Greyhound Snapshots 1956

Here's something a little different - a small comb-bound photo album with "Greyhound dated snapshots". Snapshots of what? Disneyland, of course! 1956, to be specific.

I don't know if the photos were placed in any kind of order, but they seem to go from later (darker) to earlier. Some of the pictures were very washed-out; some of them required a little Photoshop help, not that it did a whole lot, but at least this first one feels like evening. We can see the globes and popcorn lights on Main Street Station, and a barely-visible ticket/souvenir/information booth in the foreground.

Town Square looks nearly deserted - I wonder if the park was going to close soon? The lit signs of the Emporium, Wonderland Music, and the Wurlitzer shop glow feebly in this image, as if fighting through a fog.

There's the familiar entrance to Adventureland, made of woven leaves and bamboo poles lashed together, as if the professor from Gilligan's Island made it.

Now we're looking across the open waterway as the Disneyland Band goes marching by, performing for almost nobody. It looks like a scene from a Fellini movie. I'm sure the ice cream vendor appreciated them. Do you think that the scaffolding just beyond the band is for the Carnation Plaza Gardens? It opened on August 18th, 1956, so perhaps that gives us a clue - presumably these photos would have been taken several months earlier.

This one is my favorite, I don't think I've ever seen an accordion player in Frontierland before. He's enjoying a smooth, relaxing cigarette, which kind of suprises me. I've seen Stagecoach drivers with cigarettes as well, I suppose that the general smoking ban for cast members was a bit relaxed in Frontierland. I see a sign reading "Petite Salon" over the musician's shoulder.

Here's a distant look at the Mark Twain - it's strange to see so much grass in this area that is now completely devoid of any lawn. Grass doesn't put money in the coffers! I'll bet the fellow with the white shirt leaning against the bandstand is a cast member.

Sometimes you just want to ride a mule, ya know? It's nothing to be ashamed of. But it's so hard to find a good mule. Disneyland used to have them, though, and they were the Happiest Mules on Earth. 

I like that sign, which (as far as I can tell) says: Ride the PACK MULES through the fascinating and historical MOTHER LODE country of the OLD WEST. 

And finally, one last shot of the buildings of Frontierland, with the Golden Horseshoe to the left. A banner hangs from the balcony railing, "Welcome SUPER MARKET (illegible) Delegates". Hmmmm. There is a partially-obscured sign that might be for The Oaks Tavern. I think we'll be able to find a place to sit.

I hope you have enjoyed these Greyhound Dated Snapshots!