Knott's, 1950's
The Gold Trails Hotel is one of the early structures in Knott's Berry Farm's "Ghost Town"; inside you could see the "Covered Wagon Show", which I first remember seeing during a school field trip. The theater resembled a saloon; in front of the audience was a crumbling adobe wall, and beyond that was a tableau of a wagon train crossing the desert. There was no movement (no animatronics) at all; the scene would change from day to moonlit night as the audience listened to the pre-recorded narration about the hardships experienced by early settlers. I still remember the voice of the little girl (based on Walter's own mother) saying, "I'm thirsty, mama".
Nearby you'd find the "Arastra", a simple mule-powered contraption used for grinding ore. Nowadays I use one to grind coffee - it has a flavor unlike any other! Because of the special ingredient: love. And mule hair. Is that mule in the background wearing a feed bag, or is that some sort of muzzle so that he can't bite off people's fingers?
5 comments:
Major-
And I was led to believe the secret ingredient (mule hair) for making great coffee was an old family recipe of ours. Oh, when the truth comes out...
Thanks, Major.
It's a feed bag FULL of people's fingers. They don't want him to be tempted to go over his daily ration.
Thanks Major for pictures of the classic Knott's (pre-iron ride age). The hotel hasn't added those rocking chairs on the balcony which moved on their own; around the corner, above Handsome Brady and Whisky Jim, for many years a kid looked at the visitors from an upper window.
Nanook, Folger's used to put mule hair in their cans of coffee, just like Coke used to use coca.
Melissa, I love crunchy fingers, especially when dipped in a zingy ranch dressing.
Raimundo, I never knew about the kid in the upper window, thanks for that info!
Major, your description of the "Covered Wagon Show" field trip sounds magical. You really captured the feeling. Thanks for posting.
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