Friday, February 24, 2017

Old Friends

Way back in May of 2006, I posted my very first photo here on GDB, and it happened to feature the mother and boy in both of today's images (sorry sis, you didn't make the cut 11 years ago). Going back through those photos, I saw that there were a bunch that I hadn't bothered to scan, in part because they had all turned magenta. My color-correcting skills have evolved a lot, and I was able to get these looking pretty good.

Junior has assumed the pose that I generally use in photos - the "eyes in mid-blink" that has made me famous 'round the world. Mom is wearing a pretty yellow dress, and she's holding one of those classic popcorn boxes - clean examples can fetch $80 to $100 these days. Or more! I wish I could tell what sis is holding in her right hand.


Thanks to the sign for the "Alice" ride, we can safely date this to 1958. The sun appeared to be setting, giving everything a warm glow, though it looks like winter to me. Hard to say, since I had to do so much fiddling with the color.

Notice mom's lenticular Mickey Mouse button!


Here's a better look at one of those signs:



12 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

You gotta love the nice touch of providing images to the undersideof the umbrella. I recognize Snow White, but am having trouble with the other images.

Thanks, Major, for the great re-touching work.

TokyoMagic! said...

Sis is holding a park map and her phone.

I wonder how comfortable Junior's leather-soled shoes were to wear around the park all day?

Nanook said...

Major-

I think the red, pyramid-shaped object resting on sis' upper right thigh is a viewer keychain. I know there were blue versions for Fantasyland. Don't know if there was a version for each land, and if so, which land the red version represented.

walterworld said...

Wow, May 2006...It will be the GDB 11th anniversary in only a few months.

Amazing achievement!

Bravo Major

Chuck said...

Nice to see GDB's "First Family" again.

I bow to your color-correcting skills. You are truly a master.

DrGoat said...

Very striking images. That first pic really has a lot of life in it.
One of those images that makes you wonder what they are up to now.
Thanks Major.

Tom said...

I agree with TokyoMagic: definitely holding her phone. Definitely iPhone 2.

When I first looked at the photo I thought: "Oh! It's those two!" The various families that pop up from time to time in these photos, I've taken to considering as old friends by this point, since we've had so many years together. I'm still mad at them for not inviting me along on their Disneyland trips though.

Unknown said...

Yeah, she's holding her phone, but she has the good courtesy to not be glued to it while in the company of others. People were just more polite with their phones in the 50s! Tom, we invited every time but we kept getting shunted to your voice mail.

Thanks for paster-blaster regarding the little viewer keychains, Stevie of the North. It's funny how memory works without having had a thought for those for decades but a single reference brings a cascade of familiarity back in a flash.

I can't make out the top lettering on the sign, Major. Is there a clue there regarding the Grand Opening of Alice or some such? And speaking of invites, were you driving up from San Diego at this point? I could have begged for a few months advance on my allowance and come with you guys. Oh, well. Next time. When is "Next Time" anyway?

Good work, and thank goodness your evolution with photo restoration advanced forward and didn't regress towards incompetence like the Dodo's evolution with the goofy tail feathers and no ability to remove magenta out of old slides and such.

Nanook said...

@ Chuck-

"The GDB First Family"-! Boy, if that doesn't start one's imagination to conjure-up all sorts of grand ideas-! If these folks only knew the high honor bestowed upon them. Tough luck Michael Schwartner and Christine Vess, The Major has other ideas.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, the only other scene I can discern is from Cinderella, with the castle up on the hill and the golden coach in the foreground. The others… who knows.

TokyoMagic!, I’ll bet those shoes were OK. That’s probably what he wore all the time, and if they were nice and broken in, they’d likely be comfy enough.

Nanook, good eye, I didn’t even see that! But yes, that’s definitely one of those viewers. They fetch high prices these days, which is why I don’t have any in my collection.

walterworld, yes, just a few months to go. Thanks!

Chuck, I have a few more featuring this family, so stay tuned! I actually kind of enjoy the restoration process - if it works, anyway.

DrGoat, the thing I like the most is that they give off such a vintage vibe.

Tom, now that I have blown the image up, it looks like maybe she is holding a ticket book, and possibly a little change purse. And the iPhone of course.

Patrick Devlin, I’m talking on my cell phone RIGHT NOW! I need to tell all my friend what I had for lunch (in case they didn’t see my Instagram photos). The “Alice” sign says: “Visit the Wonderful World of Alice in Wonderland - Fantasyland”; mabye I’ll add a better image of one of the signs. And I did live in San Diego, but not until quite a while after 1958! Also: I wish we still had Dodo birds - so odd and cool. And delicious!

Nanook, I’ve always kind of had my doubts about whether Michael Scwartner and Christine Vess were REALLY the first visitors; more likely they were the cutest (whitest) kids for a nice press photo! Or am I just too cynical?

Nanook said...

No, Major, you're not too cynical. Just lookie here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-671925-michael-says.html

The "randomness" of the selection sounds about as "unplanned" as most 'reality' shows-!

Anonymous said...

Came for the phone comments. Leaving satisfied.

My mom wore her hair like Mom in this pic.

Beautiful work, Major.

JG