Friday, December 28, 2018

Pirate Ship, 1960's

Mixed in with a bunch of random slides was a group of undated Disneyland slides. Some of them are nice, but they've all acquired a blue color-cast; for some reason, I have more trouble removing the blue tints than I do when there are red tints. But... they still look OK!

Proud papa poses with his progeny in front of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship. It's amazing the way that lava rock weathered into the exact shape of a bench, but that's the way nature works sometimes. (Favorite lava? Pāhoehoe, of course).


The boys have jackets to go with their dungarees. Boy #1 (on the left) must have been playing touch football the day before, while boy #2 is waiting for his growth spurt. I believe the gentleman to our right is holding a 1961 souvenir guidebook, so that helps to narrow down the date!


Now it's mom's turn to have her portrait with the boys, this time on the poop deck (heh heh). The same impulse that lured King Kong to the top of the Empire State Building also entices guests to the top-most part of the pirate ship.


Sure, they look nice, but those three are among the most feared buccaneers that sailed these waters.


12 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
And to think, at times I often felt 'over-dressed'. (Certainly not when traipsing-around "The Happiest Place On Earth", however). Wow - sport coats for the lads; even if the bottom-half of their outfits are sporting dungarees-! Gotta love Dad's white shoes, and loosened tie. Oh, that cad-!

Thanks, Major.



.

Chuck said...

I don't recall ever seeing the pirate ship that crowded, either in person or in a photo. Maybe it was Free Tuna Burger Day.

And now I know what I'm going to try to make for lunch tomorrow.

JC Shannon said...

The family having a great day at Disneyland. Babushka alert in the second photo. Great catch on the guide book, Major. In the second photo the guy on the stairs looks like he is wearing some kind of uniform blue jacket. Any ideas? Thanks to Major for deblueing these great old snaps.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I don’t think I feel over-dressed very often (t-shirts and jeans are my basic uniform!), but standing next to those kids I would probably feel under-dressed. Dad has got the casual “rumpled look” down cold.

Chuck, I’ve tried making my own tuna burgers (based mostly on the Chicken of the Sea recipe, but with more tabasco and diced onion), and they taste pretty good, but they fall apart when I try to flip them. Maybe I need to add bread crumbs to the mixture? Or plaster of paris?

Jonathan, aha, even when looking for it that babushka almost escaped my detection. That guy’s jacket means that he belongs to either the sharks or the jets. He’s always snapping the fingers on both hands!

Anonymous said...

The Pirate Ship was always a favorite of mine. It gave you a great aerial view of Fantasyland...and beyond...while enjoying your tuna sandwich from the galley. I was never so well dressed though... KS

Anonymous said...

I'm voting that the knee dirt came from Tom Sawyer's Island only a few minutes before. I'm sure that Mom wouldn't let those boys leave the motel with dirty clothes when the rest of their outfits are so nice.

But kids have no idea or concept of acting in accordance with one's wardrobe, and Mom probably didn't foresee the TSI opportunities when she laid out their clothes.

I always thought the tuna burger was a scam, it was just the same tuna salad except on a bun. Maybe I'm wrong, and its too late to fix it now.

Thanks Major.

JG

Anonymous said...

Also, my favorite lava is aa. Much easier to spell than pahoehoe.

JG

Melissa said...

Wow, that's some hifalutin' babushka-detection there!

Chuck said...

Major, funny you should mention your tuna burger recipe...

While looking for a copy of the original Disneyland recipe after I posted my comment, I found a 2011 Kevin Kidney post about it that you, JG, Connie Moreno, MIKE COZART, and Dave DeCaro all had left comments on. It was kind of like unexpectedly running into a group work friends away from the job. You mentioned the tabasco, but not the plaster of paris. You might want to try Kwik-Crete instead.

Major Pepperidge said...

KS, I never did “board” the Pirate Ship, sadly - it was just something that I enjoyed from ground level. Now of course I wish I had eaten there, and climbed as high as possible!

JG, you could be right about the knee dirt - that boy’s shoes appear to be pretty scuffed up too. Mom must have been thrilled. The official recipe for the tuna burger is to wrap it in foil and bake it, but I tried making more of a “patty”. It seems clear that this was a bad idea, since it won’t hold together.

JG, aa is easy to spell, but not quite as fun to say as pahoehoe!

Melissa, Jonathan probably has some sort of military software on his computer.

Chuck, I remember Kevin Kidney’s article (From 2011? Really??), and tried using that recipe (with my own tweaks, of course). I also use thousand island dressing rather than the mayo and ketchup mixutre. It was good, but I still didn’t wrap it in foil and bake it. Maybe I should just try it the way it’s supposed to be and not get all fancy. Kwik-Crete is useful for making sloppy joes less sloppy.

Chuck said...

My mom used to make a baked tuna salad sandwich that involved wrapping the whole thing in aluminum foil and putting it in the oven. The buns were juuust toasted enough that they came out slightly crunchy, but not so much that they resembled two round pieces of toast. Not sure if the baking is what made the patty hold together or not because she always topped the tuna with a slice of Kraft American cheese that ended up nicely gluing the meat to the top bun.

I tried to make a baked tuna sandwich once in college. The recipe, which came out of The Starving Students' Cookbook, called for green beans. Seriously. It came out OK, but it wasn't close enough to what my mom used to make for me to want to make it again. I switched back to Tuna Helper.

Why am I hungry all of a sudden? And my wife has just informed me that we are all out of tuna. Truly a dark day...

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, I used to dislike the thought of a hot tuna sandwich, but once I made my own, I was a big fan. A slice of American cheese (the greatest cheese ever!) will definitely hold everything together. Green beans sounds a little odd, but I’d try it! Never had Tuna Helper (or Hamburger Helper, for that matter). Now I REALLY want a tuna burger!