Thursday, February 23, 2017

Steve Stuart at P.O.P., 1962

We're back at the beach with Steve Stuart (and company) for more Pacific Ocean Park images! As always, Steve has provided some nice commentary to accompany the photos:

MORE PACIFIC OCEAN PARK, June (or July) 1962

One of the signature features of POP was seen just beyond the entrance, past the ticket booths – Neptune’s Courtyard – containing an incredible bronze sculpture of King Neptune, his scepter pointing the way towards Neptune’s Kingdom.  He is surrounded by fountains, waterfalls and a specialized water show: Aquatechniques.  But magically (or tragically), my dad managed to “stage” the shot so our group completely obliterated the beauty and majesty of King Neptune, himself.  Although, he (my dad, that is) ‘happily’ caught a glimpse of the aging St. Regis Apts-Hotel and the Hotel Edmund – finer accommodations would undoubtedly be hard to find.  And for the record:  My mom; yours truly; Dick; Jeff; Don; Marc; Bill; and my aunt.  Here’s a LINK to a shot of the King Neptune’s Fountain, from “Stuff from the Park” where you can actually see its beauty.  (Thank you, Patrick)


In this second image we can see the “back side” of the sea-themed entrance and its ticket booths – again, to quote from the magnificent:  Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space-Age Nautical Pleasure Pier…  “The entrance, known as Neptune’s Courtyard, was distinctly different from the nearby aging shops and hotels.  A soaring, stylized 60-foot-high “starfish” arch hovered over the modern designs of the ticket booths, and rising above that were 12-foot-high rotating seahorses, riding water bubbles into the sky”.  Again, the framing dismisses the beauty from those gold seahorses and ‘POP’ bubbles.  Here too, we can see the sign directing guests to Neptune’s Kingdom.


I can't get enough of P.O.P.! And there's more to come, courtesy of Steve Stuart. Stay tuned!

9 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...


What is it about metal railings that make boys want to climb them? I couldn't keep my nephew off of them when I took him to Disneyland!

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your P.O.P. photos, Steve. These sure are nice ones. Thanks again, for sharing with us.

Matterhorn1959 said...

Wow...a picture of one of my POP signs in use! Thanks Steve and Major.

K. Martinez said...

I like that your dad captured the contrasts of the make believe world against the real world. Both of these photos capture great moments of you with your buddies.

I'm looking forward to more P.O.P. as well. You've certainly been generous with your family photos and I'm loving and appreciating it. Thank you, Steve.

TokyoMagic!, It must be that youthful energy. Got to find some way to channel it.

Unknown said...

Wowza, good stuff. I look forward to more and thank you for the time and memories, Stevie.

Anonymous said...

Yes...this brings back vague memories, especially the contrast between the new and old. Looking forward to more! KS

Nanook said...

@ TM!-
You bring up a good point about 'potential things to climb' and little boys. Which begs the question: With Disney parks having to install miles and miles of fencing of some sort, to protect both their property and flora, not to mention the guests' from themselves, wouldn't that just encourage the little rug rats to venture on to the fencing, rather than away from it-?

@ Matterhorn1959-
I believe the thanks are directed towards you for providing that great image of King Neptune-!

@ Ken-
That "world of contrasts" you point out seems to be a sore point both for Disneyland & POP. Walt's displeasure at the tacky sprawl which surrounded his Anaheim property almost seems like child's play, when compared to the almost seedy surroundings which faced POP - and was also a contributor to its downfall. I could easily imagine the lobbies in each one of those properties populated with tired, overstuffed furniture, attended to by floor-standing 'monumental' ashtrays all accented by dim lighting, making each more worthy of a 'flop house' than what they must have been in their heyday. As flattering to my dad as it might be to attribute the framing as a deliberate display of contrasts, I think it was more circumstance that allowed the scene to be captured in this way.

@ Patrick Devlin-
You're welcome. (I think the major is saving one particular image for the final POP post, as it really turned out to be a photographic gem).

@ KS-
The contrast between what took place inside the park [at least in the early years] and outside, where the hoi polloi tended to congregate, was definitely a study in contrasts.

Nancy said...

I love these!! Such fun views, especially like the second one. I love signs and take pictures of all of them. You guys must have had a blast that day! :) Thanks for sharing them with us.

Chuck said...

These are great. Thanks again, Stevenook!

Yukari said...

Major - Lilo was indeed in the German version of "Sesame Street".
They only kept the short films and "self-contained" puppet scenes, and made their own version of the studio scenes with the live actors and puppets.

The studio set was a house with a large backyard, where "Lilo" and "Henning" (the two human characters, played by Lilo Pulver and Henning Venske) lived, along with some puppets specifically developped by Henson for this version of the show - Samson, a huge bear (a walk on costume similar to Big Bird´s) and Tiffy, a bird that collected hats.
Over the years, the human characters/actors changed and some more puppet characters were added.

Here´s a link to MuppetWiki that has some pictures of her and the others in the show:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Liselotte_Pulver