Beautiful Main Street, 1957
Howsabout some nice vintage Main Street photos for your July weekend? I think you'll enjoy these.
We'll start with this wonderful shot of the old "Chemical Wagon" - the horse-drawn firetruck. Two dappled grays look chill as they pull that toy-like wagon. If there's ever a fire, I hope nobody is on the second story... that ladder is about five feet long. In the background is the Swift Market House - now Starbucks. And we can even see the red wagon associated with the Red Wagon Inn, although that restaurant is up the block.
Also from '57 we get this view looking toward the castle as an Omnibus heads straight for us at four miles an hour! Get ready to jump out of the way in about a minute. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm going to head into the Penny Arcade and spend all of my spare change.
18 comments:
Major-
I wouldn't worry too much about the overall length of that ladder - it's actually 30 feet long - in the world of Disney 'forced perspective'-! In the first window adjacent to the Market House, we can see a partial reflection of the Pen Shop sign. And in the second image, that gal on the left wearing a light green dress, appears to be sporting a pair of saddle shoes. (She's all set for a Sock Hop).
Thanks, Major.
A couple of weeks ago, a Scout leader friend of mine took a trip with his family to SoCal and texted me a photo of his son wearing a "Wilderness Explorers" hat like the one Russell, the accidental stowaway, wears in Up. The message was "Recognize the hat?"
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't recognize it immediately, but it may be because my eyes were drawn to an antique phone on the wall behind his son. I texted back "I recognize that phone. Market House, or did they move it to the Emporium with the Starbuck's remodel?"
A couple seconds later he texted back "Market House. We stopped there to get some coffee. How the heck do you know this stuff?"
I credit my mornings with the gang in the GDB Virtual Coffeehouse.
Chuck, my virtualatte is delicious!
It's so nice to see such a laid-back, relaxing Main Street.
The first shot is a beauty and postcard worthy. One nice thing today is that the Chemical Wagon is still available to view at the Disneyland Firehouse on 105 Main Street. Thanks, Major.
"Can't get enough of those Main Street pics, they keep me goin' strong". Anyone remember that cereal jingle? Anyhow, I love Main Street and I love people watching. You made my day Major.
Nanook, I keep forgetting about forced perspective - even the flames would be a mere 5/8 scale. Hey, you’re right, there’s the Pen Shop sign!
Chuck, ha ha, the best part is not that you recognized the antique phone, but that your friend was so baffled. I wonder if he will start wearing a tinfoil hat so that you will stop reading his thoughts?
Melissa, does your virtualatte come with an espresso shot? Meanwhile, I have a friend who refuses to use Starbuck’s terms “tall”, “vente”, and “grande” because they annoy him. It’s “small”, “medium”, and “large” for him.
K. Martinez, I am very glad that the Chemical Wagon is still around and on display. Do you happen to know if it is ever brought out for parades or other occasions?
Jonathan, hmmm, I pride myself on knowing cereal jingles, but your paraphrased song has me stumped. Glad you liked today’s photos!
Beautiful pictures of Main Street as it was meant to be.
@Chuck & Melissa & Everyone, coffee with my friends every morning in Disneyland is the best way to start a day.
JG
@Major, I do that at Starbucks also. Small, Medium, Large. that's it.
JG
The first image has some Mainstreet Windows front and center which got me to wondering who was first to be honored, and when. I found this interesting article which informs me that there were some already there on opening day:
http://www.disneyhistoryinstitute.com/2012/07/the-original-windows-of-main-street.html
I especially enjoy the photos with few or no pedestrians in the street. The boy just leaving the second frame on the right reminds me of my older brother in the 50s. When he got a little older you could find a pack of cigs in his rolled up sleeves.
Nice shots today, major. Thanks!
dz
Major & JG, I do that at Starbuck's as well. I also don't use the term barista. Don't even get me started on musical terminology...
And don’t get ME started on why people go to Starbucks in the first place.
Seeing vintage Main Street pictures remind me of how much has changed. I remember the crank phone and working pot belly stove in the Market House. It was a great place to warm up during cold winter evenings. KS
I don't know if it's still there, but there was an antique telephone in the lobby of the American Adventure Pavilion at EPCOT. We were there on my sister's birthday one year, and the cast member told her to go pick up the phone, and she heard a recording of Mickey Mouse's voice wishing her a happy birthday.
Major, it was Sugar Bear, selling Sugar Crisp cereal. The commercial ended with "Betcher booties Granny" in his best Bing Crosby voice. As my wife is fond of saying, "Your are showing your age now Johnny." The video can be seen on Youtube by entering Sugar Bear.
JG, I agree, this is the Main Street that I want! I wonder why Starbucks came up with that dumb terminology for coffee sizes?
David Zacher, there are whole books about the windows on Main Street (I don’t have any), so there’s surely all kinds of information out there. I enjoy early photos of Main Street, both bustling or with empty streets - it’s all good!
Chuck, now you’ve got me curious and I have to get you started on musical terminology!
Nanook, I’m not a coffee drinker, but I know people who like it. Is it really not good?
KS, I didn’t know that the pot belly stove actually worked - I figured that people would lean against it (or try to lick it), so that it was probably just a prop that never got warm.
Melissa, that is very cool that the cast member somehow got Mickey to wish your sister a happy birthday! Now I am also curious about whether that phone is still there - it seems like the sort of thing that many people have memories of.
Jonathan, I definitely remember the Sugar Crisp bear and his Bing Crosby voice. “Can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp!”. And now I just watched a whole series of Sugar Crisp commercials on YouTube, they’re pretty fun!
Major-
I’ll just say this... “One man’s Chardonnay is another man’s cough syrup”. Starbucks and Howard Schultz should be roundly-thanked for helping create a greater appreciation for what coffee ‘can be’. (Too bad they decided to pass by that parade in favor of merely marketing “a feeling”, or whatever).
There are a number of fine “coffee places” in and around America, thanks to Starbucks; if you really appreciate how great drip coffee or espresso can truly be, you just have to seek them out. And rest assured, Starbucks is not among them.
What I loved most about Sugar Bear is that his eyebrows hovered an inch or two over his head.
Major, sorry - that was a half-baked joke that I didn't fully develop. Even my wife gave me a blank look after reading that comment.
I find it rather pretentious that Starbuck's and many of their imitators insist on trying to force me to use Italian when ordering an overpriced coffee, yet I have no issues with the tradition of using Italian in sheet music to describe how a piece oe passage is to be played (fortissimo,allegro, etc.). My intent was to highlight the irony of my different reactions in different contexts to Italian words injected into English communication, but that didn`t quite work out as intended since none of you are able to read my mind (that tin foil tip works wonders - thanks!).
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