That's right babies, it's time to rescue some previously-rejected slides from obscurity and give them their time in the spotlight. Looking at them now, I'm not really sure why I skipped these, because I've certainly shared stuff that's a lot worse over the years!
This first example is from October of 1959, and it's a fun general view from inside Tomorrowland. There's the wonderful Astro Jets; all of the blue rockets are low, and all of the red rockets are soaring up high. What does it mean? The 3-car Monorail Red is at the station, and Skyway gondolas dangle overhead. As is often the case, the people are half the fun.
This slide is date-stamped "January, 1967", showing the 1966 Christmas parade; this is from the days when parades passed through New Orleans Square - there's Frontierland Station in the distance. The Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs are entertaining the crowd with some proto-hip hop dancing.
Hey, there's that cool sign outside the not-yet-open Haunted Mansion, inviting ghosts to come and "retire" in the stately house in Anaheim, California. I wonder what was in those striped tubes the lady his holding? Genuine animation cels from "101 Dalmatians" or "The Sword in the Stone"? Two other women hold pink-striped shopping bags - I only own a very small postcard-sized one of those.
And for the final selection, here's an August 1961 shot looking through the moose-antlered gate of Fort Wilderness in the late afternoon. You can have all kinds of fun exploring the rustic fort, or you can just relax and enjoy a cigarette. Ah, that sweet, sweet smoke that satisfies and is never harsh! In fact, 4 out of 5 doctors recommend Andy Jackson cigarettes (or "Andy Jacks") for their patients.
I hope you have enjoyed these previously-rejected slides.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI believe the blue rockets are all hovering-low, as they are bereft of pilots-! These are all lovely images; it's great they were given a second chance.
Thanks, Major.
The little pig in red is Fiddler Pig, I believe. We saw Fifer Pig the other day, posing with "Nat." I forgot to mention the other day, that when I did my research to figure out which Little Pig that was, I discovered that Fifer Pig and Fiddler Pig originally did not wear pants....just like Donald Duck. I wonder why Disney felt the need to have the costumed pig characters wear pants, but not put a pair on Donald?
ReplyDeleteWhat is that glowing "blob" on the right side of the Fort Wilderness pic? Whatever or whoever it is, it appears to be waving at us. Maybe it's an apparition who showed up to apply for a job in the yet-to-open Haunted Mansion, but had trouble finding the Ghost Relations Dept.
Upon second glance, I realized that not only is that apparition waving at us, but it's also carrying a light saber.
ReplyDeleteAnother great batch of oldies. Plenty of babushkas and a fedora or two. Love the Astro Jet picture. I think those two boys are checkin' out the girl in the plaid dress. Hubba Hubba. Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteThe red and white striped tubes the lady in front of the Haunted Mansion is holding are from the Art Festival on Main Street - the place next to the Market House where you could sit for an artist to draw your chalk portrait. Once the portrait was done you could have it framed for an extra fee or take it home in one of those tubes, meant to keep the portrait from being bent or damaged.
ReplyDeleteTM!, maybe Donald's covering of feathers is what makes him different from the pigs, pants-requirement-wise? Also, any pants that fit over his tail would leave a bit of an awkward silhouette.
ReplyDeleteThose plaid dresses in the first picture are the bee's knees, the hornet's elbows, and the June bug's knuckles! And the second features not only a bevy of babushkas, but also a jolly sailor fresh off a box of Cracker Jacks. Helloooo, sailor!
Who could forget that catchy Andy Jackson Cigarettes jingle?
ReplyDeleteAndy Jacks, Andy Jacks,
They won't give you an-tha-rax,
Why they taste so great, you ax?
'Cause Old Hickory's in every pack.
Those folks in the red rockets are hoping to get a slice of pizza. Unfortunately for them, they're 100 yards off and 39 years early.
ReplyDeleteInteresting picture. In the background, just to the right of the rightmost blue rocket, there appears to be a nurse in full uniform, complete with cap and white shoes. Meanwhile, in the foreground a guy in a hat brushes his teeth as a woman in a red plaid dress smiles and gives her daughter a right cross to the face.
In the second photo, note the sailor to the left of Practical Pig. His single ribbon is for the National Defense Service Medal, awarded to everyone in the U.S. Armed Forces during periods of armed conflict from the Korean War on. My Vietnam veteran dad used to refer to it as the "Alive in '65 Medal" before they started awarding it again during the First Gulf War. I can't tell if the woman in the back row three people to the left of the Big Bad Wolf is laughing, yawning, or about to projectile vomit.
