It's a "Cavalcade of Mediocrity"! Brought to you by Pepsodent tooth powder.
I admit it - "mediocre" is too harsh to describe this pretty, pastoral scene. In fact, the more I look at it, the more I am inclined to give it a thumb's up. I think our photographer was at the Indian Village, near the location where the "Golden Bear Lodge" (now known as the "Hungry Bear" restaurant) would eventually go.
OK, this one is mediocre. The color is weird, and there isn't much to see. I'm going back to bed.
Major-
ReplyDeleteGee, the "Cavalcade of Mediocrity" reminds me of the Cavalcade of Stars, a variety show, broadcast on the DuMont Network from 1949 thru 1952. It was sponsored by the Druggists of America, however. One if its hosts was none other than Jackie Gleason, for the 1950-1952 Seasons. Not exactly up to the standards of Toast of the Town, later better known as The Ed Sullivan Show, but one of the few success for the DuMont network, before it folded in 1956, a mere 10 years after it began.
(Just what the heck does this have to do with Disneyland or the Mark Twain Steamer, I hear you ask-?) How the hell should I know - I just got side-tracked-! Perhaps the June Taylor Dancers made a special appearance on the bow of the M. Twain... They did appear on Cavalcade of Stars, and then later, famously on the Jackie Gleason Show when it was broadcast from the Miami Beach Auditorium, for four seasons, beginning in 1966.
And that is today's look back at old television. Tune in again next week... Thanks, Major.
You would think that the photographer could've waited just a few more seconds for the canal boat to pass under the bridge. I wonder if he/she was waiting for it to happen, but had a "trigger finger."
ReplyDeleteBoats on rails. That's what it is. And both boats snapped from the same angle. And foliage. Lots of foliage. The Mark Twain and Canal Boats would make great bathtub toys. The foliage would not. Splish-splash, splish-splash. Watch the Mark Twain sink to the bottom of the tub.
ReplyDeleteNanook, the good old DuMont Network; I never saw it, but its reputation lives on. I do have an old match book advertising DuMont! Jackie Gleason... as a kid I never liked him because he always seemed angry. He was popular though. On an entirely different note, I have been watching a bunch of old TV shows on YouTube (The Avengers - RIP Patrick Macnee, The Fugitive, The Andy Griffith Show), and it is a strange thing to re-experience these programs after not seeing them for decades.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, maybe the photographer was trying to be "artistic" by having the canal boat framed inside the arch?
K. Martinez, "Boats on rails" is the truth; that's the problem with Jungle Cruise photos, they're often so much like every other JC photo. The Mark Twain seems to pointy (those stacks!) to be a bath toy!
Major-
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I'm reminded of when seeing "Cavalcade of Mediocrity" is Pizza Man. It was (and I guess in some form, still is) a local, So. Cal. pizza chain, whose slogan was" "Pizza Man, he delivers - 'til three in the morning..." But more amusingly, their TV ad also had this line: "Are you tired of paying for high-priced 'mediocricy'-?" Hmmmm. Perhaps whoever was in charge of writing the copy should be getting a full night's sleep instead of staying up 'til all-hours wolfing-down pizza.
Just how do I remember all this nonsense-?? I only wish I knew.
That Mark Twain is pretty far from mediocre in my book. Maybe it's because I like that angle and composition where nothing but the wilderness of the West is visible.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I remember Pizza Man commercials (on radio). Never sampled the pizza, however. "Mediocracy"... hmmm... well, they tried anyway! I also remember going into a Chicken Delight place and coveting a light-up 3-D figure of a chicken holding a platter of... chicken! I'll bet those things are worth hundreds (or thousands) today.
ReplyDeletePatrick Devlin, yes, in retrospect that's not a bad photo; I just get burned out on Mark Twain photos. I wonder how many zillions of pictures of it I have posted here.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI think we all had a secret longing to acquire one of those 'glowing' chickens, in spite of the rather poor-tasting product it represented. (Perhaps the light-up version provided better flavor-!)
The photographer show have at least Photoshopped Mickey standing on the bridge. Ahh...wrong era.
ReplyDelete