whole new world".

Major and everyone in this thread, thank you so much. I hope those ladies and their young fellow lived (live?) long happy lives filled with memories of Disneyland.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I suppose it is possible that the old cast iron benches rusted out after 50 years. Otherwise, why replace them! Thanks for the instructive links.

Melissa, the way Lon walked was thorny, that's all I know. (Maria Ouspenskaya reference! YEAH!)

Bill in Denver, why not just create a whole platoon of werewolves? I'm a problem solver.

JG, like you, I often find myself wondering about the lives of the people in these old photos. Of course I always hope that they had happy lives, particularly when the subject is a child.