Loitering outside of saloons is generally frowned upon, but at Disneyland, it's a worthwhile pursuit. The people watching is top-notch.
At some point I will stop being amazed at how long the Golden Horseshoe continued to display flimsy cloth banners. A more permanent sign wouldn't be added for many years. Judging by the tri-colored bunting, Grover Cleveland must have been campaigning here recently. It's the only logical explanation. How many other presidents shared a name with a muppet?
Zooming in a little bit, we see one well-dressed dude - maybe he worked with the pack mules? - carrying his tartan thermos (full of rye whiskey, I'll wager) to someplace shady. A number of people are heading inside, with a GH employee following. Was he a bartender? Piano player?
Any photo worth taking is worth taking twice. That's one-a-my rules. Can somebody please let me know if that crane thingy on the roof served any practical purpose? The guy to the extreme left really doesn't want to miss the show at the GH!
Just because I'm weird, I like to zoom in and look at the people from nearly 57 years ago! That one kid proudly wears his Keppy Kap, and his ticket book is in his back pocket. To our left, it looks like grandma and grandpa treated their granddaughter to a day at Disneyland. I'll bet gramps was game to ride the Matterhorn!
Awwww, I love that last close-up. Some of my favorite Disneyland memories are from visits to the park with my grandparents!
ReplyDeleteThe only other president I can think of who shared a name with a Muppet was Grover Cleveland (think about that for a second), although Theodore Roosevelt did have a son named Kermit.
ReplyDeleteThat crane was there for 1958's "Hanging Hoedown" promotional. While promising on paper ("Swing your partner - one way or another!"), Disney management found the whole thing to be a real pain in the neck. By mid-July, it was obvious the program had come to the end of its rope and they decided not to stretch it out any further.
In photogenic terms, the white saloon building with it's yellow cloth banner and upper floor windows without canopies is my favorite look for the Golden Horseshoe. It looks more rustic and old west.
ReplyDeleteLater on it had the gold-and-white sign and dark green canopies on the upper floor windows. It looked nice, but a less rustic. I'm definitely not fond of the way it looks today with its golden brown paint scheme.
Beautiful set today. Thanks, Major.
The little girl between her Grandparents reminds me of ... me! That's about the age I was when this photo was taken and about how I dressed and wore my hair. I still look for me in these random photos you get :) And by the way, I'm sure Grandpa would have been up for a ride on the Matterhorn - if it had existed in 1958 ;
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, my grandparents took me and my siblings to so many SoCal attractions… it really was a special time.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I actually thought about Kermit when I wrote that (having watched the Ken Burns doc recently). You have displayed a genuine talent for writing prose in what might best be described as a "Boag-esque" style!
K. Martinez, this seems to be another case of somebody thinking, "White is boring! We need COLOR!". There is some weird aversion to subtlety or delicacy these days. Why use creamy white when you can use brownish gold? Or (in the case of New Orleans Square) purple and pink?
Irene, oof! Man, how did I not catch that? (I know how I did it, but still, it was dumb!)
Wow, Chuck, that's some weapons-grade punning you got going there...
ReplyDeleteOne of my Disneyland regrets is that I never took the time to see the original Golden Horseshoe Revue, with Wally Boag and Betty Taylor. I have no excuse of extreme youth 'cause Wally Boag (according to Wikipedia) was on stage until 1983! I can remember seeing the queues in a little roped-off area to the left of the entrance and wondering what the fuss was all about. Oh, well, back to work on the Time Machine.
I sat next to my grandfather on my very first ride on Space Mt. (and Colossus at Magic Mt.) Good times!
ReplyDeleteThere was another Muppet whose name was inspired by a president. His name was Roosevelt Franklin and I think he was only around in the early to mid seventies. He was voiced by Matt Robinson who played "Gordon" on the show. I still have the Roosevelt Franklin puppet that I was given for my sixth birthday!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Franklin
@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteYou ARE turning into the punster, here. Oh my-!
Patrick Devlin, I have the same sad story to tell; never saw the classic Golden Horseshoe show. And I could have seen it a bunch of times! Such a bummer.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, well, ya learn something new every day! Roosevelt Franklin. I thought there might be a Muppet named "Hoover" too, but that might just be my brain messing with me.
Nanook, Chuck has spent too much time at Disneyland; the puns were contagious.
I love it when you zoom in and knowingly inform us as to what people are doing/thinking!
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