Lou Perry took a whole lot of photos at Disneyland in 1985! Today I have a selection of some of his Main Street pix, shared with us by Sue B!
In 1973, "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln" was replaced by "The Walt Disney Story". Most people were happy to see a show honoring Walt, but thought it that removing an attraction that he'd seen as one of his crowning achievements seemed like an odd thing to do. So in 1975 they brought Lincoln back as a sort of hybrid attraction.
City Hall is decked out in patriotic bunting - in March? Maybe it was there as part of Disneyland's 30th Anniversary celebration. Notice the sign for "Lost Parents"!
More patriotic bunting, accompanied by signs featuring portraits of U.S. Presidents, such as President Arnold Palmer, seen here. His mixture of iced tea and lemonade helped to end the Cold War.
Don't let the gray skies get you down! At least it won't be hot. I'd love to go up to that top story of The Emporium and take in the view from one of those round windows. Does anybody know if that area is used for anything? It's nice to see the old Bekins/Global Van Lines building still looking great.
There's Mickey! Looking sharp in his red pants. I've always wondered why he has two buttons on the front of his trousers, but figured it might be "doctor's orders" so I never asked.
There's Ronald Reagan, who of course was part of Disneyland's "Press Preview" day, which aired on ABC. You can watch it on YouTube.
And there's JFK. He visited Disneyland when he was still a Senator, in October of 1959.
President Thomas Edison promised "...a lightbulb in every oven". No wonder he was so popular.
Here's a wonderful view looking north on Main Street, it's always hard to believe that it gets cold at Disneyland, but the lady with the full-length down jacket tells us otherwise.
President Magic Johnson (it never gets old!) looks down on us reassuringly. I remember voting for him. I wonder if our friend Huck might recognize the sweeper near us?
The long shadows pointing east let us know that it is later in the day - being November, it might be 3 o'clock! People have already found prime spots along the curb to watch an upcoming parade. I think I recognize Harry S Truman on the signpost to our right. There's more folks walking in the street than we used to see in earlier photos.
As always, a big thank you goes out to Lou Perry and Sue B. for sharing these images with us!
Major-
ReplyDeleteAs usual - some really nice shots from Lou. I love all the 'cameo' portraits. (And to think of all the folks who made fun of me for writing-in Arnold Palmer for president-!) I believe those "buttons" on Mickey's outfit are for 'volume' and 'tuning'.
Thanks as usual to Lou and Sue for another look-back in time.
NOTE: For those curious as to the answer to the Mystery Microphone from yesterday's post, please see my last three comments, there.
Major, you'd make a wonderful history teacher - your class would love you! BTW, WHO is that in picture #4 - towards the top left - on the light post closest to us??
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice comment, Nanook! And, I found your comments, along with the others, yesterday - VERY interesting. It's amazing how you and the others can always figure out stuff and answer most any question that pops up on GDB. Maybe YOU can tell me who that person is in picture #4!
Thanks, Major, as always!!
Sue
I was wondering the same thing as Sue. Is that Willie Nelson? Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman?
ReplyDeleteThat kid behind the sweeper, is wearing a coonskin cap and carrying a rifle. The tail on the cap seems a little longer than usual. Now that I think of it, maybe that's a pigtail?
I forgot to thank Lou, Sue, and the Major, too! :-)
ReplyDeleteSue & TM!, my guess is that's Jack Nicklaus in the 4th photo, although my brain keeps finding similarities to Sean Bean, which makes no sense at all. He wouldn't be gracing American movie screens with his characters' inevitable deaths until around 1992.
ReplyDeleteAnd TM!, that's definitely a raccoon tail. A pig tail is much shorter and thinner and wouldn't look good at all on a hat.
Thanks again for sharing Lou's photos, Sue!
I'm proud to see Arnold Palmer, a Pittsburgh-area native. Fred Rogers came from the same town, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThe Disneyland Showcase sign is pretty neat. I don't remember seeing a picture of that before. And in those last two pics, we can see a rug/blanket that some people have set out for the parade.
Lou always captures the best shots. Thanks for sharing, Sue.
Nanook, I’m glad neither of those buttons are for adjusting “horizontal” or “vertical”, I used to make my father crazy by playing with those on our TV. Thanks again for solving the Microphone Mystery!
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I believe that the person in photo #4 is American-Indian athlete and Olympic gold medalist (1912) Jim Thorpe. It’s hard to be completely certain, however.
TokyoMagic!, ha ha, Lon Chaney Jr.! I’m unaware of any actors being featured on those lamp posts, based on the examples that we can ID for sure, though Al Lewis (aka “Grandpa Munster”) should have made the cut. I don’t think they celebrated any singers either, not even Pat Boone. I’m pretty sure that IS a coonskin cap; and the toy rifle is definitely something you don’t see on Main Street very often! And… you’re welcome.
Chuck, see my response to Sue! The more I look at it the more I am convinced that it is Jim Thorpe. Or maybe it is everyone’s favorite athlete, Bronco Nagurski! I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been to the Bronco Nagurski museum in International Falls, Minnesota. As for pig tails, I am now envisioning an entire fashion line of hats with pieces of animals stuck on them. The possibilities are endless.
I’ve heard that there are gangs in Pittsburgh that are either Fred Rogers-based or Arnold Palmer-based. They often rumble, as is the way in inner cities. Whenever I see people setting out a place to reserve for a parade that won’t happen for an hour (or more), I am baffled. I guess some people really do love a parade.
