It's time for some more delights from the "Pitchur Gallery" at Knott's Berry Farm!
Here's an unusual tableau, with two lovely young women (sisters, clearly) sitting by a well; I don't see this scene often (or ever, to be honest). This one is from "Knott's Berry Place", so... pre-1946.
Guess what? This one is also from Knott's Berry Place. I love that the girl is wearing a turban, just like I do when I have to make a quick jaunt to the store. Who has time to do their hair? I love the note at the bottom: "Who is the tramp? The donkey's big load". I'll bet that was written by the mom, who sounds like she was a regular Don Rickles.
Same scene, different people. If that guy to the left wasn't a salesman, I'll eat my hat.
And now for some SPECIAL GUEST PHOTOS! At no additional cost to you. GDB pal Chuck Hansen sent this picture of him and his wife taken on October 2nd, 1995. Judging from Chuck's stern countenance, he was on a brief furlough before heading back to the Civil War battlefields; his wife was doing her best to be brave under the circumstances.
Chuck said that he and his wife wanted a photo that resembled something from 150 years ago, so they opted against the silly plywood cutouts.
Next is a series of photos taken inside the Pitchur Gallery by our friend TokyoMagic! a few years ago. They had framed samples to entice guests who were on the fence about posing. "You know, I would look good on a bucking bronc!".
That pretty gal on the back of the bronc is as happy as can be, she can't be riled by a mere untamed horse. She shot three quail as they flew through the air, too, so those fish sticks can stay in the freezer.
TokyoMagic! also took two photos of the bucking horse without any rider; as he observed, the horse was replaced several times over the decades. I understand that they probably didn't need the publicity of killing a horse for a silly photo op, but maybe they could use one that died of old age while eating carrots and watching "Mr. Ed" on TV. Not a bad way to go.
Watch out for them hooves! They're razor sharp, and coated in a rare South American poison for some reason. TM had to sneak these pictures, because there were signs saying, "Absolutely NO photos allowed with your own camera!". But you don't tell TokyoMagic! how to live his life, not if you like having all your teeth.
MANY MANY thanks to Chuck Hansen and TokyoMagic! for sharing their personal photos from Knott's Berry Farm's Pitchur Gallery!!
I believe the rarely used well scene is actually titled SAD, DEPRESSING WELL VIGNETTE.
ReplyDeleteMajor-
ReplyDeleteOnce again... 'the simple pleasures are the best', and these images confirm that old adage. And as far as the "donkey's big load" is concerned, I'm afraid whoever wrote that didn't know the half of it-! Claerly they hadn't checked-out the next image - with our "salesman"-!
That horse isn't the only one who had plans of "... dying of old age while eating carrots and watching Mr. Ed on TV". (I have that very-same plan mapped out in my will-!) "Oh, Wilbuuuur".
Thanks, Chuck, TM!, and The Major.
I don't think I have seen those first two Pitchur Gallery set-ups before. I like 'em! And the salesman on the burro looks like a much heavier version of Tom Hanks!
ReplyDeleteChuck, I love the photo of you and your wife! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Gee, Chuck, I kind of thought you always dressed like that. And I think that horse isn't dead...he's pining for the fjords. Fun fact! The girls in the first picture had an annoying little brother with them that day. One guess on where he is in the picture!
ReplyDeleteThese are some fun photos today. Thanks, Major. And thanks Chuck and TokyoMagic for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow! Contributions by Chuck Hansen and TokyoMagic!. It's a collaborative effort today. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteWonderful Pitchur Galley photo of you and your wife, Chuck. You guys look great and authentic!
Love the Horse pics too and how you provided the actual setting and finished photo, TokyoMagic! I especially love the iconic bucking bronco.
Some nice guy brought a group of Pitchur Gallery photos to my attention that appeared on eBay recently and I bought them. They were so cool that now I want to add more Pitchur Gallery photos to my ever growing Knott's collection.
Thanks to Chuck Hansen, TokyoMagic! and Major for a really cool post. Loved it!
It's cool that the buildings in the background of these settings are actual buildings at Knott's, and you can even still see them today. The Ghost Town Grill and Drug Store can be seen in the first and second shots, and the pump is even a replication of the one that I've seen in old home movies!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. Thanks, TokyoMagic!, for risking your life for GDB, and Chuck, I think you should make that stoic face your avatar. ;-)
Thank you Chuck, Tokyo, Major and everyone else. When I need good vibes you all come through.
