A few years ago I found this fun little photo album from Gray's Drug Stores, which (as far as I can tell) were located in Pennsylvania and Ohio. "Artistically finished", ooh-la-la!
Not surprisingly, I was interested in this little booklet because it had photos of Disneyland from March of 1960. Like this fun portrait of a mother and her two kids near the entrance to Adventureland. Junior is sporting a hat just like Huck Finn wore, as well as his very own camera.
Pops got into the picture this time, as the family made its way to the top of Castle Rock on Tom Sawyer Island.
So many souvenir hats! Though the Panama hat to the left wasn't a park purchase. I always enjoy seeing one of the plastic "Keppy Kaps", like the one in the lower right. A good crowd has turned up to watch the performance at the Indian Dance Circle.
This is my favorite of the bunch, since these three are standing beneath the Monsanto House of the Future. An unusual perspective for sure!
Whoa, it's pretty busy over in Tomorrowland; but I can't blame all of those people for wanting to ride the still-new Monorail or Submarine Voyage!
This one was really dark, I had to lighten it up quite a bit so that we can see the Autopia. Notice that there are two different styles of vehicles. The one closest to us must be a Mark V car, though I don't really see the headlights that are supposed to be there. It almost looks like a Mark VI, but those wouldn't come along until 1964.
This last one is a bit of a mystery; the boy is wearing the same hat and striped shirt as in all of the other photos, but I am reasonably sure that this isn't Disneyland. Perhaps I'm wrong, though! Could it be Knott's Berry Farm? I wish I could discern what those postcards are, but they're just too blurry.
I hope you have enjoyed these photos from Gray's Drug Store!
Major-
ReplyDeleteJunior appears to be sporting a Kodak Starflash camera. In the second image, I'm curious just what sort of outfit the woman with her back to us, carrying that large white purse, is wearing. Brother and sister seem to be sharing the same smile.
Thanks, Major.
A very photogenic family, to say the least! I can't wait to hear some other reader's thoughts (especially Melissa's)!
ReplyDeleteMajor, when you find these treasures, do you do a victory dance of sorts?
Sue
Wow, I can just imagine that these pictures were treasured memories for someone for years... and now they're available online for everyone to enjoy. Isn't that cool? I guess the same can be said for all the pictures here! It's nice that black-and-white pictures seem to be the exception when it come to Disneyland; I wish that was true for old pictures of amusement parks around here!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew's sentiments. I'm really drawn to these because we has a box full of the same type of pics. They disappeared some time around the late 80s. My sister doesn't remember where they went either. I wonder how many photos of the Autopia are taken from that very angle. We've had several, including the one I gave to the Major to post a while ago. Thanks Major. I love these.
ReplyDeleteHi guys... I'm back and sassier than ever!
ReplyDeleteNanook, “Starflash” is a pretty cool name, but they missed the boat - they should have called it the “Atom blast”. It DOES look like that lady is wearing her girdle on the outside, doesn’t it?
Lou and Sue, I can’t dance, so I go and hug my hamster, Peanut.
Penna. Andrew, Even though many people were using color film by 1960, I know from my own family’s boxes of photos that my mom continued to use black and white well into the 60’s. Presumably color film and processing was pricy enough to be for special occasions.
DrGoat, It’s strange when family photos vanish. In our case I always wonder if my mom threw a bunch out in a rare case of “getting rid of old stuff”, only to forget she did it 10 years later? I’ve been trying to find some photos from my grandparent’s stash, and they just seem to be gone.
Lou and Sue, Don't let Major P. fool ya. I have it on good authority that he is a dancer of some renown. He regularly dazzles at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs with his cool moves. I too, like to see a nice family enjoying Disneyland together. Now where is my Huck Finn hat?
ReplyDeleteThis is fun stuff for sure. A lucky find, Major. Thanks for sharing these with us. They make up the lack of our family photos from this era. I will just pretend these people are my relatives.
ReplyDeleteI have the same questions about where old photos go. I am sure we had more photos of Disneyland and lots of other places, and I cannot locate them. These will have to do.
I'm with you, Major, I can't recognize a Disneyland location in the last picture. Feeding pigeons, and the gravel walk are not things I remember from the Park. Might be Knotts, but that doesn't ring right either. Maybe a local zoo or other amusement park?
Whoops, I forgot to sign my Anonymous post just above.
ReplyDeleteJG
Major - Your last photo was taken at, drumroll please, San Juan Capistrano!
ReplyDeleteJonathan, so YOU were the person who bought that dossier that wound up on eBay. I always wondered!
ReplyDeleteJG (I saw your next comment!), I have another photo booklet that is from 1956, you’ll see that on GDB one of these days. The quality of the photos leaves a bit to be desired, but some are still interesting. I agree, the last photo probably isn’t Knott’s. Maybe it’s the old Alligator Farm. I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure.
Unknown, YIKES! So much for my response to JG! I know it sounds like BS, but one of my guesses was “A California mission”, but it looked so much like an amusement park with that big “EXIT” sign. Thanks for clearing it up!
It's the mother lode of mid-century vacation hats! I spy some of my favorite paper bonnets around the dance circle.
ReplyDeleteThose two old fellers in the last picture have seen a thing or two, let me tell you. They started taking heroin when they were off stickin' it to Ksiser Bill, and they ain't about to stop now just because some pantywaist in the gummint suddenly says it's "bad for you." When they were your age, they'd've had those ducks plucked and dressed for the oven by now.
I keep telling my mother I'm going to help her scan the boxes of family photos she inherited from her sister, who inherited them from her mother, and I keep finding excuses not to do it. Already there are bunches of faces we don't have names for anymore. Grandma had a bunch of these little scalloped-edge "albums" with the drugstore covers.
Ducks, pigeons, hell, it's all good eatin's.
ReplyDelete