I have two beautiful photos of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship for you today, from a beautiful, clear May day in 1961.
This first one is from an unusual angle, surprisingly; the composition is very nice, with the people walking back and forth on that "gangplank" above the water. All guns are ready to fire - pirates can't be too careful. I just love all of the details, including the Richfield Eagle (from the Fantasyland Autopia) in the distance.
Stepping back a ways gives us an even better look at this area. Four smart people are taking advantage of an empty bench. Overhead is the Skyway, as always; notice what appears to be a little bit of scaffolding on the hip of the Matterhorn, I wonder what that was for?
Love the volcanic bench/seating around Skull Rock Lagoon as also found in the Enchanted Tiki Garden. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteMajor-
ReplyDeleteSome lovely shots, for sure. I'm thinking that scaffolding may have something to do with the end of the construction involving the extension of the Monorail to the Disneyland Hotel.
Thanks, Major.
I love these photos! I wish we could all step into them, together....sort of like Mary, Bert, Jane, and Michael did with that chalk painting on the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteWere those two treasure chests always on top of the Pirate Ship?
That's a big anchor. And wait... it's up! Someone with the know-how could plow the ship right into Skull Rock! ;-) Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteOh, that rockwork is so very, very missed.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how different these photos are with just a slight change in the location and angle of the camera lens. The first photo catches the Richfield eagle and the lighthouse. The photographer took a few steps back and maybe one or two to his left to catch the people on the bench, and the lighthouse disappears and the eagle (but not its support column) became obscured by the bow. In exchange, the new view catches the spire on top of the Matterhorn queue structure, Fan 2, and the Scaffoldhorn.
Nanook, while the slide date is right, the location seems a bit odd for that scaffolding to have anything to do with the Monorail.
TM!, the Daveland Collection shows two treasure chests up there in various positions (usually at the aft end of the forecastle deck) from 1960-1967.
Those benchsitters are in such expressive poses! It's like the photographer arranged them like that. And I love the little Hawaiian shirt on the boy in the first picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the two women on the bridge in the second photo. They are so gayly dressed, sort of Easter-y. Are they cm's?
ReplyDeleteThis is an area I truly miss.
Thanks, Major.
I'm pretty sure that if the ship had survived hurricane Tony it would have ended up being all Pirates of the Caribbeaned up. All black, and selling IP merch themed to the movies. It wouldn't have mattered that it's nowhere near the attraction. Still that would have been better than no ship at all. Dang it.
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, if there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you love igneous rocks!
ReplyDeleteNanook, you’ve convinced me that it would be genius to add hotel rooms to the Matterhorn. No matter that you’ll be subjected to the clanking, rumbling sounds of a roller coaster (with screams) until midnight! It’s still a “dream suite”, and that means you have to love it, even if it happens to be full of rabid raccoons.
TokyoMagic!, are those four people from an episode of “I Love Lucy”? ;-)
Andrew, that anchor was a hand-me-down from his big brother’s ship. He’ll grow into it!
Chuck, I’ve always wondered how they created those voids in the lava rock. Crumbled up paper that was later burned away? Balloons that were later popped? Force powers? The people on the bench in photo #2 may or may not be friends or relatives of the photographer, but I’d like to believe that they knew each other. “We all went to divinity school together, but he was kicked out!”. The “Daveland Collection” sounds like a group of tiny porcelain figurines. Get ‘em all.
Melissa, “Now Mitch, I want you to look right at me as if you wanted to kick my ass. Ladies, look away in embarrassment. And Jake, I want you to gaze into the mid-distance as if you knew how you were going to die. Say cheese!”.
dzacher, funny, when you said “on the bridge”, I thought you meant somewhere up on the ship. “Where is the bridge on that thing, anyway?” I said to myself as I wept in frustration. My life is dramatic.
stu29573, I’m trying to decide if I’d rather have the Pirate Ship, even if it was turned into the “Black Pearl”, and even though I’m not thrilled with it, I think my answer is “yes”! So we agree. For the first time! ;-)
The Tuna Clipper looms large in my memory, and I did love those rocks. Major, I have had some experience with fake rocks in my career, but I have no idea how that "pumice" appearance was developed. Right behind the people on the bench is the little false beach with the half-buried treasure chest. So wonderful.
ReplyDelete@Tokyo, Chuck has filled in more information about the foredeck chests than I would have had, other than to say that a similar chest figured in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction poster. Major P had a post on it several years ago, illustrated with a Howard Pyle-styled painting for Treasure Island or a similar book showing almost the identical design chest. As I recall, the little chest on the beach had the similar high crowned lid.
I think the scaffolding on the Horn That Matters is probably for the seasonal application of snow. Fritz and Ernst had that concession after their return from the Treehouse.
JG
It's a great day in the park. JFK was in the White House, Traveling Man was playing on the radio, and all was right with America. Oddly, also in May of this year, Alan Shepard would be the first American in space. I too, wish I could step in to these photos. Just one more look at Skull Rock. Thanks Major
ReplyDelete"...even if it happens to be full of rabid raccoons.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the matching pair of big, fat raccoons that used to hang out on my porch staring in my kitchen window when I lived in the woods. I named them Ray and Bea.
(And contrary to every Disney movie I've ever seen, they *never* pitched in with the housework.)
Aye TokyoMagic,..those treasure chests be full of gold....white gold matey! Tartar sauce for the tuna sandwiches! Arrrrr.!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, did you sing to them?
ReplyDeleteEndless choruses of "Colors of the Wind!"
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