ReplyDeleteChuck, with all the hilarious comments you always make (such as the funny one yesterday to Melissa’s funny raccoons comment), I figured you had a large round red nose and wore lots of makeup - but I see that’s not the case. You and your wife look great! And your wife is obviously a fun person, too! Thank you for sharing your picture!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great midweek multi-post - thanks to Major and TokyoMagic!
Sue
Well, (get it?), that was fun. I never heard of the vignettes until I saw them in this blog. Thanks Chuck, TM! and Major.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna ask Elly Mae out! We'll have a Buffalo steak dinner and apple pie a la mode!
dz
Great photos and thanks to TM and Chuck as well. The bucking bronc reminds me of the giant Jackalope (don't ask) I saw at Wall Drug in SoDak. An endless parade of kiddies are usually waiting to get their pichure took. Good times. Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteThese are so much fun. With today's fascination for "selfies", even some places I've visited recently having designated "instagram locations", I'm mildly surprised that these tableaux don't make a comeback. Now, apparently, the dog noses and cat ears are just added "in-app", and they all look alike.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad carried in his wallet a picture of my Mom sitting on a stuffed bucking horse, much like that one. I think he kept it all his life long.
Chuck, my image of you will be perpetually molded by that picture. Thank you.
Tokyo, thanks for having the fortitude to risk ejection and get those pictures of the empty horse, very much worthwhile.
Thank you, Major. Much appreciated.
JG
I so want the trousers the girl in the first pic is wearing. The man in the second bears an astonishing resemblance to a friend of mine. And special thanks to Chuck and TM! for sharing items from your personal collections! This is a banner post all around
ReplyDeleteThese are fun! I wonder how much direction the old photographers gave the sitters for their expressions. You can tell they were having great days at Knotts. I like how the men leading the donkey look like their heads are twisting like owls.
ReplyDeleteMike Cozart, if that’s true, no wonder most people don’t use it!!
ReplyDeleteNanook, that fellow in the second donkey photo looks like he is right out of Central Casting for the “traveling salesman”, don’t you think? I could see him in a Norman Rockwell painting carrying a suitcase full of gaudy ties. I like Mr. Ed just fine, but can I pass away watching Warner Bros. cartoons instead?
TokyoMagic!, I’m not so sure I see a resemblance to Tom Hanks, but then again, I can’t think of anyone else he reminds me of either. President Taft?!
stu29573, ha ha, Chuck wakes his family every morning at sunup by playing “Reveille” on his bugle. He calls his wife “General” too, when they talk about what they will be planning for the day. He is also prone to exclaiming, “OUTSTANDING!”, or (conversely), “What is your major malfunction?”.
Pegleg Pete, I have more photos from the Pitchur Gallery comin’ your way.
K. Martinez, I moved this post way up so that TokyoMagic! and Chuck wouldn’t have to wait three months to see their generous contributions. I’m glad you got that sent of Pitchur Gallery souvenirs, there’s just something about an item from Knott’s that is 60 or 70 years old, it “speaks” to me in a way that a newer object doesn’t.
Andrew, I noticed that too, and thought it was a nice touch. I wonder who painted all of those somewhat crude backdrops? The one in TokyoMagic’s photo looks much nicer, they obviously repainted them at some point. Kind of a shame to lose those old ones from the 1940’s though.
DrGoat, you’re welcome!
Lou and Sue, I figured Chuck was always holding a microphone and standing in front of a brick wall, like Jerry Seinfeld (but not like Louis C.K. who turned out to be a bad man).
dzacher, I don’t get puns. Ever. In fact I am only assuming that you made a pun by your jocular tone. Everything tastes better with the word “buffalo” in front of it. Buffalo steaks. Buffalo fries! Buffalo apples! Well, maybe not buffalo apples.
Jonathan, I saw a giant jackalope too, only it talked to me. It told me to start a vintage Disneyland blog. When desert creatures talk to you, you better listen.
JG, I’ve always wondered why these “fun photos” were not more popular today; talk about low cost! I love that your dad kept that photo of your mom for his whole life. I found a “fun photo” of my grandparents, I think it was from around WWII, possibly from some restaurant in San Francisco, I obviously forget. But in the photo my grandpa is flipping my grandma’s skirt up!!
