Two From June 1970
Here's a pair of Instamatic photos (not Mr. X Instamatics, however) for your Sunday enjoyment. These are perhaps a little nicer than the usual Sunday offerings.
What a thrill it must have been for these kids (and a lot of grownups!) to see Donald Duck himself, meeting and greeting his fans out in front of the Bank of America in Town Square. He said all kinds of nice things to the children, but they couldn't understand a word. Minnie Mouse is behind the man with the Yellow Shirt (not to be confused with the Man In The Yellow Hat), while a group of folks behind Donald's blue hat are probably surrounding another character. How much do you want to bet that it was Mickey Mouse?
The entrance to Adventureland hints at the exotic wonders to be found within. A fearsome (but colorful) mask hangs from a pair of ivory tusks, which were probably recovered from the secret elephant graveyard that I used to hear about when I was a kid.
17 comments:
Hey, kid in the plaid shirt! You are crumpling your groovy psychedelic merchandise bag. It will be worth far more in the future, if you keep it pristine!
What Yellow Hat?!? Major, you're always pulling our leg.
How sad!! In the first picture, the young gal got dressed to match Minnie Mouse - in red & white polka dots - but didn't get the memo that Minnie was switching to butter yellow, that day. Even her little brother coordinated with his favorite duck.
TokyoMagic! I love that bag - and can't believe it's from 50 years ago. I remember it so well, as a kid.
Also love the flower pattern on the dress on the right edge. It screams 1970! It also reminds me of the 'paper dresses' that women wore in the late 1960s. Seriously.
The woman facing us, under the red Mickey balloon, looks like Scarlett O'Hara - wearing her blue velvet curtain dress, not her dark green one.
Thanks, Major, for the fun pictures!
That cute little girl in the short blue dress with Mickey ears (1st pic) looks like she's standing on the plaid-shirt-kid's right shoulder - sort of like a 'Jiminy Cricket conscience' character. She's even hanging onto his ear, and he looks like he's in deep thought, contemplating what she's whispered.
I'm ready for an adventure after seeing pic 2. Last one to the Jungle Cruise is buying the Sunkist. The kid in the plaid shirt and brown slacks is better dressed than I was in those days. Heck, even today. I wonder if that Adventureland sign would fit in the back of my pickup? Thanks Major.
This is great stuff for a Sunday, Major. The "hair" on the mask is really nice and colorful. I think that they should bring it back. On second thought, actually, unless those colors are muted, FORGET IT! ;-)
Nice avatar, Sue!
I love that first shot! Free roaming characters, colorful clothes, happy faces, cigarettes...yes, this is the 1970 I remember! It's really weird how the attitudes about smoking have so radically changed. My parents didn't smoke (no one in even my extended family did) but we thought nothing about sitting next to a table of smokers or walking through a cloud of smoke at a theme park. We didn't notice the smell or think it was too rude. Now, I can smell a smoker from twenty feet with the wind blowing the opposite direction. Strange...
Thanks Andrew, but I noticed that when it’s viewed on a cellphone, the little Skyway ‘bucket’ is cut off - and that’s the part I like (the monorail kissing the bucket). Oh well, I’m still learning how to do all this stuff ...
I don't see any obvious handlers, either. I'm gonna swipe Donald's hat when JC creates a disturbance over by the Adventureland sign.
I enjoy the vibrant colors of the 70s. I wish my pictures looked this good.
Thanks, Major
dz
TokyoMagic!, Ha, ha! Do you know how many Disneyland merchandise bags I've crumpled through the years? A lot! It's kind of hard to avoid when carrying your purchases while walking around the park and riding the attractions.
Nice set today, Thanks, Major.
Love the photos today! Good catch Sue on the little girl that looks like she's standing on plaid boy's shoulder! Regarding your avatar, I don't have a phone, only use a lap top, so I see the kiss going on - love it!
Regarding plaid boy. I used to be a teacher's aide in first grade for almost 20 years. Early in this decade I had a family of boys come through my class and the parents were quite proper - and also mom was a big Disney fan. She and I hit it off big time and thanks to her I was able to get into Club 33! First and only time. But I digress. The boys were always, and I mean always, dressed like this. Very nice, very well mannered and always nattily turned out! Very unusual to see this anymore. We have lost touch unfortunately but I wonder how they are all doing!
TokyoMagic!, I thought the same exact thing!!
Lou and Sue, you know, the Man In The Yellow Hat, from “Curious George”? That girl’s outfit is very “Minnie Mouse”, I wonder if she wore it for that reason? Maybe from now on she will realize that Minnie is more complex than we give her credit for. I think it’s cute how you can see that several people around Minnie have big smiles on their faces, they are having the best time, and they haven’t even left Main Street yet!
Lou and Sue, I love the little “conscience” girl standing on the boy’s shoulder, ha ha.
Jonathan, instead of Sunkist, can I have a rubber shrunken head? That will look great hanging from the rear-view mirror of my hot rod! I hope you have a BIG pickup, because that sign is pretty huge.
ANdrew, I think that hanging mask had changed since the park opened, and it has certainly changed since 1970. I think Daveland has a really nice close view of it. I need it for my collection.
stu29573, I know what you mean about smoking. My grandparents smoked, and it was just the way things were. Later on, when my grandma was much older, I used to go visit her and if it happened to be not long after “the girls” had come over for their bridge game, the smell of the cigarettes was so bad I could hardly stand it. Remember smokers on airplanes?
Lou and Sue, so funny, I saw your avatar and thought, “Is that new? DId I just not notice it before?”. I recognize the photo that you used of course. It looks great!
Zach, yes, I definitely was looking for handlers standing nearby, ready to whisk any character to safety if things got too out of control. But I don’t see anyone! Maybe they stood much further away than we would expect?
K. Martinez, me too... although I do have a few that I managed to not mess up too bad. I found them in a book case, carefully flattened. Didn’t even remember they were there. One is from New Orleans Square, in gold and black. But you’re right, unless you put your item in a locker right away, it’s pretty hard to NOT mess up the bag.
Irene, when I look at photos of my brother and me from around that time period, I think we were usually dressed nicely. Nothing crazy, but definitely not slobs! Guess that is all due to my mom. Very cool that you got to go to Club33! I guess if somebody invited me to the newer Club33 I would go, but I REALLY wish I had gone to the old one that Walt had a hand in designing.
Major-
HERE'S a view from 2012 of the [formerly] hanging mask. Thank you, Daveland.
These are some great pictures today. Donald is my favorite character; that is one tiny Donald too! I wonder what Master Plaid bought.
I think I'll step into Adventureland and watch the Tiki Room all day long.
Nanook, thanks! I think that there might have been a good shot of the older hanging mask too, I might have time to look for it later.
Kathy!, I didn’t really notice, but you aren’t kidding, that Donald is very tiny. I’d like to thget no that Mr. Plaid has a ceramic Cheshire Cat in the bag, since I own one too. I’ll meet you at the Tiki Room!
Ken, there were times when I had been carrying the same merchandise bag around the park for a good part of the day, so it got very "raggedy." A few of those times, I had cast members in the stores ask me if I would like a new bag. I remember a time when one of my bags even got wet on the Matterhorn and it was falling apart, and I went into a store and asked for a replacement.
Hard to believe that I would miss that bag so much.
If Disney were smart, they would bring that pattern back on coffee cups, plates, t-shirts, mouse pads, and of course, bags of more permanent construction.
I have a nice scan of the pattern which makes a fine desktop background.
Thanks Major and everyone.
JG
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