Sue B. has sent a bunch of wonderful scans from the large cache of photos, slides, and other artifacts that belong to her dad, Lou Perry. Some of them were stand-alone images, so I decided to combine a few of them into one post.
How many of you went to Disneyland's 25th birthday party in 1980? I didn't, but it's amazing to me that they had the park open for 25 hours straight. I wonder how that worked with cast members? Imagine having the midnight to 8 A.M. shift, yikes. Were there people who attempted to be there for the full 25 hours? I suppose there would be some bragging rights, but at some point I think I would have found a nice comfy flower bed and fallen asleep.
If there's one thing Donald Duck knows how to do, it's lose his temper. Another thing he's good at is posing for photos. He learned this pose from Shirley Temple, I'm guessing.
A series of snapshots from 1958 had turned so pink that I was unable to restore the color, but I figured that some of them were nice enough that they were worth posting, even in black and white. Here's the Fred Gurley, which was pretty new to Disneyland, even though the locomotive was built in 1894. What's that fellow doing up top?
Here's a wonderful color snapshot of Sheriff Lucky (circa 1958) - one of the characters seen in Frontierland in the early years. I don't think I have a single photo of him! Some hotshot has Lucky right where he wants him.
Thanks to Lou and Sue for these fun pix!
Major-
ReplyDeleteI was one of those souls who was at Disneyland for that 25 Hour Birthday Party. I honestly don't remember how long I was at the Park, as we did have a room at the DL Hotel. And talk about a lucky shot of Sheriff Lucky-!
Thanks, Major.
That black & white photo was taken from right next to the rarely-photographed Frontierland restrooms structure that now sits across the tracks in New Orleans Square next to the depot.
ReplyDeleteI remember talking to someone at the Disneyland 40th birthday celebration who had been there overnight as a guest for the 60-hour marathon when Star Tours opened. I don't think she was in the Park the full 60 hours, but they did spend more than 24 hours there. She said that they climbed up in the last row of the tiered carsets on the DLRR, leaned against the car end, and would catch some sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
24 hours in the Park is still a bucket list item, although I think I'd have to spend a good deal of it asleep these days.
Thanks again, Lou & Sue (and Major, too)!
Why are just the "first six hours" 'wild'? According to the flyer, that would start at 12 AM and end at about 6 AM, which seems to be weird hours to have bands playing. Also, I wonder if I can get unlimited use of the shooting galleries when I go to Disneyland now - it doesn't expressly state that they're not included on your passport anymore, after all. Maybe I'll sue.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mish-mash, Sue (wait a minute...)! See the antlers on the Mark Twain building?
I had to miss that unfortunately. Too much going on in my life around that time. Nice going Nanook!
ReplyDeleteLike Chuck, I would love to do a 24 hours in the Park, but I'd probably need a wheelchair for the last 8. Still trying to picture the Frontierland restroom structure, but for some reason I can't.
Also, I wonder if that little gunfighter wore his own set of
shootin' irons into the park. I suppose so. Can you imagine that now?
Very nice photo treats. Thanks a bunch Lou and Sue and the Major.
Is the "Dirt Band" the same as the "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band?" If so, I would have actually stopped to listen. Their rendition of Mr. Bojangles was the first 45 I bought with my own money! Granted, that was about a decade before this night...
ReplyDeleteI think people tended to like Black Bart better than Sheriff Lucky. Lucky was always showing up and ruining all the fun! (Not to mention roaming around Rainbow Ridge destroying the forced perspective illusion- You know what film I'm talkin' about!)
Great shots today, Sue!
That kid sure got the drop on Lucky. I think we played cowboys more as kids than anything else. I wish I had saved my old cap pistols, those things are worth a fortune today on ebay. Thanks Sue and Major.
ReplyDeleteDRGOAT: the Frontierland restrooms were build to look like the Frontierland Station Baggage Depot and still exist today / used as storage and brake rooms for DLRR castmembers.
ReplyDeleteThe “Baggage Room” restrooms were added because management of the Swift Chicken Plantation House Restaurant were becoming irritated with the amount of guests crowding the dining areas to use the small restrooms restrooms. For whatever reason during the early years The Plantation house was really the only guest acessable Restrooms in Frontierland - and considering Frontierland was Disneyland’s biggest area - that’s a problem!
Look out, Sheriff Unlucky, it's Billy the Kid!
ReplyDeleteAndrew, statistics show that the first six hours out of any twenty-five are at least 5% wilder. (Everybody's too tired to do anything very wild after that.) ;)
That train picture got the theme song from "The Wild Wild West" stuck in my head. That bush in the foreground is probably Artie in one of his clever disguises.
Nanook, with a nice comfortable room so nearby I’ll be you didn’t fall asleep in any flower bed!
ReplyDeleteChuck, I knew that there had been longer celebrations at the park, but did NOT remember that the 40th had a 60 hour “marathon”! Ay-yi-yi. It’s fascinating to think about trying to be there for nearly 3 days straight, but it doesn’t sound like much fun. You know that LOTS of people needed to catch some sleep, I wonder if the CMs were willing to “look the other way” in some cases - possibly as long as the guests were someplace discreet - and other times they’d have to wake them and ask them to move along? Perhaps a nice air horn or cattle prod would be helpful.
