I've got three more black and white snapshots for you, circa 1962! We'll start with this interesting photo of the ground-level area next to the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse. This was their yard, I suppose, with a dining table, something that appears to be a food locker of some sort (resembling a fridge!), a table set with items salvaged from the shipwreck (as well as other items crafted from resources provided by the island), a washtub, and casks and barrels (any idea why that one cask is atop the food locker?). If you're going to be shipwrecked, this looks like the way to go.
Now we're on the Skyway above the old Astro Jets, with the Flight Circle (nothing to see there), and the Flying Saucers in the upper left. The Moonliner has the Douglas paint on it at this point.
I'm not sure if this third pic was taken atop some rocks on Tom Sawyer Island, or from the Mark Twain or Columbia - my vote would go for the rocks. We're looking across at the loading area for the Indian War Canoes; I initially thought that they were not in service, but we can see one canoe loaded up with passengers to the right. In the distance is the Indian Village.
Low on color again, huh? Well at least these pictures are nice and crisp.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think if I were shipwrecked somewhere, the last thing on my list would be a full set of tableware.
Could the cask on top of the refrigerator be there to run cold water through pipes to keep it cold? I’m not sure how you get rid of the used water afterwards.
What is the big white thing in the front of the loaded canoe? Were they making guests move large decorative rocks?
Nor sure why that last post went under anonymous, maybe it didn’t like my captra answers.
ReplyDeleteBut it was posted by me
Oh, and an empty flight circle? That’s just wrong.
ReplyDeleteOh coxpilot we miss you
...and the Dominguez farm house (that became the first Disneyland office) in the background behind the flying saucers.
ReplyDeleteYes Budblade, water ran in sheets from the casket down all four sides of canvas, an ingenious cooling system. Ground level, the water was carried off in a little channel.
ReplyDeleteThanks Major, another classic look back. I haven't seen the Tarzan overlay, but they should have left well enough alone.
The Swiss Family kitchen looks so strange in the open sunlight, but then 1962 is the year the Swiss Family Treehouse opened so the jungle foliage had yet to fill in. At least that's what I assume.
ReplyDeleteGreat shot of the Indian Village. The totems are my favorite feature. I also love the "Landing" sign with hanging lantern at the lower right corner. The only thing missing is a telephone pole. Thanks, Major.
B&W film in Disneyland is strange. Considering Disney's colorful personality, who would choose B&W? Maybe an aspiring Ansel Adams, a film noir nerd, or just plain cheap. I'm gonna go with "I swear honey, I thought I had color film in the camera". I can picture the stink eye dad is getting from the entire family, as they peruse the newly developed photos. Not a pretty sight, I'll wager. Thanks Major, for sharing these rarities.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, that first photo reminds me of early, B&W postcards from Knott's Berry Farm and The Nut Tree.
ReplyDeleteThese are quite interesting, and give a different feel to familiar subjects.
@ anonymous - Yes, the cask on top is what allowed the drip mechanism on either side of the cold-storage box to work. You can see the "plumbing" coming from the bamboo in the upper right.
ReplyDelete@ stefano - you are correct too! The water did spill into the little channel nearby which had a waterfall.
You can also see water running from the barrel (right side), into the large clam shell (the family's sink).
What was amazing to me in the film there was only a small water wheel to run this feature (the cold storage box) which I believe is why that small channel of water, and waterfall were built; however, Walt and the Imagineers decided to take this small 20 seconds(?) part of the film and expand it to create an entire water system that circulated water to both the "living room" (where the organ played the Swisskapolka) and the Kitchen.
Working the Treehouse was an amazing an opportunity to explore both the tree, the props and the water system. It is unfortunate that with the Tarzan rehab they removed the most glamorous part of the tree... and the reason to climb it (where do those buckets of water go?)
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
I miss the Swiss.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great shot of the Indian Village, really gives a clear view of the full layout.
Thanks Major, a good start to the week.
JG
@ Budblade/Anonymous, that white thing in front of the canoe is a rock.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Major, the photo is taken from Tom Sawyer's Island and I believe you are correct, the Castle Rock area... Fort Wilderness is almost straight across from the Canoe dock.
Finally... as I've got to get back to work... is there an Indian burial ground up on the hill near the Dance Circle. Was that one of two Indian burial grounds (the other next to Fort Wilderness on the island)? Huh... maybe I saw that before... but it kinda sticks out this time with not just what appears to be one body but three.
Always your pal,
@Matthew (Amazon Belle), there was a burial ground display on the berm near the dance circle, complete with an interpretive sign explaining the practice.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the photo as first seen on GDB, and explained by the Blog Long-Forgotten.
https://photobucket.com/gallery/user/danolson/media/cGF0aDpCbG9nIHN0dWZmL0Jsb2cgc3R1ZmYwMDIvU2NyZWVuIFNob3QgMjAxNy0wNy0wNyBhdCAxMS40Ni4xNiBBTV96cHN2Z3V0NWtpdi5wbmc=/?ref=
https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2017/09/buried-on-tom-sawyer-island-excursus.html
L-F has a link in that post to all the GDB posts dealing with the indian burial displays.
Also per Long-Forgotten the second burial ground on TSI north of the fort was removed sometime in the 1990's.
So this photo of the old Village shows the display in relation to the rest of the village, which the other photos don't really show clearly. Which is very cool.
JG
Anonymous, I need to head over to Office Depot and pick up some toner. Are you telling me that you would eat with your fingers?? It’s simply not done. The idea of the cask turning the “fridge” into a kind of swamp cooler is kind of intriguing, I wonder if that’s what the intention was? I can’t tell what that white thing is…
ReplyDeleteBudblade, we meet again!
Budblade, I’d like to think that the Flight Circle guys were on their lunch break, and they’d be back soon, accompanied by the whine of tiny internal combustion engines.
Anon, is that you again, Budblade??
Stefano, I can’t tell if you are joking, or if that is really what was going on with the fridge. Have you not been to Disneyland since before the Tarzan overlay? Man, it’s time to go back! Except… maybe not.
K. Martinez, I agree, typically there was a lot more lush foliage surrounding the treehouse. But it didn’t happen overnight! I love the totems in the Indian Village too, especially since we saw them in that 1963 National Geographic.
Jonathan, I kind of agree, color seems so important to the Disneyland experience. And yet… my family certainly used plenty of black and white film in those days (and into the 70’s). I guess because it was much less expensive. I do have a certain fondness for the black and white snapshot, but if I had my “druthers”, I’d choose color for sure.
Chuck, I see what you mean! Some of those early Knott’s “real photo” postcards are a little odd, too.
Matthew, wow, so amazing. Top marks to Budblade and Stefano. And you! I just don’t remember this feature, to be honest. I haven’t seen the film since I was a child, and my main memory is of Kevin “Moochie” Corcoran talking about tigers a lot. I need to see it again! Supposedly George Lucas loved that movie and its director, Ken Annakin, so much, that he named his pre-Darth Vader character “Anakin”. The water wheels around the treehouse were one of my favorite things, I’m sure many kids spent way too long watching how that ingenious system worked.
JG, ME TOO. Thanks for the nice comment!
Matthew, ha ha, oh, just a rock. I kind of thought that was the case, but the more I looked at it, the more I thought it was something else. And yes, I believe that is indeed another Indian burial ground.
JG, until I read that Long Forgotten blog entry (or perhaps it was multiple entries), I didn’t know that there was more than one Indian burial ground. So fascinating! That’s what makes his blog so great, he gets down to those little details that are not usually talked about.
@JG Thank you for the additional information and finding those photos. That is GREAT stuff!
ReplyDeleteAlways your pal,
Matt