GDB reader Kathy J. emailed me a while back to tell me that she'd found some black and white negatives with images from Disneyland, circa 1962; and she generously scanned the negatives (those can be a real pain!) and shared them with me so that I can share them with you! Pretty cool.
First up is this portrait of a Native American wearing a lot of finely crafted beadwork, Indian jewelry, and a magnificent headdress. Kathy (and I) would love it if anybody out there knows more about this man!
The photographer seemed to be more interested in the various items on the Jungle Cruise dock - stacks of casks (what's in 'em??), and a handy bowl of fruit. A snack for the Skippers, or some sort of offering to the spirits of the jungle?
I love this unusual photo of the glass blower/lamp worker, creating sparkling artworks with glass and a hot flame. As a kid I loved to watch these craftsmen at work (I remember watching a man at Japanese Deer Park make a simple leaping dolphin - I bought one just like it. It was stained orange, but the color has completely faded over the years). Note that he is wearing special glasses (probably dydimium) to protect his eyes from UV light and sodium flare.
Oh yeah, it's a trio of pretty gals onstage at the Golden Horseshoe Revue! You can't have too many pictures of them, in my opinion.
You knew it was coming... a photo of the Mark Twain. The weight of all the pictures of the Mark Twain have actually altered the Earth's rotation.
Next is this sculpture from inside one of the many shops in the park - I was going to suggest that this could be from the "One Of a Kind Shop" in New Orleans Square, until I remembered that this was 1962 and that shop didn't exist yet. I guess this must be from somewhere in Frontierland.
Strangely, I always love photos of the popcorn wagons; this CM was fortunate to work right near the Rivers of America, where there was plenty to keep him stimulated when business was slow.
MANY THANKS to Kathy J. for generously sharing these wonderful scans!
These are all great photos. Is that Betty Taylor in the middle of the Golden Horseshoe performers? I would have also guessed the "One of a Kind Shop" for that sculpture. And I would have also been wrong! I see dishes on display in the background. Could that have been taken in the China Closet on Main St.? Did that shop actually sell, "china" at some point in the past?
ReplyDeleteA big thank you to Kathy, for sharing her photos with us! And thank you, Major, as well!
Very cool pictures. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, great pics! That shot of the Native American Chief is classic. It should be fairly easy to identify him, since I'm pretty sure they had limited groups giving the dance demonstrations back then (I could be wrong, though, and I'm too lazy to Google it).
ReplyDeleteThe fruit was to pay off family members of folks who didn't make it back from the cruise (We're sorry your dad was captured by headhunters. Have a banana.)
I would have liked one of those ship sculptures, but they were probably pretty expensive, and I would have broken then anyway. Now I'm sad.
Dance hall girls! Now I'm happy!
The Mark Twain has just taken a torpedo hit and is now listing to starboard. They're gonna need a lot of fruit for this one, I'm afraid.
I'm pretty sure the Indian sculpture would have been heavy to carry around all day. And I would have broken it anyway.
I esoecially liked the Popcorn Cart drag races on Main Street. Of course when the ice cream cart gangs tried to take over and they had the "Great Rumble of '63" they had to shut them all down. It was a violent time in the snack cart world, I suppose.
Hmm... I wonder what the figure "turning" the roaster on the popcorn wagon is here. Stu, you're killing it today!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these great negatives, Kathy.
These pictures are fantastic - I especially love the first and last ones! I could picture the popcorn cart scan enlarged and framed on my wall. I hope you have more to share!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy and Major!
Great pics. I'm a sucker for black & white photos, and these are very cool. The first one and the Golden Horseshoe Revue pics are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to make that 'bronze' bust your last buy before leaving the park, or you'd have to either bring it out to the car or lug it around the park all day.
Thanks Major, like these a lot.
Thank you everyone, I’m glad you enjoy the photos. Sue, I bought them semi-blindly, not being able to see all the pictures, because of the popcorn cart photo. I thought it was very artistic! There are other pictures in the group of Hollywood Blvd, a beach, possibly Universal Studios, and some other places I can’t identify. Someone's first or only California vacation maybe.
ReplyDeleteSeems like these were not taken by an amateur. They are very impressive shots which chronicle the times of '62 in the park. Notice that the popcorn wagon also sold peanuts for 20 cents. Considering they were 25 cents at Dodger Stadium...that was a pretty competitive price...that is until I saw what appears to be the size of the packages displayed on top of the wagon. I recall the China Shop did indeed sell china..but it was a long time ago. KS
ReplyDeleteThank YOU! Kathy for bringing these pics to GDB.
ReplyDeleteThanks Major, for doing the post. These are very fine views.
Is that one of the Arribas brothers making the glass sculpture? He looks sort of familiar.
The photographer made the most of that front row in the saloon, what a terrific shot.
