It's time for another selection of souvenir photos from Knott's Berry Farm's "Pitchur Gallery". While I generally like to find examples from the 1940's and 50's, these are much newer.
Here's the front of the protective paper envelope that held each souvenir photo. I think this dates from sometime in the 1970's.
This is a very weird scene! Sonny Bono is about to hang Anne Bancroft for an unknown crime; I'll bet she plugged an evil varmint full of lead, but he was the son of ol' Jeb Pritchett, who owned the largest ranch in the territories. Poor Anne is going to pay the ultimate price, even though she's a hero to the townfolk.
The conestoga wagon scene was still popular after 30 (or more) years!
And last, but certainly not least - here a photo, courtesy of GDB pal Mike Cozart! It features Mike and his friends, from around 2015 or 2016. Mike's friend Peter is the cowboy in the middle, while the other four pose as some of the most "interesting" looking saloon girls ever. Whatever they're doing, it's working - they have a pile of cash, maybe from the local stagecoach, or a trail carrying the payroll. Mike is to the right of Peter, with the curl placed fetchingly over his forehead. I've seen some silly Pitchur Gallery photos, but this one might win the grand prize!
A BIG THANK YOU to Mike Cozart for sharing his personal photo with us!
First! Haha. Back in the morning.
ReplyDeleteZach
Major-
ReplyDeleteNormally, I'd say the shot of the Mom and daughter-? would garner the most commentary for being so sweet. But I'm afraid Mike and his 'gal pals' kinda stole the show. (Even poor Anne and Sonny are taking a backseat to all that feminine charm). I certainly hope the dude with the rifle can maintain an acceptable level of decorum when the fur starts to fly-!
Thanks, Major & Mike for sharing.
Wow! Thank you Mike, for sharing your personal photo! I love it!
ReplyDeleteAs Sonny Bono was placing the rope around Anne Bancroft's neck, I bet she cried out, "I WANT TO LIVE!" Oh, wait....that was Susan Hayward.
Okay, I bet right before ol' Jeb Pritchett's son died, he turned to Anne Bancroft and said, "Bang, Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down!"
Loving it! Thanks so much, Mike & everybody - a great start to the day!
ReplyDeleteWhat happens in Pitchur Gallery never stays in the Pitchur Gallery.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, they are all great pictures
There should be a database of Pitchur Gallery images over time so that you can see how some sets changed while others stayed the same. Have I said that before?
ReplyDeleteNanook is right - Mike steals the show! :-D Thanks so much for sharing.
Ya know, when you hang yer dancehall girls, you end up with dancehall girls like at the bottom. Considering the outcome, what's a little shootin' ever now and then?
ReplyDeleteMike, you run with a dangerously weird bunch, my friend!
Thanks, Mike, for sharing. These Pitchur Gallery photos are new to me. I first saw them here. I've been to Knott's a few times in the 50s and 70s but never noticed them. Post Covid they may be less popular.
ReplyDeleteZach
I'll add my big thanks to Mike and the Major.
ReplyDeleteMike, that is a motley crew if I've ever seen one. You just made my morning. Used to have a gang like that but through attrition, I'm the only one left. We must all revel in our time. It's the only chance we get.
PS definitely need to upgrade those shootin' irons.
Thanks Mike for sharing and a big thanks to Mr. Major.
Mike, Mike, I always suspected you were a looker. I bet you are the sexy one in feathers. When I first saw the hanging scene, I thought it was Adrienne Barbeau and Peter Sellers. Love these fun photos. Thanks to Major and Mike.
ReplyDeleteYay, Pitchur Gallery pics (or should I say “pits”?)! Thanks Mike, that photo is hilarious — I wouldn't mess with that bunch! I also am curious to know how many scenes there have been over the years. I’ve found a lot of Ghost Town or Bust wagons for sale since I’ve recently started collecting, but some tableaux seem pretty rare.
ReplyDeleteThat loot is clearly the prize money for the first Miss Californy pageant.
ReplyDeleteThese are all awesome. Many thanks to both Mike and the Major.
I think I prefer the older, more cartoony stick-your-face-through backgrounds to the more “realistic” one Sonny and Anne are using.
As usual, these are wonderful, but Mike, yours takes the cake.
ReplyDeleteA very funny shot indeed.
It's odd, but I don't recall the pichur gallery at all. I've only seen these online here on GDB.
Thanks Major.
JG
I always poked my head into the Pitchur Gallery but never stayed long. Looks like it could get pretty wild in there! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletezach, you sure are first!
ReplyDeleteNanook, eh, the mother and daughter photo is nice enough, but a little dull. At least the lynching photo is weird. But not as weird as Mike’s picture!
