Wednesday, July 30, 2014

A Few from Knott's Berry Farm

I really need to get back to scanning some more vintage Knott's slides. But I still have a few scans ready to go! 

Like this one, showing a few hungry guests heading into the Gold Rush Grill. I guess the chicken restaurant can't feed everybody. The recipe for the Gold Rush Grill's "Pioneer beef stew" was brought all the way from Donner Pass. It has tender chunks of real pioneer in every bite!


Well, it wouldn't be a Knott's Berry Farm post without a photo of the sunken area where you could pan for gold. I don't ever remember noticing the dead tree adorned with what appears to be old coffee cans, coffee pots, little casks, and who knows what. It's like the most miserable Christmas tree ever!


I zoomed in on the kid at the sluice because I am curious about his interesting headgear. Is it an olde-timey football helmet, like the kind Harold Lloyd wore?


Or is it a leather pilot's helmet, in the style of Captain Midnight??


11 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

You know, I had a similar-looking hat, but it was nothing like an olde pilot's hat. Kinda hard to tell the details from this image. Perhaps 'Junior' is using it to surreptitiously hide some of his found ore.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

I remember when Knott's used to sell souvenir cookbooks containing all the family recipes. My favorite volume was the one titled, "To Serve Man."

TokyoMagic! said...

Or maybe it was, "To Serve Jam." I just know that it had a recipe for strawberry preserves that was to die for.

Chuck said...

Oh, the Knott's Pioneer Beef Stew - my second-favorite thing to eat at Knott's since they stopped serving soylent green!

I think the kid is wearing an "Arctic trooper hat" with the ear flaps down. My dad had a vinyl and faux fur one as a kid in the late 40's & early 50's that I also wore in the late 70's & early 80's. I often wore it at weather-inappropriate times and pretended I was an open-canopy airplane pilot.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I think the kid is wearing a half of an old school leather dodge ball on his head.

To Serve Jam with a side of Soylent Green. The zombies will be lining the streets drooling!

Melissa said...

I'll say this for the Pioneer Stew: it was better than the Pie and Ear Stew.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I wonder if that kid likes the Wizard of Oz (as much as gold panning)and bothering Ralphie in line. Here he is.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/360006563934305630/

K. Martinez said...

I love that old dead tree in the "panning for gold" pit. In fact the black, grey and silvery shades in this image are perfect. It puts the ghost in Ghost Town.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, you need to find your hat and wear it every day. NEED to.

TokyoMagic!, when you serve man, I recommend a dollop of boysenberry jam. The tart/sweetness and the savory human really go together! Try it with a crisp glass of beer.

Chuck, if it IS an Arctic Trooper Hat, it's a weird thing to wear. That kid must have been a real Krelborn!

Alonzo, your explanation is as good as any. As for your Jam/Soylent Green/zombies reference, it sounds like a mashup of "The Omega Man" and "Soylent Green", two of Chuck Heston's classics.

Melissa, putting pie IN stew is genius. Ears are gross though.

Alonzo, that's one of my favorite parts of a movie that has a LOT of favorite parts.

K. Martinez, it really looks like a "hanging tree", only it has hardware on it instead of a swinging corpse.

K. Martinez said...

@Major - I agree. It does look like a "hanging tree". It reminds me of a "drawn" postcard I have from Knott's Berry Farm featuring a ghost in a "hanging tree".

Nanook said...

@ Major-

First I need a new head-!