Whoever that is in picture # 4 he’s wearing a 1920’s - 1930’s style football “leatherneck” cap.
ReplyDeleteFor Disneyland’s 30th in 1985 you can see all the Main Street structures had been recently painted - also all the old wood trim, corbels, scrollwork and plaster composition architectural details that had been rotting and crumbling had just recently all been replaced with newly made fiberglass and foam copies. Right after the New Fantasyland was completed WED/WDI and the Disneyland staff shop started a program to create molds of most of Main Street’s original 1955 wood and plaster composition details. In fact these same molds were used to duplicate Disneyland California’s Main Street for Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. When Hong Kong Disneyland opened , their Main Street USA looked more like original Disneyland’s 1955 Main Street than the real Disneyland did at the time.
That’s Tim Delorge sweeping in the second to last shot.
ReplyDelete~Huck
Nice Main Street photos Lou & Sue. I've always found it interesting that one can be so drawn to the Willoughby effect that Main Street has without having grown up in that environment. I've certainly have it and I grew up in the Sonoran desert...nothing close to that.
ReplyDeleteThe 80s were full of trips to Disneyland for us. I had met my future wife in '81 and she had never been to the Park, so I made sure she was completely indoctrinated by going at least twice a year for at least 10 years or so.
Fun fact...my sister did research at USC Medical College from '69 till '75 and she was there when they brought Lon Chaney Jr.'s body in the facility. She knew I would be enthralled by that so she took a photo of his mortal remains dressed in a bathrobe down in the morgue. One of my more frustrating regrets is not hanging on to that photo. It got lost and probably thrown away when we moved in '83.
Thanks Lou & Sue and Major of course.
Mike Cozart, that would fit for Jim Thorpe, since he played football (among other things). Thanks for pointing out the repainted and refurbished trim. Fiberglass and foam seem like they’ll last forever, though perhaps not in the hot SoCal sun. Still, it’s got to be better than wood.
ReplyDeleteHuck, THANKS!
DrGoat, maybe we’ve been trained by a zillion hours of TV and movies to find an old-fashioned Main Street to be “home”. I certainly never experienced anything like that growing up. I love that you wanted to be sure that your future wife loved Disneyland like you did; it reminds me of my brother in-law, who played lots of Beatles music when his two kids were growing up, it was important to him that they love the Beatles like he does! Wow, a photo of Lon Chaney Jr. as a corpse… I’m not sure I necessarily want to see that, but it would be interesting in a way. The poor man led a rough life (alcoholism).
TokyoMagic!, ha ha, Lon Chaney Jr.! I’m unaware of any actors being featured on those lamp posts...
ReplyDeleteMajor, Ronald Reagan is on display BECAUSE he starred with Bonzo!
Huck, that is so cool that you knew that sweeper!
DrGoat, if you still had that photo, Major would've had to start a new category for posting it.
Thank you for everyone's nice comments, and interesting info!!
Beautiful shots, thanks Lou & Sue & Major.
ReplyDeleteReally the you-are-there feeling.
Thanks Mike Cozart for the information on the trim. I knew something was different from the feel of the trim. This must have been done on the Frontierland Train Station. When I got up close to it a couple of years ago when the train was closed for WookieWorld, the whole little building felt like plastic. It was kind of weird. I thought it might have been a Coval Coating type product, but turns out, it was all plastic.
Thanks Huck for the sweeper ID. An added touch of realism.
Very funny commentary today, thanks to all my fellow Junior Gorillas, this is why I love GDB.
JG
Great pictures today! This is the Main Street I recall fondly--when every brick was actually brick-colored, and not some shade of pepto-pastel pink. And of course the Main Street gas lamps are properly fitted with mantles, as can be seen in the photo featuring Thomas Edison (how ironic!).
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I actually did forget that Reagan was an actor, so… there you go. Depending on how yucky the Lon Chaney Jr. photo was, I might have posted it… with some careful pixellation here and there!
ReplyDeleteJG, I’m surprised that you could tell that much of a difference in the Main Street building ornaments and trim; of course most people probably never see it, except for far away. If it really was cast from original carved wooden elements, you’d think that those might retain some of the textures. But it is also possible that everything was sanded extra-smooth before it was cast in resin.
Steve DeGaetano, the Main Street Cinema’s bricks are especially egregious; who’s ever seen bricks like those? So tacky. And I do love those old gas lamps, they really added an air of authenticity.
I agree - that's Jim Thorpe and Tim Delorge.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the photo and Lon looked very old and frail. No yucky really. My sister said he looked very worn out and typical of someone who drank a lot. The bathrobe was red. It basically was more sad then anything else, so better to remember the him as you know who.
ReplyDeletePS We all love the Beatles, don't we?
Chuck, SO good! ;)
ReplyDelete~Huck
I'm late to the discussion but for what it's worth, the person on the post in photo #4 is definitely Jim Thorpe. Here's a link to an online version of the same photo on Getty Images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/james-thorpe-athlete-shown-in-his-football-gear-head-and-news-photo/517726064?
ReplyDeleteThat second to last photo includes one of Disneyland's most famous regular Guests, seated on the blanket: Arthur Holmson! You can see him in virtually the same outfit, on the same blanket, probably in the same spot, here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120207105240/http://bestpossiblejob.blogspot.com/2012/01/king-arthur.html.
ReplyDelete