Andrew, the first six hours were basically like the movie “The Purge”. It seemed like a good idea at the time. If the park is ever open for another 40 to 60 hour marathon, you should JUST do the shooting galleries to make a point!
DrGoat, what could possibly be more important?? I can’t think of anything. Job? Nope. Family? No way! I’m guessing that the pint-sized gunfighter got his rig somewhere in a Frontierland souvenir shop but who knows, in those days he very well might have shown up already armed.
Stu29573, I was wondering the same thing about the “Dirt Band”, I could see them dropping the “Nitty Gritty” part by 1980. My dad loved “Mr. Bojangles” (and I like it too). Poor Lucky, he couldn’t help destroying forced perspective!
Jonathan, I didn’t know that old cap pistols were collectibles, but I guess I can’t be surprised, everything else is! My brother has a plastic “Tommy gun” (by Marx) that makes a cool noise when you pull the trigger he is convinced it is worth lots of dough.
Mike Cozart, wow, it is hard to believe that they didn’t plan the Frontierland bathrooms a little better! As you said, that was a BIG area, and based on vintage photos, one of the most popular for guests. Still… an interesting factoid!
Melissa, I am glad that we finally got some facts from someone who knows their statistics! But nobody has a guess as to why that guy is up on top of the locomotive? Maybe that's Artemus Gordon up there!
If it was Artie, he probably had special magnetic shoes to make him stick! I loved that show as a kid!
ReplyDelete@ Stu29573-
ReplyDeleteYes, "The Dirt Band" & "The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" are one and the same. They dropped 'Nitty Gritty' in 1976; and then resumed using their original name in 1982. That factoid is oddly missing from the band's rather extensive history on their own website.
A fun mixture of items for sure, thanks Major, L+S!
ReplyDelete24 hours in Disneyland would once have been nirvana, now it just makes my feet hurt thinking about it.
What a wonderful picture of the little boy and the sheriff.
I think the Dirt Band was the late remnant of the Nitty Gritty group, but cannot confirm. I remember Papa Doo Run Run doing concerts at my university, but never bothered to go hear them. Weird name for a band, but they seemed to do well at Disneyland. I've seen them featured multiple times, including once when I was there too. They were playing in the Tomorrowland Terrace submersible stage.
Thanks Major.
JG
Great photos and big thanks to Lou and Sue for another fine contribution.
ReplyDeleteI for one think little lee Harvey was railroaded (Disney?) for the Sheriff Lucky shooting. The photographic evidence is clear! The real shooter is by the smokestack of the Mark Twain. Conspiracy people!!
That's clearly a borrowed pistol, which makes him a loan gunman.
ReplyDeleteMajor, sorry - my phrasing was terribly unclear. The 60-hour marathon was for the grand opening of Star Tours in 1987. I met the person who told me about her experiences during that 1987 marathon on Disneyland's 40th birthday in 1995.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I'm hoping your earworm is the theme from the TV series rather than the Will Smith song from the 1999 movie. I have nothing against Will Smith (that guy can act), but the TV theme just screams "Western" at me.
Major, it was a combination of job and family that did it. I was only 30 after all. Nowadays, I can't explain my behavior at any given moment anymore.
ReplyDeleteNanook, you are so fortunate to have been at that 25th DL party! I wasn't there, but my dad was - and I just found the pictures from that day. I scanned and emailed a few of them to our Major, today. It would be great to find you in one of those pictures! -- what were you wearing?? :)
ReplyDeleteChuck, that 60-hour park opening for Star Tours was probably needed so that people could get on that new attraction! I'm sure the lines were long.
Alonzo P. Hawk - I love your conspiracy theory! You have a great eye - I never would've noticed Jack, up there.
Like a number of you mentioned, I, too, couldn't last 24 hours at DL, anymore. I miss the days of 15+ hours of non-stop running around the Parks.
Great background info and laughs from everyone, today!
Sue
What a nice potpourri, today!
ReplyDeleteSue, did you go to the 25 hour party? I wanted to go SO badly! I wasn't old enough to drive yet, and I couldn't find anyone to take me! I did get to go other times during that year, for the park's 25th celebration, but I desperately wanted to go on that day. I was able to go to the party for DL's 30th birthday, five years later. I can't remember now if that was a 30 hour party, or just another 24 hour party.
The Dirt Band and Papa Doo Run Run, weren't the only entertainment that night. Also appearing were, Rupert Holmes (The Piña Colada Song), Bill Preston, Syreeta and Skiles & Henderson! I saved the advertisement for that night, from the L.A. Times. It can be seen here: Disneyland's 25 Hour Party
Thanks for sharing these images with us, Lou, Sue and the Major, too!
No, TokyoMagic, while my parents were having fun at Disneyland, that day, I was back home in Illinois, taking care of our house and Fudge - our dog.
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