TokyoMagic!, I dunno, Anne looks pretty chill about the whole situation, considering. I forgot that Cher sang “Bang Bang…” and see that she and Nancy Sinatra both released versions of the song in 1966.
Chuck, it’s a great start to the day, as long as you didn’t have a mouth full of coffee when you first saw Mike’s picture. Then you have to go get some paper towels and a Swiffer. (I just wanted to say “Swiffer”).
Budblade, thanks to this Pitchur Gallery photo, none of those men can run for President.
Andrew, I like your idea. The sets were all indoors, I wonder how often they needed to be “refreshed”? I probably own about 20 Pitchur Gallery images, with a few repeats in the bunch, but I suppose one could just take jpegs from Google Images and eBay without actually buying anything for such a database.
stu29573, this is why Knott’s needs some of those robots, like they have at Westworld. Due to budgetary issues, they’ll only be able to afford the ‘bots that are slightly used. Some rampaging may occur.
zach, as a kid I went to Knott’s a lot (for a few great years), and must have walked right past the Pitchur Gallery without ever once looking inside. I wish I had done so, since it would be neat to have a memory of everything in color.
DrGoat, are you telling me you used to be part of a gang? You know, like the Dalton Boys? Crime never pays! Except for when it does, as I always like to add. What’s wrong with their shootin’ irons? They’ll put a hole in a person, just like a fancier gun.
Jonathan, ha ha, I’ve met Mike a couple of times (though it has been a while), and I always picture him dressed as “Tom Morrow” because he was at a Disney-themed party and came “in character” one time. Horn-rimmed glasses, white lab coat, the whole deal.
Kathy!, yeah, the “Ghost Town or Bust” scene is by far the most common, with “Goldie’s Joint” possibly a close second. There’s a photo of the Pitchur Gallery in an old guidebook, it shows scenes in the background that I have NEVER seen in a Pitchur Gallery souvenir example.
Melissa, which one of those “gals” has the most poise? And which one is the best baton twirler? I was genuinely a little bit shocked when I first saw the lynching photo, it seems so tasteless.
JG, to be honest, I don’t remember the novelty photos at Disneyland either, and they’d been around since the 50s. Add the Pitchur Gallery to the long list of things that I somehow missed, though I wish I had seen them all.
Omnispace, if you’d actually set both feet inside the door of the Pitchur Gallery, we’d have a photo of YOU in a dress with a feather boa, too! No one can resist.
PICTURE OF THE YEAR! You have my vote! Mike, you truly have a FUN group of friends. Too bad Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Review no longer exits - you and your buddies could've had a great side job - no doubt. (I assume the feathers stayed on with hair clips??)
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, Mike and Major!
Mike: Now that I enlarged your picture on my computer (as opposed to my little cell phone), I now see "headbands" that hold the feathers on your head. Lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteMajor, I was getting a bit too technical there with them there
ReplyDeleteshootin' irons. That cap and ball rifle old Pete is leaning on is a bit dated, considering the time period. (If it were real of course).
My crew broke up a very long time ago, in the early 70s. We were pretty wild back then. It was the wild west after all, and only 50 miles to the border which was very open back then.
Major, and let us not forget that Sonny Bono wrote, "Bang, Bang."
ReplyDeleteI always picture Mike in his original 1960's Tiki Room host costume!
Notice “outside” the saloon you can see the Ghost Town Drug Store & Print Office ..... those structures remain today between the Sheriff's Office and the Ghost Town Grill. The real structures are actually across from the Main Street Picture Parlor entrance.
ReplyDeleteYeah those feathers are on matching headbands - two of us forgot to take them off once we got back into regular clothes.
I noticed that we did not get any kinda of fancy Knott’s graphic folder for out pictures - just a very dark grayish green folder with a opening for the photo.
TOKYOMAGIC: actually I was wearing a 1974 Tiki Room host Costume !!
Lou and Sue, ha ha, I am trying to imagine Mike and his buddies onstage at the Golden Horseshoe Revue instead of the pretty dancers!
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, I don’t claim to know anything about guns. I thought you meant that they should all be carrying Uzis or Glocks! The DrGoat Gang - they were notorious for helping to heal animals! Nobody knows whatever happened to them. UNTIL NOW.
TokyoMagic!, I would never forget such an important fact and am insulted that you assumed that I didn’t know that Sonny wrote that song! OK I admit I didn’t know.
Mike Cozart, I’m glad you checked in today, I was afraid you would miss it. I did notice the “outside” scene, and thought it was a nice touch. Given my fondness for those hats with the dyed ostrich feathers, I can’t blame anyone for wanting to keep their headbands. Do you think that the Pitchur Gallery is run by Knott’s? Or maybe a lessee runs it? I probably saw your Tiki Room costume, but for some reason the Tom Morrow costume is the one that sticks in my brain.