If you look really closely between Fifer Pig's hat and the Haunted Mansion sign, you can see the tail end of the Holiday Blue (or maybe Holiday Green) car set pulling out of Frontierland Station.
Interesting lighting in the Fort Wilderness shot. I'm sure it looked even more interesting in person - particularly the guy on the parapet eating a corn dog. Or maybe it's a cattail. Hard to tell.
TM!, that Force Ghost is beckoning us to "come to the Dark Side - we have cookies!"
For your question on "What does it mean?", I can only guess that attendance was slow, so only some of the rockets were loaded to keep the ride "balanced," sort of like a Ferris wheel, which can never have all of its riders sitting in consecutive seats. Chuck, you nailed it with your "Red Rocket" joke!
ReplyDeleteThe pure joy of all those kids upon seeing the Three Little Pigs is nice. Today, kids might be more confused than happy since the Pigs are kind of obscure!
The little boy in the blue shirt looks like he's attempting Harpo Marx's patented "Gookie" face.
ReplyDeleteChuck...
ReplyDeleteBack in my time (early-mid 70s) the nurses from First Aid wore the traditional white uniforms so it is quite possible. Usually on a call, they would be escorted by a security member while on stage. In this case, she may have simply been walking between First Aid stations. KS
Naook, yes, I did notice that the blue rockets were all empty; maybe they smelled bad?
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, based on the 22 seconds of Google research that I did, I think you are right, that is the Fiddler Pig. Don’t expect me to remember the next time I have a picture of him though! I assume that the pink flesh of the pigs would just look too “naked” compared to Donald’s feathered lower regions. I’d wager that the glowing blob is one of the reasons I didn’t originally post the photo of Fort Wilderness - seems to be a lens issue of some kind.
TokyoMagic!, you probably already noticed the area to the right that almost looks like a silhouette of a face. SPOOKY.
Jonathan, it is well known that plaids drive men WILD.
Anon, ah, that makes sense, thank yoU!
Melissa, yes, I agree, the feathers basically clothe Donald’s nudity already. I didn’t know June Bugs had knuckles? The poor sailor is there all by himself. Where are his shipmates?
Melissa II, ah, I remember that jingle so well. I can see the kinescope of a dancing box of Andy Jacks (holding a cutlass and wearing military boots) in my mind!
Chuck, I don’t know why anybody would wait for a slice of Redd Rocket’s pizza, but then again, I don’t know a lot of things. And it does look like that lady is a nurse, though it’s hard to be certain. All of those people are so dramatic, punching and brushing teeth and so on. Thanks for the info about the sailor! I’m guessing that the DLRR is pulling the Holiday green, though admittedly the color on these old slides can fool a person. Were corn dogs a thing in 1961?
Anrew, yeah that makes sense. Amazing that there is absolutely NO line for that ride. It was October, so I guess that made it the off season. I agree, it’s so fun to see the happiness on the faces of the kids - and the grownups!
Melissa, somebody slapped that kid on the back when he was making a face, and now it’s stuck that way.
KS, why did the nurses need to be escorted? Seems unnecessary, but I suppose there must have been some logic to it. Does Disneyland still have a full-time nurse on staff?
Major-
ReplyDeleteThere was a US patent filed in 1927, granted in 1929, for a Combined Dipping, Cooking, and Article Holding Apparatus, describing corn dogs, among other fried food impaled on a stick. And, since Hot Dog On a Stick has been around since 1946 (@ Muscle Beach, adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier), it seems a safe bet that corn dogs were "a thing" back in 1961.
Nanook: This is totally off subject from today's post but I just had to mention that, while looking back through the older posts, I noticed your 11/30/16 GDB post pictures and have to say you were the cutest little boy!! Those pictures are priceless - thanks for sharing them on GDB!
ReplyDeleteSue
Major...Security would also take a wheel chair along in case the guest needed to be escorted backstage. As for today, I have no idea but I would assume there is medical staff still assigned to the various stations I remember. The nurses would give us employees annual flu shots upon request. KS
ReplyDeleteMajor, I can't understand why these images were skipped over. Such a wealth of detail and entertainment here.
ReplyDeleteThe old Fort Wilderness really takes me back.
I guess all the blue rockets being empty accounts for why they are all down low. Maybe balancing the ride had something to do with that. If the crowd was small, maybe loading every other craft was a thing to do?
My contribution to Swine Science (also the name of one of my old high school textbooks) comes from our recent viewing of the cartoon on Disney Plus.
The Fifer pig builds the straw house, the Fiddler pig builds the stick house, and Practical plays a masonry piano in his house of bricks. Porcine musicality runs in their family.
JG