Vintage Postcards - Legend City
Ken Martinez is back - with a vengeance! Also with some more vintage postcards from Legend City, in Phoenix (pronounced pu-ho-enix) Arizona (don't forget Winona). Let's hear it from Ken:
More Fabulous Legend City!
Here are the last of my Legend City postcards. Conceived in the late 1950’s by Louis Crandall, the park which serviced the Phoenix area opened in 1963 and closed forever in 1983. It consisted of a lot of old west atmosphere and cool themed rides.
Here we have the familiar “teacup” ride which at Legend City was called “Krazy Kups”. Strangely this ride looks like it has interlocking circles which might make it more similar to “Maters Junkyard Jamboree” than the “Mad Tea Party”.
Who doesn’t love a Sky Ride. This one goes way up high. Notice the rider with his camera is getting ready for some serious aerial photography.
In the description it says residence of the fort are required to help defend against occasional Indian attacks but I think these folks are fending off door to door solicitors. Or is that fort to fort solicitors?
Now here’s what makes Legend City fabulous! Shooting and killing people. They’re supposed to be bad people, but sometimes you make an honest mistake. Two more bite the dust with a third going down.
Here we have a bank robber digging his own grave on Boot Hill. Holding a gun on him and a rope around his neck should motivate him. I love the nice touches like the skeleton horse, the hearse and vulture.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to the fabulous and parched Legend City.
Information Source material:
Funland U.S.A. copyright 1978 by Tim Onosko
http://www.legend-city.com/
As always, MANY thanks to Ken for sharing his collection of vintage amusement park postcards!
8 comments:
Ken-
Seeing images from these smaller amusement parks certainly shows the changing market for outdoor family entertainment. Just as with so many aspects of 'commerce' these days, this industry has shrunken and consolidated leaving only a very few small operators - and a few of the 'big boys'. Too bad.
Thanks, Ken, for sharing more images from your collection.
Having grown up in Tucson, we all went one time or another. It was a pretty lackluster backup to Disneyland, but we were at the mercy of our parents as to when we got the real thing.
Nanook, I have to say I'm not so thrilled with the corporate parks of today. It really is a change industry from when we were young and enjoying our favorite amusement parks.
DrGoat, Early Legend City actually looked quite cool. Of course nothing compares to Disneyland ,but I still love places like this. In fact I've had a growing appreciation for the smaller parks more and more since my love for the Disneyland of today is fading slow but sure and almost complete.
Those first two pics are exactly like Disneyland, only different. And the last two are exactly like Knott's....only different. ;-) It's interesting to see what was borrowed from park to park over the years! Thanks for sharing these, Ken!
These are fun. No idea this place existed.
Thanks Ken and Major for more new things to admire.
JG
Like the genuine dirt streets. Also, note how the gunfight street seems to be on an incline ... while the townsfolk on the left seems to be leaning to make it a steeper incline.
TokyoMagic!, I wrote this post before going to Knott's earlier this summer and now looking at the postcard with the hearse, it definitely reminds me of Knott's Berry Farm.
JG, hopefully I'll have more postcards of places you've never heard of before. Glad you enjoyed.
Donald Benson, great observation on the tilt of both the ground and townsfolk. I caught the townsfolk leaning, but never connected it to the incline of the street.
That reminds me, I need to head out to Wild West City here in New Jersey to see if it still has gunfights.
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