Monday, June 08, 2015

Castle & Grotto, August 1961

Here are some nice photos from Fantasyland, circa 1961. They're not exciting, but they are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Trust me, I've tried it so you don't have to. 

This first one reminds me of a number of vintage postcards of the castle; those often included a busy Plaza (Or hub? Hubza?) and a Horse Drawn Streetcar. I think that we can see the roof of a Surrey as well.


The lovely Snow White Grotto is one of my favorite features at the park; it is usually relatively quiet and peaceful over there, even on crowded days. You can see the fish in the water shooting their streams of water into the air (this effect is often not working, it seems). The plants really make it feel like this is a little forgotten corner that has been there for 100 years.


EXTRA! EXTRA!

Those of you in the Disney blogosphere may know who Steve DeGaetano is; besides being one of the foremost fans of the Disney railroads, he is also an author of several wonderful books. His first book (2004) was "Welcome Aboard the Disneyland Railroad". 


I have a copy, and can honestly say that it increased my appreciation of those locomotives a lot (and I already loved them!).

Now, Steve wants to release an updated version of the book, this time with lots of color photos (contributed by me, as well as some of your other favorite bloggers).  Here's what Steve says:

"Things are well under way with the publication of the second edition of my Disneyland Railroad book. The publisher, Theme Park Press, rarely does large color books, but he wants to make an exception for this one. However, costs for color hard bound books are HUGE, so he's trying to offset the costs by running a Kickstarter campaign".

I don't know about you, but I want a bigger, better, colorful and improved second edition of Steve's book. If you do too, please consider visiting the Kickstarter Page; read the info, and if it sounds good to you, you might want to contribute. They are more than halfway to their goal! 

There are only 18 days to go, but it can happen!



11 comments:

K. Martinez said...

The foliage is what makes the second image so special.

Major, I saw the kickstarter campaign earlier, but have now contributed to it after seeing it on your blog this morning. Thanks.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I contributed yesterday... they are so close! Only about $800 to go.

Chuck said...

They're even closer now. :-)

Thanks for posting the link, Major, as well as for your contributions to the second edition.

And Steve, I'm really looking forward to seeing the second edition sitting on my bookshelf...after I read it, of course. :-)

Melissa said...

Looks like everybody turned out for White Shirt Day!

Matthew said...

I enjoy seeing photos of the Snow White Grotto especially with Dopey holding his fishing pole. Never sure why they removed that.

Always your pal,
Amazon Belle

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, I am very glad that you contributed! I hate to "count my chickens before they're hatched", but with 16 days to go, it is looking good.

Melissa, white was Mary Blair's favorite color, or so I've heard!

Matthew, I wonder if the fishing pole was removed because it implied that Dopey was "killing fish"? Dopey would never kill! The theory is just dumb enough to be true.

K. Martinez said...

Major/Chuck, I'll definitely be watching the kickstarter campaign from time to time to see if it meets the goal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Steve DeGaetano said...

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed! I am truly honored.

A BIG thank you to the Major for his many contributions, including this wonderful blog post! His wonderful photos will help fill in a big gap in the first book by showing us the trains as they looked in Disneyland's early years.

I think you will all really enjoy the revised edition, and hope you will find it a wonderful addition to your libraries.

Unknown said...

Well that was some well-spent money: help get a terrific second edition of the ground and I get a book out of the deal!

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, this is great, every time I check, it's a little bit closer to the goal.

Steve, it is my pleasure to help in any way I can; plus it is not entirely altruistic, since I will be getting a great book out of the thing!

Patrick, thanks to you, too! Steve's book is one of my favorite Disney-related volumes.

K. Martinez said...

At the time of this comment it was $205 to reach goal for Steve's DLRR book. Awesome!