Girls & Town Square, 1950's
A quartet of blond girls (and one brunette) pose dutifully for their mom or dad; they are standing on at the top of the steps near Main Street Station, where they get a nice view overlooking Town Square. I wonder if they'd already enjoyed their Grand Circle Tour aboard the Disneyland and Santa Fe RR?
Details: There's an ice cream vendor to our left, and a Surrey passing City Hall. Who knows, maybe Walt is on the phone in his apartment above the Fire Station! The right-most girl has one of those Santa Fe brochures in her pocket (so they probably have done their train ride). Hang on to it, it will be worth $30 to $50 in 2020!
And we might as well get another good look at Town Square, busy but not too busy. Love the popcorn vendor in his white uniform, and the group of guests waiting for the next Horse Drawn Streetcar (you can see it waaaaay up Main Street near the Plaza).
14 comments:
That light "orb" fixture in the last pic totally through me off. For just a moment there I thought someone hole-punched a big circle in the lower-left corner of the image. Thanks, Major.
Major-
If both images were taken on the same day, the images can't be any newer than around October, 1957, as after that date Maxwell House Coffee left and was replaced by Hills Bros. Coffee in June, 1958.
Thanks, Major.
Those girls in the first pic, don't look terribly happy. Geez, if THIS is how you're going to be, we'll just go to the car, right now!
The lady at the bottom of the second pic (white dress with black trim), reminds me of Arlene Francis. Well, at least her hair does!
I think the girls' displeasure lies in the fact that they are looking directly into the sun. The second from the right's face says it all, "I'll open my eyes for the 1/500 of a second it takes for the picture, but that's it!". I have some pics from when I was about four where my arms are up like I'm being held at gunpoint. The real reason is that my hands were over my eyes and I threw them back right when the camera went off!
Very friendly pics Major. The second pic looks like Willoughby on a sunny Sunday morning. Just noticed there's some Micky ears on the little kid in front of the vendor to the left of the girls in the first pic.
It does seem that white neckerchief might be a bit too tight, hence the grimace on that gal.
Thanks M.
The kids are undoubtedly having fun, the photo was made at one of those unfortunate instances that Stu is describing.
Take them over to Maxwell House and get them a tall frappucino with extra whip, all will be well.
Still wondering why Starbucks couldn't have gone into the traditional "coffee stop", instead of butchering the Market House. Oh well.
JG
I really love early pictures of Main Street USA, especially since the trees are so young. I'm quite torn as to my preference for landscaping here in Town Square. I love the shade that mature trees provide, especially in TS, BUT look at all that beautiful architecture that's visible without the large trees. The "wind break" behind City Hall looks natural in the first picture. Today it looks like a giant green wall. Here, I definitely prefer the smaller growth. Whoever borrowed the time machine....it's time to return it and give someone else a turn! I really want to head back to DL, circa '57 or '58!
K. Martinez, whenever I am done scanning a slide, I use a hole punch on it so that I don’t have to worry about wasting time rescanning stuff!
Nanook, I am ashamed that I did not notice the Maxwell House restaurant. It’s definitely a good clue to narrow down the date!
TokyoMagic!, maybe they were unhappy about squinting in the sun? You’d think that whoever took the picture would have told them to “Smile!”. I have tons of photos of my niece and nephew with the worst fake smiles (and plenty of cute ones too of course).
stu29573, I swear I didn’t read ahead to your comment! Now with cell phones I’m frequently forced to pose for a photo with the full sun shining in my eyes. I’m always squinting and looking unhappy! Years ago I took my niece and nephew to Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake, it’s a fabulous relic from the 50’s. I wanted to take their photo next to the statue of Bob, but it was so bright that they could hardly manage it. So I told them to close their eyes, and then open them when I counted to “3”, and that’s when I snapped the picture. It came out perfect.
DrGoat, I wish that just once a conductor would cry, “Willoughby! Next stop, Willoughby!” as the DLRR pulled into Main Street Station. I love seeing mouse ears in the wild like that!
JG, we’ve seen a lot of kids looking glum at Disneyland, and while there is a chance the kid was just out of gas after a long day, I think they can also get tired of posing for photo after photo. Your question about why Starbucks couldn’t have moved into the old Maxwell House (or Hills Bros.) location is a good one! Although the old Market House is a much more prominent location, in a much more charming building.
steve2wdw, I also love early photos of Main Street, it seemed so lively and wonderful. I guess it still is (excepting the lockdown of course). I think I would choose “small trees” Main Street. As you said, the large trees are beautiful, but then you can’t see the Castle or hardly anything else.
Those girls, "Golly-gee, can't we just go on the rides now?"
DrGoat, that little guy, that you spied with the MM ears, looks adorable! How about that kid in the red shirt on the porch - starting to moon us?!
Kel, that’s what I would have been thinking!
Lou and Sue, in the 50’s, mooning was a sign of respect.
It can’t be Arlene Francis; there’s no Bennet Cerf on her left.
Melissa, Bennett Cerf....ha, ha! You just made me realize that I meant to say that she reminds me of Kitty Carlisle! I got my female panelists mixed up!
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