@Tokyo, I think you are right, the bust has to be in a Main Street shop, I am sure no Frontierland shops had elaborate displays of plates and silver items. I recall there being mostly wool shirts, blankets and carved items.
And the popcorn cart is the topper. What a way to start the week.
Cheers all!
JG
TokyoMagic!, no, that is definitely not Betty Taylor in the Golden Horseshoe photo - it’s one of the lovely dancers. I noticed the dishes in the background, but thought it was possible that the “One of a Kind Shop” had some dishes for sale. Who knows! Maybe it is the China Closet.
ReplyDeleteBudblade, you’re welcome.
stu29573, yes, I am hoping that somebody will know who the Native American is - I’ve been surprised in the past when people could tell lots about other Indians who performed at Disneyland and Knott’s. As for the fruit, sure it would be terrible if one of your family members was eaten by a crocodile, but admit it, a nice bunch of grapes would really help to make things better. Grapes DO grow in the jungle, don’t they? I’m sure as a kid I would have wanted one of the fancy ship sculptures, but they were surely very expensive. I know somebody who has a fairly large lamp-worked castle in a display case - not very accurate if its supposed to be Sleeping Beauty Castle, but still, it look pretty neat. I would hope that the shop with the bronze Indian would offer to ship it to the buyer’s home! I can’t quite get a sense of the scale of the sculpture - was it life-sized? Or maybe it was quite a bit smaller. Even so, a chunk of metal like that would get heavy in a hurry. Now I want to see a Popcorn Cart hotrod designed by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth!
Andrew, yes, Stu was inspired today!
Lou and Sue, oh good, just wait, I have a beautiful color of a Popcorn Cart coming up. Months from now, but still, it’s really nice.
DrGoat, I always like a good photo of the pretty Can-Can dancers in the Golden Horseshoe. I’m trying to restore a bunch from Lou and Sue, but am not having much luck, unfortunately… many have turned too red for my abilities (or lack thereof). I wonder if anybody actually bought that bronze bust?!
Kathy!, thank you so much for sharing these with us. If you think any of the non-Disney images are fun, I’d be happy to post some of them here! Your call of course.
KS, I agree, these were either taken by a professional photographer, or by a very talented amateur. Many of them are unusual compared to the typical things captured by most visitors. I wonder if this person was a very regular visitor to Disneyland?
ReplyDeleteJG, Kathy J. did all of the work! It is very possible that the gentleman working the glass in that photo is one of the Arribas brothers, but I have never seen what they look like, so I have no basis for comparison. The D23 website has a nice little article about the history of the Arribas Brothers at various Disney parks, see it HERE. Frontierland had a lot of oddball little shops (a leather shop, a mineral shop, the bonecraft shop, and so on), but I don’t think that this looks like Frontierland, now that I think about it again.
That photo of the Native American warrior really got to me. So I went on a quest to find out who he was. After hours of searching, it turns out many tribes and Native cultures were represented over the years and nailing down an individual is tough. It could be Lois Heminger aka Chief Shooting Star, but I can't be sure. Great photos today, thanks to Cathy. I miss the Indian Village and Dance circle. It was fun, educational, and culturally stimulating, so of course it had to go. Try getting any of that from build your own light saber. Thanks to Major for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBut they'll yank actual African folklore and replace it with European folklore based in New Orleans in a minute!
DeleteThanks Kathy, for sharing these most-interesting images with us.
ReplyDelete@ Andrew-
That cast iron figure is the 'Toasty Roasty clown', that's a part of those Cretors popcorn machines. He appears to be turning the tiny horizontal glass canister of popped corn in the display case.
Major-
As that D23 article points out - the Arribas Bros. didn't arrive on the scene until June 15, 1967, so that's not likely to be any Arribas brother. However, I suppose it could be Bill Rasmussen, who had the original glassblowing shop in the back of the Emporium, but probably not. More-likely it's an employee of his at that time.
Kathy and Major, I’d love to see those other pictures. You got my vote.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, wow, I am impressed that you put in hours of research to find out who our Chief is. The only photos I could find of Louis Heminger are so small or indistinct that I just couldn’t be sure if he is “the guy”. I’ve always wondered if the Native Americans who worked in the Indian Village agreed that it reinforced stereotypes (or whatever) and that it had run its course, or if they enjoyed working there and were proud of showing their crafts, dances, and heritage?
ReplyDeleteNanook, oh yeah, I forgot to tell Andrew that you can see that the figure is the clown. I think that was pretty much the traditional figure, until they started playing around with them at the park. I wonder when that started? And thanks for pointing out the disparity in the dates!
stu29573, I can’t help wondering if they had planned on changing “Splash Mountain” a while ago, and already had concepts and artwork underway?
Wow, these pictures are both fancy AND schmancy! They look like something out of LIFE magazine.
ReplyDelete