Melissa, those girls look so much alike that I almost wondered if they were twins; I know how you are interested in twins!
Kathy!, that is a good question, especially because some photos seem to have the sitters really engaged in the process, while others seem to just be standing there waiting for it to be over. I’ll bet a good photographer got a much more fun photo.
Look at the 2 donkey pictures. In the one with the man sitting on the donkey, you'll see that the donkey's reins (or rope) are in the walking man's left hand and correctly positioned on the donkey. In the picture with the girl on the donkey, that poor donkey is about to be choked to death - if it takes a few more steps. And the girl's left leg is going to get badly bruised, too.
ReplyDeleteHey, doesn't Mike Cozart still owe us a picture?? Am looking forward to seeing it, too!
Thanks, again, Chuck (and Mrs. Chuck), TokyoMagic! and Major!
I will sent it to Major - but be warned : Ugly Saloon “Girls”
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I didn't even notice the ropes on the donkeys at all, so good eye! Maybe the other donkey was a jerk. They can't all be nice, can they? And yes, Mike Cozart sent me the picture!!
ReplyDeleteMike Cozart, oh they'll see for themselves! I can't wait.
Here is the infamous photoshopped Darien Lake Old Tyme Photobooth image. The twin Melissas are at center and back right.
ReplyDeleteBear in mind that the image is a cellphone picture of an image printed on a home inkjet printer sometime back in the Middle Ages.
Melissa, FUN picture! I’m glad you shared your picture!
ReplyDeleteBeen a super-busy week despite the teleworking and just now (three days later) getting to comment. [For future readers of this blog, we are practicing "social distancing" with most of us that are still working working from home in a national effort to try to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It'll be in your history textbook, a just before the Rise of the Machines and the start of the Springsteen Administration.]
ReplyDeleteThanks, everybody, for your kind words.
Nanook, on behalf of all of us, you're welcome!
TM!, I'm glad you like the photo. It has a special place in my heart (don't ask; you know I'm a bit accident-prone anyway). And thanks for sharing your photos, too. Glad to see you haven't broken your streak of not showing your face. In fact, I'm beginning to doubt you have one.
Stu, actually, I don't always dress like that. I usually wear a kepi instead. I only pull out the brimmed hat for formal occasions like portraits by Matthew Brady or mowing the lawn.
Anytime, Pegleg Pete. Well, any time I have a relevant picture, that is.
Ken, I envy you, TM!, and the Major - this is the closest I've ever been to being in the same place at the same time with any of the regular GDB crew. It's funny - our focus was getting an "authentic" photo, but now I wish we'd done another one with one of the "silly" backgrounds, too. Still, it's a great memory and a great keepsake of our last visit to KBF (the amusement park; we've eaten at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant a couple of times since then).
Andrew, actually, I think TM! should make that stoic face his avatar. Nobody on the Internet knows what he looks like anyway.
DrGoat, always glad to contribute to somebody else's happiness!
Sue, I actually am wearing lots of makeup in this picture. It takes a lot of artistry to make your skin look authentically grey in a color photo.
And yes - my wife is an absolute blast to be around. I know some people are struggling being stuck at home right now with their spouse 24/7, but we are both really enjoying seeing each other all day.
dzacher, actually, the vignettes were created especially for this blog. The Major has that kind of impact on people. I hope Elly Mae says "yes."
Jonathan, I know that giant jackalope of which you speak! For the rest of you that have never been to Wall Drug, there is an outdoor area that is full of these sorts of tableaus - a jackalope, a bucking bronco, a covered wagon, a miniature (but still large) Mount Rushmore, and probably more I don't remember. I have pictures of my then-4-year-old with all of them.
JG, I'm so glad it's this photo rather than that one of me after I tried to put my eye out with a tent pole.
Melissa, you are most welcome!
Major, it's like you have a camera and microphone in my house! Wait a minute...what's this thing over here?
And Sue, he's right, I am always holding a microphone and standing in front of a brick wall, but unlike Jerry Seinfeld, I'm actually facing the wall. Mrs. Chuck puts me in "time out" a lot.
Looking forward to seeing Mike Cozart's ugly saloon "girls" in a future post!
@Chuck & Melissa, thanks for your follow up posts. So much fun!
ReplyDeleteJG